OPINION:
This month, President Trump signed an executive order initiating the dismantling of the Department of Education, paving the way for federal education dollars to return to their rightful place: to parents in the states.
States are fundamentally better equipped to handle education policy than America’s sprawling federal bureaucracy. As states across the country work to pass school freedom legislation, parents will have the resources to send their children to the private or public school that best fits their educational needs.
Mr. Trump’s decisive victory for the future of education in the United States did not happen in a vacuum. As teachers unions shuttered schools for years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents had front-row seats to their children’s education and didn’t like what they saw.
The public school monopoly is failing our students, and America is falling behind globally. Last year’s National Assessment of Education Progress showed that 70% of American eighth-graders were below proficient in reading and 72% were below proficient in math. The majority of students in the fourth and eighth grades are still performing below pre-pandemic levels in several subjects.
In Baltimore alone, despite spending an astounding $22,424 per student, 13 out of 32 high schools had zero students meet proficiency standards in math. Districtwide, 76% of these students come from low-income families, 70% are Black and 20% are Hispanic. While teachers unions claim to champion the underserved, they are systematically failing them. The status quo of public education is indefensible.
Thanks to Mr. Trump’s promise to deliver universal education freedom nationwide, we have widespread optimism for our children’s future. School choice is the civil rights fight of our generation, and Club for Growth is proud to lead the charge at the state level.
In 2024, Club for Growth Action and affiliated super PACs invested $8.5 million in Texas and defeated 10 incumbent Republicans who sold out to radical teachers unions and opposed educational freedom. In Tennessee, we invested $3.6 million to defeat four anti-school freedom Republicans who prioritized bureaucrats over their constituents.
These investments have delivered meaningful results for families and students. After last year’s legislative victories and a subsequent six-figure advocacy campaign from Club for Growth in early 2025, Tennessee passed Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act, the state’s universal school choice legislation. After similar advocacy efforts, Club for Growth was instrumental in passing school freedom bills this year in Idaho and Wyoming.
The school freedom revolution is only expanding. This movement transcends party lines; Democratic and Republican voters of all ages and ethnicities agree that the public school monopoly is broken beyond repair.
Club for Growth polling shows that a majority of voters support school freedom in every state surveyed, including Idaho, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. Likewise, a recent University of Houston poll showed that 67% of Texans support Education Savings Accounts, with 71% support from rural voters. Thirty-three states have taken necessary steps to promote education freedom, with many returning to bolster their existing legislation.
Club for Growth and its affiliated entities are ready to continue this fight as more states look to empower parents and provide students with the high-quality education they deserve. Despite the lines trumpeted by the left, more than a dozen Republican candidates across the country lost their primaries because they opposed education freedom. In contrast, no incumbent Republican has lost a primary because of support for school choice. You cannot call yourself a Republican while denying families the right to a more free and prosperous future.
Representatives have a duty to protect a parent’s right to choose the best education for their children. Club for Growth will hold them accountable if they fail on this promise.
• David McIntosh is the president of Club for Growth.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.