Trump: School Choice Is The Civil Rights Statement Of The Year

In a press briefing today on an executive order over police reform, President Donald Trump said that “school choice is the civil rights statement of the year.”

“We’re fighting for school choice, which really is the civil rights of all time in this country,” Trump said at the conference. “Frankly, school choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond, because all children have to have access to quality education.”

“A child’s zip code in America should never determine their future, and that’s what was happening. So we’re very, very strong on school choice,” Trump continued.

“School choice” is the term for giving students and families options in K-12 education, usually referring to charter schools and/or vouchers for private schools.

The Trump Administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have been strong proponents of school choice, pushing policies that would favor charter schools and vouchers.

And that hasn’t changed in the pandemic. Recently, DeVos announced that she would require public school districts to use emergency funds from the CARES Act on private school students in their districts. Republican members of Congress even wrote to DeVos disagreeing with her guidance.

Many found Trump’s statement off-putting, given that the press conference was supposed to address police reform amid protests of police brutality in recent weeks after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Monday marked three weeks since George Floyd was killed by police.

Access to education is certainly a civil rights issue, but it is hard to compare that with the recent deaths. Many also disagree on the benefits of school choice, particularly as it relates to civil rights issues.

Trump’s comments today echoed his remarks at a roundtable last week. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, went to Twitter to express her disapproval with the statement then. “It’s worth noting that school vouchers grew out of segregation,” she said. “So yeah, it’s a civil rights issue, but not in the way he thinks.”

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