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.

FreedomWorks is proud to honor Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as our member of the month for April 2020. Rep. Norman represents South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, which encompasses the north-central part of the state. First elected in a June 2017 special election to succeed Mick Mulvaney, who became director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Norman has proven to be a strong ally for liberty, holding a 100 percent score on the FreedomWorks Scorecard and has won our FreedomFighter Award twice.

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.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently released its annual crime statistics report. There hasn’t been much media coverage of the report, but it does show the violent crime rate in 2018 was at its second-lowest point since this particular crime metric peaked in 1991. Generally, crime rates fell across the board compared to 2017.

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.