(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump made countless parents, teachers, and school officials happy this past Wednesday when he issued an inspiring proclamation celebrating National School Choice Week.
Published on January 28, the declaration not only commemorates the 250th anniversary of American independence but also reaffirms the core principle that parents, not school bureaucrats or far left activists, have the natural right to shape their children’s destinies.
National School Choice Week was started in the early 2010s to raise awareness for parental choice in education. It runs from January 25-31. Homeschooling, charter schools, voucher programs, education savings accounts, and other individualized initiatives are some of the goals of the movement, which has grown from a grassroots to a nationwide community.
In his proclamation, Trump spoke of “the God-given right” of parents to “forge their family’s — and our Nation’s — future.” He also said, “our glorious American future depends on the next generation’s ability to learn, lead, and innovate.” Trump further highlighted the failures of past administration’s policies that he said have resulted in abysmal reading and math scores despite skyrocketing spending. “America’s Golden Age begins in the classroom,” he exclaimed.
The timing of Trump’s announcement couldn’t have been more poignant. It was released on the same day the Daily Wire published a report showing that the Department of Education found California officials were pressuring school employees to not tell parents that their child is confused about their gender. Journalist Margaret Mary Olohan reported that California had created “powerful state directed pressure” on school officials to withhold information from parents, which is a clear violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
In Trump’s proclamation, he touted his efforts to clamp down on left-wing education initiatives. “My Administration is bringing the sinister ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ agenda to a screeching halt and … we are proudly eliminating Federal funding for schools that permit discriminatory treatment and anti-American indoctrination,” his statement reads.
Thousands of parents and students across the United States engaged in School Choice Week activities this week, reflecting an enthusiasm that continues to mark the movement. In Florida, where GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has enacted many educational reforms, more than 800 teachers, parents, and students descended on the state’s capital for a political rally. In Colorado, hundreds of leaders gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Denver to raise their voices in unison. Shelby Doyle, vice president of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, told WHSV 3 in Virginia that this week 26,000 schools across the U.S. planned local events for families to attend.
Citing a RAND Corporation study, libertarian website Reason found that in the state of Arizona alone the number of online educational vendors increased from 1,339 in 2021 to just over 6,000 in 2024. It also discovered that private schools in the state went from 451 to 515 over the past four years. Similar trends have been discovered in other states. A Cato Institute survey showed that 40% of private schools reported increase in enrollment between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Trump’s campaign pledge to abolish the Department of Education has not yet come to fruition. Critics argue that it likely won’t ever be done away with and that Trump ran on the promise simply to garner votes. While it remains to be seen what Trump will do, it is nice to read in his letter that no child “should ever be trapped in a failing school, and parents deserve more choices, not fewer.”
By heaping praise on states and doubling down on congressional action, Trump is publicly wedding himself to further progress on the issue. Parents and education officials, including lawmakers, would be wise to applaud this proclamation but also keep pressure up for more tangible wins in the future.
