Why School Choice?

The concept of choice seamlessly became embedded in the mainstream ideology about educational improvements, more so with support of President Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

  1. President Trump

    Image from: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/308707-trump-could-be-the-most-significant-president-of-our

    At his first address to a join session of Congress, President Trump said, “I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.”2

    Trump’s 2018 budget proposal calls for cutting the Education Department budget by some 14 percent while calling for a $168 million increase for charter schools—50% funding increase! 3

  2. Betsy DeVos

    Image from: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a52357/betsy-devos-hearing/

    On March 29, 2017, she spoke at the Brookings Institution, arguing for an expansion of school choice programs. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “accused her predecessor of wasting billions of dollars trying to fix traditional public schools and said that school choice was the way to reform the system.

    Check out a full article by the New York Times called Betsy Devos Calls for More School Choice, Saying Money Isn’t the Answer

     


    2. Donald Trump, “Trump’s Speech to Congress: Video and Transcript,” The New York Times, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/us/politics/trump-congress-video-transcript.html 

    3. Valerie Strauss (2017). The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/13/trumps-budget-boosts-funding-for-school-choice-so-why-are-charter-school-chiefs-unhappy-about-it/

    4. Erica L. Green (2017) The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-school-choice-voucher.html