OPINION:
President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest during his recent interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News by saying bluntly that America needs the H-1B visa program because, in his words, too many Americans lack the talent for high-skilled jobs. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially coming from the man who promised to put America first.
As much as it stings, it’s hard to argue with him when you look at the cold, hard facts about our failing education system.
Consider the latest Nation’s Report Card scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Despite pouring an astonishing $20,000 per student per year into our K-12 schools, more than nearly any other nation on the planet, less than 1 in 3 American children are proficient in math. This result is a national embarrassment.
On the international stage, the picture is equally grim. The U.S. ranks abysmally on the Programme for International Student Assessment, lagging countries that spend far less per student. We outspend the world, yet our outcomes scream mediocrity.
So, yes, Mr. Trump has a point: Right now, we’re forced to rely on H-1B visas to import the skilled labor we desperately need because our own system isn’t producing enough homegrown talent. Here’s the good news: We don’t have to accept this failure as inevitable.
The solution is to reform our broken education system rather than doubling down on importing foreign workers. The key to that fix is school choice.
School choice empowers parents to select the best educational options for their children, whether that’s public, private, charter or homeschool. It introduces competition into a stagnant system dominated by government-run schools, and the evidence is overwhelming: Out of 30 rigorous studies on the effects of school choice competition, 27 find that it improves outcomes in traditional public schools. School choice is a rising tide that lifts all boats.
The nationwide school choice program tucked into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a promising step in the right direction, expanding options for families across the country. That’s just a start.
Congress can build on this program by removing the income cap on eligibility, expanding the $1,700 cap on the credit for donations and requiring states to opt in to receive federal education dollars. The program already allows any American to donate and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, regardless of whether their governor decides to opt in.
That means if union-controlled states drag their feet, their constituents’ donations will subsidize scholarships for children in conservative states that do participate. Tying federal education dollars to the opt-in decision would amplify this incentive, pressuring holdout states to join and ensuring broader access to education freedom.
Of course, none of these improvements happens without tackling the elephant in the room: the teachers unions. These powerful special interests have fought tooth and nail against school choice, prioritizing their political agendas over children’s futures. They pour millions of dollars into Democratic campaigns, using dues from hardworking teachers to prop up policies that maintain the status quo. Weakening their grip is essential to real reform.
Look no further than Wisconsin, where a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research examined the impact of Act 10, which curtailed union power. The researchers found that weakening union power significantly improved academic outcomes for children.
Today, teachers nationwide can opt out of these unions and reclaim their freedom. Organizations such as the Teacher Freedom Alliance offer free membership as an alternative, allowing educators to prioritize their classrooms over compulsory union dues. Pulling funding from the unions would reduce their harmful effects on American education and give them a reason to focus on academics instead of activism.
Some conservatives, upset by Mr. Trump’s remarks to Ms. Ingraham, have responded with a knee-jerk reaction: pretending American students are doing just fine so they can slam the door on any talk of H-1B visas. That response is a shortsighted trap. It gives a free pass to our failing government school system and the leftist teachers unions that funnel nearly all their political funding to Democrats.
We can’t make America great again by ignoring the rot at the core. Instead, we must confront it head-on. No shortcuts.
By embracing school choice and dismantling union monopolies, we will build an education system that produces the world’s best talent right here at home. We will end our dependence on H-1B visas through excellence. America’s future depends on it. Our children deserve nothing less.
• Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
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