education

Tennessee Governor Signs ‘Education Freedom Act,’ Expands School Choice  

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Educational Freedom Act of 2025 earlier this week, creating 20,000 educational scholarships for students for the 2025-2026 school year. The bill also gives all public school teachers a one-time, $2,000 bonus for the current school year.

This legislation is part of a growing movement toward giving families the freedom to choose the best type of education for their children, allowing them to thrive and succeed.

At the bill’s signing, the governor said:

I learned a long time ago that education changes the trajectory of a child’s life forever. Today we put in place a piece of legislation that will change the future of Tennessee forever, because it changes the trajectory of the next generation of Tennessee.

The legislation, H.B. 6004, was passed in a special session of the General Assembly, with the House approving the measure by a vote of 54-44 and the Senate with a 20-13 vote.

According to the governor’s Education Freedom website, “20,000 scholarships will be available to Tennessee students.” This includes:

  • 10,000 scholarships for students at or below 300% of income qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA [Education Savings Account] program.
  • 10,000 additional scholarships available to a universal pool of students entitled to attend a public school.

The scholarships, amounting to a little over $7,000, can be used for tuition and fees at a private school of a family’s choice, along with textbooks, instructional materials and uniforms at the private school. Money can also be used for transportation, tutoring and computer technology for educational needs.

In addition, “There will be an automatic growth trigger of 5,000 additional scholarships for each year after 75% of total scholarships are taken in the prior year.” The bill denies scholarships to students who cannot establish their “lawful presence in the United States.”

The Education Freedom Act was applauded by groups who want parents and families to have more freedom in choosing the education that best fits their children’s needs.

Americans for Prosperity Tennessee State Director Tori Venable released a statement thanking the governor and state legislators who supported the measure, saying, “Today marks a historic moment for Tennessee families and students. We applaud Governor Lee for his work to provide Tennessee kids with the best educational opportunities to fit their individual needs, from crafting this legislation to signing it into law.”

She explained that the organization had “ been a strong advocate for school choice, directly connecting with nearly 200,000 Tennesseans at their doors and over the phone in the past year alone.” Venable added, “We’re proud to see this massive win after combined years of policy and political work to empower parents across the Volunteer State.”

The American Federation for Children also celebrated, with Vice President of Government Affairs Ryan Cantrell saying:

Thanks to their hard work, Tennessee has now joined the ranks of dozens of states taking decisive action to address the gaping holes in our public education system. Parents across the country gave elected leaders a mandate to expand education freedom, and Tennessee has delivered it.

Related articles and resources:

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

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Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

Yesterday, President Trump celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by signing a much-anticipated executive order to protect women’s sports and spaces across the United States.

The signing ceremony was packed with female athletes and other champions for women and girls in the East Room at the White House.

Some more well known female athletes included Riley Gaines and Payton McNabb — the high school volleyball player who was knocked unconscious when a male playing on the opposing girls’ volleyball team spiked a volleyball into her face.

President Trump told attendees that his executive order is about commonsense.

He said, “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.”

The executive order is titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

The order declares that the practice of letting men compete in women’s sports is “demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

The order continues:

Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.

The order is applicable to K-12 public schools, colleges and universities.

At the signing ceremony, President Trump said, “We are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice – if you let men take over woman’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding. There will be no federal funding.”

The order requires the secretary of education “take all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms” and directs the secretary to prioritize enforcement against schools that violate the policy. 

Additionally, the secretary of state is directed to use all appropriate and available measures to convince the Olympics Committee to limit women’s sports to only female athletes.

The order is a victory for every girl and every woman who advocated for a level playing field in sports, talked about fairness in competition, and refused to be silenced or canceled by radical transgender activists.

Earlier this week, a new pro-woman video with Riley Gaines went viral after being shared by J.K. Rowling. The post, featuring the video, got over six million views in the first 36 hours.

President Trump told attendees that the war on women’s sports is over and while that might be true under this Administration there are no guarantees in the next.

The only way forward is to cement this executive order into federal law; legislation to do so was introduced in the House of Representatives last month. 

It is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to protect women’s sports and spaces through statute.

We can never go back to the dark days of the past where women were denied equal opportunities, their safety and security was sacrificed on the altar of gender ideology.

Image from Getty.

Trump Ends Radical Indoctrination, Promotes Education Freedom

President Donald J. Trump signed two significant education-related executive orders on January 29. The first aims to increase educational freedom for families, while the second is designed to stop the indoctrination of children into “radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight.”

