NEW YORK – Applauding a recent executive order that promotes parental choice in education, Bishop David O’Connell highlighted that the order “rightly recognizes that parents are the primary educators of their children.”
President Donald Trump signed the executive order, titled “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families,” on Jan. 29, which tasks his administration to prioritize increasing educational parental choice nationwide through funding, and other initiatives.
“I welcome President Trump’s Executive Order, which takes meaningful steps to expand educational freedom for families across the country. This order rightly recognizes that parents are the primary educators of their children,” O’Connell, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Catholic Education said in a Jan. 31 statement.
“As the Church proclaimed in Gravissimum Educationis, since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate them and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators of their own children,” O’Connell, the bishop of Trenton continued.
Trump said that educational choice for families is the best avenue for educational reform.
“The growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that well-designed education-freedom programs improve student achievement and cause nearby public schools to improve their performance,” Trump said in the executive order.
The executive order first charges the Secretary of Education with issuing guidance on how states can use federal funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives. It also charges the Secretary of Education to make educational freedom a priority in discretionary grant programs, as well as to create with the Secretary of Labor on how to use “relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers.”
Further, the executive order prioritizes expanding educational opportunities – including private and faith-based – for low-income families, military families, and Native American families.
O’Connell applauded this focus.
“Importantly, this order affirms families who seek to choose faith-based educational options,” O’Connell said. “For generations, Catholic schools have enriched America by providing a rigorous education rooted in faith.”
“Our schools are committed to serving all students, regardless of income, and we support policies that ensure families are truly free to choose the educational environment that aligns with their values and meets the needs of their children,” he continued.