On Friday, FreedomWorks led a coalition letter to House and Senate Republican leadership and the White House from 12 state and national policy organizations as well as nearly two dozen state legislators and candidates nationwide expressing the need for Congress and the administration to bypass half-measures of school choice in favor of instead putting dollars in the hands of families now. Put simply, any educational relief -- new or existing -- should be funneled directly to families instead of channeled into systems. The text of the letter and signers can be found below. A PDF of the letter is available here.

With the school year kicking off soon, many are still wondering what education will even look like. Most school districts have left parents in the dark regarding much of the details surrounding either virtual or in-person learning, and school boards around the nation haven’t even put the basics of schooling to a vote.

At his State of the Union address last week, President Trump highlighted the need for school choice across America, and rightly so. There is nobody who knows better what education is most suitable for their children than parents and the student themselves. Certainly, the government does not know best and we should do all we can to put this decision in the hands of those closest to the students in our communities.

While the impeachment trial continues in the Senate and the House plays partisan games with bills like the upcoming PRO Act, people outside of Washington in “real America” wonder what politicians are actually doing for them. For the answer, this week, they should turn to champions of school choice across the nation, in celebration of National School Choice Week.

When President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2020 was released, many advocates of school choice were thrilled to see the cuts recommended for the Department of Education, to the tune of $7.1 billion. For those who believe that the federal government has no place in determining education policy, a $64 billion budget for the Department of Education is certainly preferable to a $71 billion budget.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the Educational Freedom Accounts Act, H.R. 778. Introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Educational Freedom Accounts Act would expand school choice in the District of Columbia by creating education savings accounts that may be used for any student whose parent chooses not to enroll him or her in the public school system.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and senators and ask them to cosponsor the Student Empowerment Act, H.R. 621 and S. 157. Introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas),. the Student Empowerment Act would further expand 529 education savings accounts to include K-12 elementary and secondary school expenses for public, private, and religious schools, including homeschool students.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor legislation to terminate the Department of Education, H.R. 899. Introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), this bill would do one simple thing -- hand matters of education back to those with whom they belong: state and local communities.