On March 20,2025, Donald Trump signed the executive order, Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities. Hosted in the East Room of the White House, the signing ceremony included the Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Republican Governors, along with state education commissioners.
During the ceremony, Trump stated, “We’re going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it’s right.” However, I beg to differ; I think it is completely wrong to use our money that funds our public schools that provide food, materials, and maintain paychecks to teachers. What happened to the separation of church and state?
Under Senate Bill 2, “families could receive $10,000 a year per student in public taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s tuition at an accredited private school and other expenses like textbooks, transportation and therapy. The legislation would provide $11,500 per student for children with disabilities. It also would provide at least $2,000 a year per student for home-schooling families who participate in the program. Home-schooling students with disabilities could receive $2,500 a year for therapy, a provision lawmakers added into the bill Wednesday. Families would receive the money through state managed education savings accounts.”
This executive order should progressively return power to states about Curriculum Development (what should be taught and what should not be taught in public school), Education Standards (states being allowed to set their own benchmarks), Teacher Certification and Training states setting their own expectations for teacher qualifications), Budgeting and Funding allocations (giving power back to states about funding permissions), and Parental Right Enforcement (states having control to empower parents to have an active role in their kid’s education by making informed decisions about which topics align with their family values).
Trump’s decision to dismantle the department of education marks a major turning point in the governance of schools in America. By transitioning the power to states, we will soon see the long-term impact on educational excess, and equality.
