President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to give greater opportunity to Hispanic Americans on Thursday, focusing particularly on Hispanic Americans’ access to good schooling.
The order comes as the latest move in Trump’s ongoing push for school choice, which he says is a key tool for addressing racial inequity in the United States. The order establishes the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, which will focus on “improving Hispanic Americans’ access to educational and economic opportunities, exploring and promoting opportunities for Hispanic Americans both through and outside traditional education options,” the White House told the Daily Caller. (RELATED: White House Praises SCOTUS For Striking Down State Law Banning Aid To Religious Schools)
“I’m going to fight to ensure that every Hispanic American parent has the freedom and the right to send your child to the public, private, charter, faith-based, magnet, home, or independent school of your choice,” Trump said in the Rose Garden on Thursday. “No American student should ever be trapped in a failing government school.” (RELATED: ‘Mommy And Daddy’ Escort ‘Antifa Kid’ Suspected Of Kicking Off Riot To Turn Himself In)
Trump appointed John Sanchez, the former Lt. Gov. of New Mexico, as the initiative’s executive director. The order also establishes the President’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Prosperity, which, in addition to advising the President, will seek to expand Hispanic access to “apprenticeships, internships, fellowships, mentorships, and work-based learning initiatives,” according to the White House.
School choice allows parents to choose which public school their child will attend, rather than having their child assigned to a school based on where the family lives. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has focused many of her efforts on expanding school choice since she joined the Trump administration in 2017, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: NH Dem Backtracks After Saying School Choice Only Works For The ‘Well Educated’)
President Trump:
“School choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond. Because all children have to have access to a quality education. A child’s ZIP code in America should never determine their future.”pic.twitter.com/BE5d8Vccq0
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 16, 2020
“School choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade and probably beyond,” Trump said at a White House press conference in June. “Because all children have to have access to a quality education. A child’s ZIP code in America should never determine their future.”
Text of the order has yet to be released.