Commonwealth Foundation Applauds President Trump’s Executive Order to Expand Educational Opportunity

Harrisburg, Pa., January 30, 2025 — President Donald Trump, on Wednesday, issued an executive order to expand educational opportunity for families. While the details of this order remain in development by the associated federal departments, the Commonwealth Foundation applauds the Trump White House for shining a spotlight on the need for educational options, especially for Pennsylvania families. It is a promising, vital step toward providing more school choice to families who lack alternatives to their underperforming, geographically assigned schools. 

Commonwealth Foundation Senior Education Policy Analyst Rachel Langan issued the following statement: 

“President Trump’s executive order engages what Governor Shapiro campaigned on but hasn’t delivered for Pennsylvania families: more school choice options. We hope, if given the opportunity to use federal funding to provide families more options, Shapiro will keep his promise to enact the Lifeline Scholarship Program to help kids who remain trapped in failing schools. 

“Simply spending more money doesn’t work. Pennsylvania already dedicates more than $37 billion to public schools, more than $22,000 per student. Yet, the latest U.S. Department of Education data shows that 69 percent of Pennsylvania eighth-grade students aren’t proficient at math, and an equal 69 percent cannot read at grade level—despite a $4.1 billion increase in state education spending in the last four years. 

“Parents need more educational options, as evidenced by the continued waiting lists for charter schools and for the state’s tax credit scholarship programs, which serve large numbers of low-income families zoned to attend low-achieving public schools. In addition, our most recent polling shows more than 80 percent of Pennsylvania voters support school choice through establishing Lifeline Scholarships, expanding the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit programs, and enacting a federal scholarship program. 

“This executive order is a positive reversal from former President Biden’s administration, which, along with teacher union executives, criticized private providers and denied options to parents, keeping kids trapped in failing schools. However, an executive order, without additional action by lawmakers, has limited impact. We hope Congress passes the Education Choice for Children Act and, as Shapiro promised, Lifeline Scholarships become law in Pennsylvania.” 

### 

The Commonwealth Foundation transforms free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish.