Leavitt Emphasizes Trump’s Commitment To School Choice: It Is ‘The Civil Rights Issue Of Our Time’

2 days ago

During Tuesday’s White House Press Briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions about President Trump's support of school choice policies.

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00:00A question from one of our community members.

00:02Katie Reeves is a schoolteacher in Wisconsin.

00:04She's taught K-3 in public, independent,

00:07private, and private schools.

00:08And here's what she wanted me to ask you.

00:11She says, I see the elimination of the

00:13Department of Education as an excellent first step

00:15in the improvement of our school system.

00:17Do you see any further role the federal government can

00:19take beyond this, possibly in promoting the expansion

00:22of voucher programs or reducing the influence

00:24that teachers' unions hold over our schools?

00:27Ms. Sanders Well, first of all,

00:28I want to thank Katie for her service to our country

00:31and our nation's children.

00:33Being a teacher is the most noble profession that we

00:36believe one can have.

00:37And the President said in his remarks when he signed

00:40the executive order to dismantle the Department

00:42of Education that he loves our teachers.

00:44And in part, this order is to empower our teachers

00:47to have greater decision-making

00:49in the classroom.

00:51Nobody knows our nation's children and our students

00:53better than our teachers who are with them

00:55every single day.

00:56As for the federal government's role to get to

00:58the heart of Katie's question,

01:00the President has made it clear to Linda McMahon

01:02that we need to find other places within our federal

01:05government for critical programs regarding education.

01:08Pell grants, Title IX, lawsuits, et cetera,

01:11civil rights lawsuits, all of that are critical

01:14functions, special needs programs,

01:16nutrition programs.

01:17But there are other places throughout the federal

01:19bureaucracy where those things can happen and work.

01:22The Department of Education has been a very

01:24bloated bureaucracy.

01:25We spent trillions of dollars on this department

01:28and for what?

01:29Our children are worse off, as far as education

01:31goes today, than they were when this department

01:33originated, and that's very concerning

01:35to the President.

01:35The Press On the two issues she cited,

01:36are those priorities for the President?

01:39School education choice, vouchers,

01:41and diminishing the role of teachers, you mean?

01:45Ms. McEnany The President is very supportive of both

01:47of those things, particularly when it comes

01:49to school choice.

01:50He has said that school choice is the civil rights

01:52issue of our time, and he wants every child,

01:55regardless of zip code, socioeconomic status,

01:57how much money their parents have, to be able

01:59to go to the school of their choosing that best

02:02suits their educational needs.

02:03And he is going to empower state and local leaders

02:05to make those decisions on behalf

02:07of our nation's children.

02:08Thanks for being here, Mark.

Leavitt Emphasizes Trump’s Commitment To School Choice: It Is ‘The Civil Rights Issue Of Our Time’

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