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 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.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Student Empowerment Act, S. 3102, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). This bill will further expand 529 education savings accounts to include K-12 elementary and secondary school expenses for public, private, and religious schools, including homeschool students.

“And at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead.” This is music to the ears of advocates for federalism, school choice, and, frankly, for student success everywhere. These words came directly from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos last week at a conference in DC titled “Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned,” held by the free-enterprise think tank American Enterprise Institute.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and representative and ask them to support the Educational Freedom Accounts Act, S.2163 and H.R.4576, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). The bill 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 ask him or her to support the Higher Education Reform and Opportunity (HERO ) Act, H.R. 4274. Introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), the HERO Act would allow state lawmakers to tailor education programs to the unique needs of students by developing their own system for accrediting educational institutions instead of being restricted by the one-size-fits-all approach of the federal Department of Education.

As education reform has become more than a priority under Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, the conflict between supporters and opponents of school choice, designed to place more educational choice back into the hand of families, continues to escalate. While the debate itself revolves around making the best decision for the educational success of students, the opposition to school choice comes primarily from teachers unions like the NEA (National Education Association) and the very vocal AFT (American Federation of Teachers), which have each donated over $700 million to exclusively Democrat candidates, issue campaigns, and lobbying efforts.