The Executive Order Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families directs the Department of Education to “issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives,” and it directs the DOE to prioritize education freedom “in discretionary grant programs.”

The directive explains the need for greater freedom for parents to improve their children’s academic success and provide “the best education for their children”:  

Too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school.

According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.

When only 30% of students are mastering basic subjects like reading and math, something is desperately wrong.

The order goes on to state that when schools fail to educate students, “It hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities.”

The executive order provides more momentum for the growing educational freedom movement. The goals of this movement include giving teachers and schools freedom to innovate, encouraging school transparency, holding schools accountable for educational outcomes, safeguarding parental rights in education, and expanding school choice.

School choice is a vital aspect of educational freedom, offering parents a variety of options for how and where to educate their children. Options include traditional public schools, magnet schools, homeschooling opportunities, charter schools, online learning, private schools and hybrid models, which combine several alternatives.

States that support parents’ rights in education provide funding for these choices through different means, such as scholarships, vouchers, educational savings accounts, tax credits and tax deductions. The best option for parents is when states allow funds to follow students to their schooling choice.

While the federal government doesn’t control state legislatures or boards of education, which set policies, regulations and guidelines in each state, it does provide education dollars to states through a variety of programs. States can’t be forced to increase educational freedom, but the order offers incentives to improve educational freedom through funding from different federal departments.

The second order, Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, first explains some of the activist ideologies that have swept across our educational system and why they are damaging. The order states that parents entrust their children to schools to provide them “with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand.”

Instead, the directive explains, “Parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination.”

The order indicts false, immoral and divisive ideologies like critical race theory and gender ideology, explaining their effect on students:

In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed.

These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.

The order goes on to direct several agencies to collaborate with the attorney general to develop a strategy to end “federal funding or support for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools.”   

In addition, federal agencies must monitor schools that receive federal monies, ensuring that they hold an annual educational program, teach students about the U.S. Constitution on September 17, Constitution Day.

Finally, the executive order reestablishes the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission, which Trump launched in September 2020, appointing Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry P. Arnn to serve as chairman.

One goal for the revived commission is to promote patriotic education, while a second is “to advise and promote the work of the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday (“Task Force 250”) and the United States Semiquincentennial Commission.”

Related articles and resources:

Focus on the Family’s free parenting resource Equipping Parents for Back to School explains issues like educational freedom, parental rights in education, and religious freedom and free speech in schools. It’s a terrific resource for parents who want to advocate for their children and guide them toward academic success.

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Image from Getty.

Will Supreme Court Allow Nation’s First Religious Charter School?

Just in time for Catholic Schools Week, the United States Supreme Court has announced plans to review the constitutionality of a new publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City’s “Saint Isidore of Seville” was supposed to open back in 2023, but a lawsuit has stalled its anticipated opening.

Isidore of Seville, who died in 686 A.D., has been referred to as “the last scholar of the ancient world.” In fact, back in 1997, Pope John Paull II designated Isidore as the patron saint of the internet, an acknowledgement of his significant contributions to communicating vast amounts of knowledge.

But supporters of what would be the nation’s first Christian charter school have faced resistance, including push back from inside the otherwise conservative Oklahoma government.

Gentner Drummond, the Sooner State’s attorney general, has opposed the formation of the institution, suggesting it violates the state constitution.

“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond has warned. 

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has strongly disagreed, suggesting that to prohibit the publicly funded charter school sends a chilling and discriminatory message.

“I’m glad the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing the St. Isidore case,” he wrote last week.

“This stands to be one of the most significant religious and education freedom decisions in our lifetime. I believe our nation’s highest court will agree that denying St. Isidore’s charter based solely on its religious affiliation is flat-out unconstitutional. We’ve seen ugly religious intolerance from opponents of the education freedom movement, but I look forward to seeing our religious liberties protected both in Oklahoma and across the country.”

In crafting the school’s mission statement, organizers made clear that being a Catholic isn’t a prerequisite for admission.

Here’s St. Isidore’s founding aim:

Guided by our Catholic faith, [St. Isidore] serves God and families by spiritually and academically preparing students, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, for lives of intellectual excellence, holiness, and service to others with the ultimate goal of eternal salvation by bringing quality, Catholic education to all parts of Oklahoma. 

