President Trump wants to spend $20 billion on school choice for “disadvantaged youth.”  Families “should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them,” he said in his speech to Congress. Last week, Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited an Catholic school in Orlando, where most of the students, who are predominantly black and low-income, use Florida’s tax-credit scholarships to pay tuition. According to Pol

President Trump has rescinded a federal guideline requiring schools to let transgender students use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Trump overruled Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, reports the New York Times. Enforcement of the Obama administration guideline has been blocked by a nationwide injunction. It’s up to states and local school districts to set bathroom policy, a joint letter from the Justice and Education departments said. DeVos issued a statemen

DeVos is “no threat to traditional schools, especially those beloved suburban schools that parents seek out,” writes Richard Whitmire in USA Today. “She does present a threat to public charter schools, which have proven to be the first-ever school reform that works at scale for poor kids.” Students at Boston’s high-performing Match High School, one of the city’s high-performing charter schools. The new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, limits the Educatio

Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Education secretary today on a 51-50 vote. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote. A massive union-led campaign generated 1.5 million calls a day, reports NPR. Senate Democrats staged an all-night Betsy-bashing marathon. Only two Republican senators voted “no.” I don’t foresee the end of public education. As NPR’s Anya Kamenetz points out, “less than 10 percent of funding for K-12 schools comes from the feds.” Furthermore, any Trump