Of all the attacks on valuable things that Donald Trump is mounting — on free speech, financial reporting standards, climate regulation, relations with allies — one of the most dangerous is his assault on K-12 public education in the US.
The White House, along with many Republicans, would like to see the Department of Education disbanded and schooling in America privatised with a voucher system that would give parents public money to pay for independent school tuition. Not only does this pull resources away from already underfunded public schools, but it tends to support well-off families and religious schools disproportionately.
So I had a rare moment of pleasant surprise amid a truly dismal news cycle when I read, a few days ago, that Republican efforts to promote school vouchers have so far done very little to lower enrolment in public schools. A new study by Tulane University academics found that in the 11 states that had adopted vouchers since 2021, the system had only increased enrolment in private schools by about 3-4 per cent.