Focus on the Family has historically championed the belief that mothers and fathers should be allowed to spend their educational tax dollars as they so wish. Whether at a faith-based school or some other private institution, no parent should be forced to fund the increasingly woke propaganda that’s masquerading these days as age-appropriate public-school curriculum.

We also believe religious organizations should be given the same rights and privileges as any other secular group.

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court voted 7-1 last year to block the school’s opening, agreeing in large part with AG Drummond’s legal reasoning.

Justice Dana Kuehn offered the lone dissent.

“Contracting with a private entity that has religious affiliations, by itself, does not establish a state religion, nor does it favor one religion over another,” Kuehn wrote.

Alliance Defending Freedom’s Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell cheered the High Court’s decision to accept the case.

“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational choices, not fewer,” Campbell wrote. “There’s great irony in state officials who claim to be in favor of religious liberty discriminating against St. Isidore because of its Catholic beliefs.”

He added, “The U.S. Constitution protects St. Isidore’s freedom to operate according to its faith … We’re pleased the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this case, which is of the utmost import to families and children in Oklahoma and throughout the country.”

Back in 2022, the High Court ruled that Maine’s attempt to exclude religious schools from its tuition-assistance program violated the First Amendment. 

Given the Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments this winter or spring, we can expect a decision by summer.

Image from Shutterstock.

Parents Support Core Subjects, Keep Males out of Female Sports

A new poll from Parents Defending Education (PDE) shows what parents support – and oppose – in key education areas such as boys in girls sports and private spaces, educational freedom, and the need for schools to focus on core subjects.

The poll also looked at parents’ views about gender ideology, “grading for equity” to “address racial disparities in grading,” and schools withholding information from parents.

PDE, founded in 2021, describes itself as “a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists promoting harmful agendas.”

The organization publishes an online “IndoctriNation Map,” where parents and concerned citizens publish information about radical activism in public schools. PDE also identifies parent organizations in each state that oppose extreme ideologies and fight for parental rights in education and students’ privacy and safety.

The survey of 1,000 parents across the country with children 18 years old or younger was conducted for PDE by CRC Research.

Almost three-fourths of the parents (73%) were young, between the ages of 18 and 44, and their responses were generally conservative. It’s clear that parents want quality education for their children, free from ideologies that sexualize and confuse them.

Here are some key findings from the survey:

  • 96% of the parents supported educational freedom, agreeing “that parents should be able to choose the best educational option for their child.”
  • While 60% said they would keep their children in their current school, 19% of parents said that, given the option, they would move their children to a different school. Another 16% said they would homeschool their children, given the option.
  • In terms of what schools should teach, 90% of those surveyed said schools should focus “core subject areas, such as math, reading, writing, science and social studies.”
  • 72% of parents somewhat or strongly oppose “‘grading for equity’ to address racial disparities in grading.”
  • Only 14% of parents thought schools were “good” at “enforcing student behavior policies,” while 58% said schools were “fair” and 36% said they were “poor.” 96% of parents want “clearly stated and enforced expectations when it comes to maintaining order in classrooms.”
  • 80% of the parents surveyed disagreed with schools helping children change their “gender identity” without notifying parents, and 75% oppose school employees “withholding information about a child’s gender identity from parents.” 77% want parents to be informed “if their child wants to use a different name or pronoun at school.”
  • Parents want sex-segregated sports and private spaces, with 78% opposing males on girls teams and 77% opposing males who “identify as females” in “female bathrooms and locker rooms and vice versa.”

In a statement about the results, PDE president Nicole Neily commented:

These results highlight that parents are dissatisfied with a number of elements of the modern American education system – and that there is broad-based consensus that it’s time for schools to get back to basics.
For far too long, federal bureaucrats have sacrificed the needs of students and families in order to appease unions’ and activists’ insatiable demands for money and power.

PDE’s director of Outreach, Erika Sanzi, concluded that parents want to be informed when their child struggles with mental health issues like gender identity:

This poll shows overwhelming opposition to school personnel withholding information from parents about their child’s gender identity at school. …
It’s refreshing to see even more confirmation that people think this ubiquitous trend of facilitating gender transitions behind the backs of parents is complete madness and needs to stop.

If you’re concerned about what your child is being taught in school, check out this updated, free resource from Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance: Equipping Parents for Back-to-School.

We want parents to feel confident and equipped to manage issues affecting public – and private and online – schooling. The FREE downloadable resource helps you be aware of what’s going on in your child’s classroom and offers guidance for how to advocate for your child in the school year ahead.

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Image from Shutterstock.