President-Elect Trump Pushes School Choice, Shuttering Department of Education
President-Elect Donald Trump has pledged to pursue at least 10 education-related priorities in his second term in office.
On the campaign trail, he has articulated a strong position in support of “universal school choice” which reflects an expansion of the school choice agenda set forth in his first term. The goal of universal school choice is to “so that parents can send their children to the public, private, or religious school that best suits their needs, their goals, and their values.”
He calls for the use of merit pay to reward teachers, and to allow parents to select their school leaders. “To reward good teachers, President Trump will implement funding preferences and favorable treatment for states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure for grades K-12, adopt Merit Pay… and give parents the right to vote for the principals who direct their children’s education.”
Trump has also pledged to abolish the U.S. Department of Education (ED). However, eliminating ED would require an act of Congress, and the political will of that arm of government to pursue such an initiative has not galvanized to date. An amendment offered by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in 2023 to close ED failed, with 60 Republicans (most of whom remain in office) joining Democrats to defeat the measure.