Parental role in a child’s education ‘rightly’ affirmed by executive order, say US bishops
John Lavenburg/Crux• February 1, 2025
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out in favour of the recent presidential executive order that promotes parental choice in education.
Speaking for the conference, Bishop David O’Connell highlighted that the order “rightly recognises that parents are the primary educators of their children”.
President Donald Trump signed the executive order, titled “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families”, on 29 January. It tasks his administration to prioritise increasing educational parental choice nationwide through funding, and other initiatives.
“I welcome President Trump’s Executive Order, which takes meaningful steps to expand educational freedom for families across the country,” O’Connell, the bishop of Trenton and chair of the USCCB Committee on Catholic Education, said in a 31 January statement. “This order rightly recognises that parents are the primary educators of their children.”
He continued”: “As the Church proclaimed in Gravissimum Educationis, since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate them and therefore must be recognised as the primary and principal educators of their own children.”
President Trump said that educational choice for families is the best avenue for educational reform.
“The growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that well-designed education-freedom programs improve student achievement and cause nearby public schools to improve their performance,” Trump said in the executive order.
The executive order first charges the Secretary of Education – Linda McMahon, President Trump’s nominee for the role, is still pending Senate confirmation – with issuing guidance on how states can use federal funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives (in the K-12 system, education typically starts around age five with kindergarten and ends around age 18 with twelfth grade).
It also charges the Secretary of Education to make educational freedom a priority in discretionary grant programs, as well as to cooperate with the Secretary of Labour, Julie Su, on how to use “relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers”.
Furthermore, the executive order prioritises expanding educational opportunities – including private and faith-based – for low-income families, military families and Native American families.
O’Connell applauded this focus.
“Importantly, this order affirms families who seek to choose faith-based educational options,” O’Connell said. “For generations, Catholic schools have enriched America by providing a rigorous education rooted in faith.
“Our schools are committed to serving all students, regardless of income, and we support policies that ensure families are truly free to choose the educational environment that aligns with their values and meets the needs of their children.”
Photo: Linda McMahon meets with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 9 December 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.)