02-05-2025

National School Choice Week, 2025

ProclamationView the Original .pdf
View the Original .pdf

The 1-Minute Brief

What: A presidential proclamation designating January 26, 2025, to February 1, 2025, as “National School Choice Week.” It encourages empowering parents to choose the best educational environment for their children, including public, private, charter, parochial, and homeschooling options.

Money: The proclamation claims that educational freedom generates up to $23.8 billion in net fiscal savings for American taxpayers. Research from the pro-school choice organization EdChoice suggests that choice programs can create savings because the per-student cost in these programs is often lower than in traditional public schools.

Your Impact: This proclamation itself does not directly change laws or funding. Its primary impact is to raise public awareness and encourage state-level policy debates on school choice, which could eventually affect how and where your child is educated.

Status: Signed and proclaimed by the President on January 31, 2025. It is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.

What's Actually in the Proclamation

This document is a presidential proclamation, an official announcement from the President to recognize and promote "National School Choice Week." It does not create new law but states the administration's policy goals regarding education. The core function is to declare the last week of January as a time to celebrate and advocate for a wide array of educational options beyond traditional public schools.

Core Provisions:

  • Designates the week of January 26, 2025, to February 1, 2025, as National School Choice Week.
  • Affirms a commitment to empowering parents with the freedom to choose their children's education.
  • Advocates for returning authority over education from the federal government to states and parents.
  • Promotes various educational models, including homeschooling, charter, public, and parochial schools.

Stated Purpose (from the Sponsors):

The proclamation asserts that its goal is to highlight the benefits of educational freedom and parental choice in education.

  1. To empower American parents with the freedom to choose the education that best suits their values and their children's needs.
  2. To improve educational outcomes, citing benefits like higher graduation rates and improved reading and math scores.
  3. To enhance school safety by giving parents a primary role in protecting their children.
  4. To promote a more efficient use of taxpayer money, leading to significant fiscal savings.

Key Facts:

Affected Sectors: Education, including K-12 public schools, private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling families.
Timeline: The proclamation designates the week of January 26, 2025, to February 1, 2025.
Scope: The proclamation is national in scope, addressing all American families.

The Backstory: How We Got Here

Timeline of Events:

The Modern School Choice Movement (1950s-Present):

The idea of using public funds for private schooling gained prominence with economist Milton Friedman in the 1950s. The movement grew slowly, often linked to efforts to circumvent desegregation in its early days, but evolved to focus on educational quality and parental rights. The first major voucher program was established in Milwaukee in the 1990s. A key turning point was the 2002 Supreme Court case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, which upheld an Ohio voucher program against a constitutional challenge, stating it did not violate the Establishment Clause. National School Choice Week itself was founded in 2011 as a non-partisan, non-political effort to raise awareness of all educational options.

Why Now? The Political Calculus:

  • The proclamation aligns with a core tenet of the Republican Party's 2024 platform: promoting "universal school choice."
  • It serves as a symbolic action to energize the party's base and signal policy priorities early in a potential second term.
  • The timing coincides with the annual celebration of National School Choice Week, an event that has been recognized by presidential proclamations and congressional resolutions in the past.
  • The push for school choice has gained momentum at the state level, with a dozen states now offering programs accessible to all students, making a federal endorsement timely.

Your Real-World Impact

The Direct Answer: This proclamation does not directly affect most Americans, but it champions a policy—school choice—that could significantly impact families with school-aged children and the public education system if enacted through legislation.

What Could Change for You:

Potential Benefits:

  • Families could receive public funds (through vouchers or Education Savings Accounts) to pay for private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, tutoring, or other educational services.
  • Supporters argue this would give families in underperforming school districts access to higher-quality educational options.
  • Increased competition among schools could, in theory, drive improvements across both the public and private sectors.

Possible Disruptions or Costs:

Short-term (1-3 years):

  • Opponents argue that diverting public funds to private schools could lead to budget cuts for traditional public schools, which serve the majority of students.
  • A shift of students and resources could disrupt local public school operations and staffing.

Long-term:

  • Critics express concern that widespread voucher programs could weaken the public education system, a cornerstone of American communities.
  • There are ongoing debates about whether private schools receiving public funds should be subject to the same accountability, transparency, and anti-discrimination standards as public schools.

