The Trump administration issued a guidance letter encouraging states to use up to 3% of Title I funding to promote school choice for students.
The letter highlights how states and local education agencies can use federal formula funds from Title I, a federal program that provides additional funding to low-income schools, to “support elementary and secondary school educational choice initiatives.”
“This is an important flexibility of which very few States have taken advantage,” Hayley B. Sanon, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and acting Assistant Secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, said. “States can use this flexibility so that parents can be given a range of options – advanced courses, dual enrollment, academic tutoring, career and technical education, personalized learning, and out-of-school activities – to select for their child.”
Local education agencies are eligible to receive Title I funds if they can demonstrate how they will communicate to parents about providing a “meaningful choice of direct student services” for their children’s education. States can prioritize awarding funds to local education agencies whose activities align with state goals. For example, programs that provide evidence of offering parents the most choices may be prioritized.
In fiscal 2024, the Education Department allotted $18.4 billion to Title I. This directive could free up $500 million to make school choice initiatives more readily available.
“The Trump administration is committed to expanding education options for parents in their children’s education,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release. “Today’s guidance is an important early action aimed at advancing educational choice and encouraging states and schools to maximize learning options that help students excel.”
School choice proponent Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children, shared how crucial he believes it is for more Title I funding to be made available to parents as they cultivate their children’s education.
“The Trump Administration is bringing about a golden age of American education, and Secretary McMahon’s Department of Education moving to unlock up to $500 million for school choice for families is another exciting step,” Schultz told the Washington Examiner. “President Trump will be the School Choice President, by moving education decision making to the states and local districts, adding flexibility to existing funding, and bringing school choice to every state when he signs the Educational Choice for Children Act into law.”
The press release cited President Donald Trump’s January 29 executive order directing the Education Department to provide guidance on the flexibility states have to use Title I funds to promote school choice.
“The President is very supportive of … school choice. He has said that school choice is the civil rights issue of our time. He wants every child… to be able to go to the school of their choosing,” Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
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Ohio is so far the only state that has taken advantage of the flexibility allotted under the current law.
“It’s important for the parents, educators and school leaders who best know the needs of their students and families to have the go-ahead to put in place programs to match those needs,” said Stephen D. Dackin, Director of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
