Trump Administration Issues Executive Order Signaling Changes on the Horizon to School Funding and Educational Choices for Parents

02.05.2025

On January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families.” The Order states that it is the policy of the current Administration to support parents in directing the upbringing and education of their children, and tasks multiple cabinet secretaries to evaluate and propose plans for expanding opportunities for parents to choose where and how their children are educated.

The Order requires the following actions:

Within sixty (60) days:

The U.S. Secretary of Education is to issue guidance regarding how states can use federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.

Within ninety (90) days:

The U.S. Secretary of Education and the U.S. Secretary of Labor must each review their respective discretionary grant programs and submit a plan to the President that identifies, evaluates, and makes recommendations regarding the use of relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for families and teachers.
The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services must issue guidance regarding whether and how States receiving block grants for families and children can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense must review and submit a plan to the President describing available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the U.S. Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior must review any mechanisms under which families of students eligible to attend Bureau of Indian Education (“BIE”) schools may use federal funding for educational options of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and to submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them for the 2025-26 school year. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior is also ordered to report on the current performance of BIE schools and to identify educational options in nearby areas.

A copy of the Order may be accessed here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/expanding-educational-freedom-and-opportunity-for-families/

These actions signal potentially unique changes to the funding of schools, services and supports, and a larger role for parents to play in educational choice-making for their children.

Recommendations and plans for expansion of educational choices for families will likely bring noteworthy directional shifts to two federal education formula funding grants – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) which provides grant funding to help ensure students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education (“FAPE”), and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (“ESEA”), which originally became law under President Johnson and has been amended over the years. Amongst other things, ESEA provides supplemental financial assistance to school districts for children from low-income families to receive high-quality education and close achievement gaps.

School districts, charter schools, and county offices of education need to be aware and stay abreast of these potential changes to the federal government’s allocation of funding and their impacts on the provision of educational supports and services to California students statewide. The attorneys in our office are closely monitoring and will regularly be reporting on the developments in response to this Order. Please reach out to any of the authors of this Alert or another AALRR attorney with any questions about ongoing fiscal responsibilities and obligations to parents of school-aged children.