Who's Most Affected:

Primary Groups: Families with K-12 students, particularly those in low-income areas or attending schools considered to be underperforming. Teachers and administrators in both public and private schools would also be directly affected.
Secondary Groups: Taxpayers, as the funding models for education would shift.
Regional Impact: The impact would be greatest in states that either have or are considering creating or expanding school choice programs.

Bottom Line: While this proclamation is symbolic, its promotion of school choice policies could lead to significant changes in how education is funded and delivered, offering more options for some families while potentially straining resources for the traditional public school system.

Where the Parties Stand

Republican Position: "Empower Parents, Fund Students Not Systems"

Core Stance: The Republican Party strongly supports universal school choice, advocating for public funds to follow the student to any education provider the parent chooses.

Their Arguments:

  • ✓ Empowers families to escape failing schools and choose the best educational fit for their children.
  • ✓ Fosters competition, which can lead to innovation and higher quality across all schools.
  • ✓ Allows 529 education savings accounts to cover homeschooling and other K-12 expenses.
  • ⚠️ The party platform also calls for the abolition of the U.S. Department of Education, which creates ambiguity about how a federal choice program would be administered.
  • ✗ Opposes what it terms "political indoctrination" on topics of race and gender in public schools.

Legislative Strategy: Pushing for universal school choice at the state level and proposing federal legislation and tax code changes to support it.

Democratic Position: "Support Public Schools"

Core Stance: The Democratic Party generally opposes private school voucher programs, arguing that public funds should be used to support and improve public schools.

Their Arguments:

  • ✓ Supports increased funding for public schools, including universal pre-K and higher teacher salaries.
  • ✓ Advocates for holding charter schools to the same transparency and accountability standards as traditional public schools.
  • ⚠️ Some Democrats support expanding public school choice options, such as magnet and charter schools.
  • ✗ Opposes voucher schemes that "divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education."
  • ✗ Argues voucher programs lack accountability and can lead to discrimination against students.

Legislative Strategy: Blocking federal voucher legislation and focusing on increasing investment in the public school system, including infrastructure and support for teachers.

Constitutional Check

The Verdict: ⚠️ Questionable

Basis of Authority:

For this proclamation, the President acts under the implied authority of Article II of the Constitution to make official announcements. Proclamations are often ceremonial and do not have the force of law unless authorized by Congress.

The broader policy of school choice, especially involving religious schools, is based on Congress's power to spend for the "general Welfare." However, it raises significant constitutional questions.

First Amendment, Establishment Clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."

Constitutional Implications:

Legal Principle: The central conflict is whether providing public funds for tuition at religious schools violates the Establishment Clause's separation of church and state.
Precedent: The landmark Supreme Court case is Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002). In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that an Ohio voucher program was constitutional because it had a secular purpose (helping children in failing schools) and the aid went to parents, who made a "true private choice" of where to send their children, rather than directly to religious institutions.
Federalism: Education is primarily a state and local function. A large-scale federal school choice program could be seen as overstepping into an area traditionally reserved for the states.

Potential Legal Challenges:

Legal challenges to new school choice legislation are almost certain. Opponents would likely argue:

  • That a specific program's design effectively endorses religion by not providing enough viable non-religious options.
  • That the program entangles government excessively with religious institutions.
  • That it violates state constitutional provisions that may have stricter prohibitions on aid to religious organizations than the U.S. Constitution.

Your Action Options

TO SUPPORT THIS POLICY

5-Minute Actions:

  • Call Your Rep/Senators: Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121. "I'm a constituent from [Your City/Town] and I urge [Rep./Sen. Name] to support legislation that expands school choice."

30-Minute Deep Dive:

  • Write a Detailed Email: Find contact information for members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  • Join an Organization:
    • EdChoice: A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing school choice.
    • American Federation for Children: An advocacy group focused on expanding educational options, especially for low-income families.
    • The Heritage Foundation: A conservative think tank that promotes universal school choice.

TO OPPOSE THIS POLICY

5-Minute Actions:

  • Call Your Rep/Senators: Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121. "I'm a constituent from [Your City/Town] and I urge [Rep./Sen. Name] to vote NO on any school voucher legislation and to support our public schools."

30-Minute Deep Dive:

  • Write a Letter to the Editor: Submit a letter to your local newspaper explaining your opposition to using public funds for private schools.
  • Join an Organization:
    • National Education Association (NEA): The nation's largest teachers' union, which opposes vouchers.
    • The Education Trust: An advocacy group focused on equity that opposes voucher programs.
    • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Argues that many voucher programs violate the separation of church and state.