‘Golden age of education just beginning’: Trump touts school choice victories as academic year begins

President Donald Trump is touting what his administration has done to advance school choice and restore parental rights as school starts and midterms loom.

At an event Monday in the White House Rose Garden, Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon discussed the administration’s stripping of federal funding from schools that promote “radical” ideas such as gender ideology or critical race theory, expanding parental rights and promoting patriotic education.

McMahon wished parents a “wonderful” school year after listing how the Trump administration differs from the Biden administration over school choice and parental rights.

“After the Biden administration allowed schools to secretly transition students without parents’ knowledge, President Trump is defending parental rights like never before,” McMahon said, adding that the Trump administration will cut federal funding to any school district that is “subject[ing] children to radical experiments.”

Her department is also working with the Justice Department to ensure that “no school district ever has more power over a child than their own parents,” she said. “Children belong to their parents, not the federal government.”

McMahon argued that Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit, created through the July 2025 Working Families Tax Cuts legislation, marked the largest national expansion of school choice in history. The act established a new federal tax credit worth up to $1,700 per donor, with donations providing scholarships for tuition and educational materials for private and public school students.

Nearly 52 million students are eligible for the tax credit, and over 30 states have opted in or signaled intent to do so, according to the Education Department.

Trump also championed his “Freedom 250 mobile museums,” trucks showcasing American exceptionalism for the 250^th anniversary of the U.S., noting that students from 3,750 schools are learning from them.

“We’re teaching our children to love America – not to hate America,” Trump said. “We’re restoring high standards and the pursuit of excellence. And we’re proving that the golden age of American education is just beginning.”