Add The New York Post on Google WASHINGTON – President Trump ripped American schools for “failing at education” and touted his choice plan as a better option for students, vowing to put parents in charge.
“They were failing at a thing called education, with only 30 percent of the students proficient in reading and math,” he said Monday at an event on school choice. “That was under the last administration.”
As America’s children prepare to go back to school, he vowed to reverse several Biden-era school policies, promised to bring back whole milk to cafeterias, and touted his school choice program as giving parents the freedom to direct their child’s education.
“We’re putting the parents back in charge. They’re the ones that love our children. They’re the ones that should be in charge,” the president said in the Rose Garden.
“As we remove the far left extremism from the classroom, we’re taking historic action to ensure that every child in America has access to a first-class education,” Trump said.
He highlighted the benefits of school choice in his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which created a federal tax credit aimed at expanding school choice through scholarship organizations – but states need to opt in. So far, 30 states have done so.
The program allows a taxpayer to contribute up to $1,700 to a qualified scholarship-granting organization and receive a full refund. Recipients can use the scholarship money to cover basic educational costs, including tuition and books, whether they are “public, private or religious” schools.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has expressed interest in the education program but has yet to formally opt into it – despite pleas from parents.
“Governor Hochul is supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help all New York students and schools. Our office awaits information from the federal government on the program and will thoroughly review the details of the policy,” a spokesperson for the governor told The Post.
The president, meanwhile, pointed to the many changes made in the education system under his tenure, bragged about ending “critical race theory and transgender insanity” in schools, bringing back the presidential fitness test, and returning whole milk as a drink option in the cafeteria, saying kids will be able to “have great milk the way it is supposed to be.”
In honor of the country’s 250th birthday, the president said he was bringing back “patriotic education for our youth” through a series of mobile museums that will travel around the country to teach children “about the heroes who have made America the most exceptional nation in history.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised the administration’s work.
“This school year marks a return to common sense in American education,” she said.
She pointed to the administration’s efforts to return decisions about school to the states, including giving six state waivers to make their own education decisions.
“Key decisions that once sat with bureaucrats here in Washington D.C. are moving to where they belong, to the hands of educators, parents, and local leaders who know these children best,” she said.
Her department has granted Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, South Dakota, Arkansas and Vermont “Returning Education to the States” waivers, which give states greater control over their federal dollars.
“These waivers allow state leaders to direct federal dollars towards what makes the most sense for their students, and not what Washington thinks is best for those students,” she said.
And 25 states have been granted EdFlex authority, which allows them to waive certain federal requirements without first having to receive approval from the Education Department.
Trump, meanwhile, was excited about the construction of the White House helipad visible from the Rose Garden as he spoke.
At the end of the event, he invited the kids and parents in the audience to come with him on a tour of it.
“If you’d like to follow me, especially with the kids, the kids could see construction. I love the sound of construction,” he said.
