While impeachment swirled on Capitol Hill on Monday, President Donald Trump was at the White House holding a summit focused on providing more education opportunities for American children.
The White House Roundtable event focused on new bill aimed at what the president described as educational choices for millions of “forgotten children” who are “locked into a school system that’s terrible.”
“Now is the time to fight for the forgotten child, and that’s what we are doing with respect to education,” said Trump., who was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and several students and teachers who utilize state-level school choice programs, The Epoch Times reported.
“For decades, countless children have been trapped in failing government schools. In my administration, these children are forgotten no longer.”
The newly proposed Education Freedom Scholarships is a $5 billion program that assists families with the cost of sending their children to a private or public grade K-12 school of their choice.
The program would also provide funding for educational products like online classes and after-school tutoring sessions, among other provisions.
Also, the bill provides federal tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute a portion of their taxable income to support the state-based scholarship programs, which would primarily assist children from low-income areas.
First introduced in February, the proposal was a welcome change for advocates of school choice who think students and parents should have more options for primary education.
But the bill was opposed by Democrats and teacher’s unions.
Cruz, a sponsor of the Senate’s version of the proposal, said it would be “the most significant federal civil rights victory of modern times” if it passes.
“This is all about millions of kids—millions of inner-city kids, millions of African American kids, millions of Hispanic kids, trapped right now, desperate for hope—and giving them scholarships,” said the Texas Republican.
“And it is only the corrupt bureaucracy that is telling them ‘no.’”