本周，随着数十万学生重返校园，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与教育部长琳达·麦克马洪周一在白宫联合举办了一场“重返校园”活动。
然而，政府在此次活动中大肆庆祝的“政绩”，不仅包括在支持“择校权”方面取得的进展，更着重凸显了他们为废除教育部所付出的努力。
周一下午在玫瑰园举行的活动由特朗普、麦克马洪及相关支持者领衔。活动重点宣传了特朗普基于《工薪家庭减税法案》推行的教育改革，以及麦克马洪为将教育部的职责交还给各州而采取的持续行动。
麦克马洪表示，总统致力于将父母“重新请回他们理应坐回的主驾驶座上”，并“以前所未有的力度捍卫父母的权利”。她指出：“按照总统的指示，我们正与司法部密切合作，确保任何学区对儿童的决定权都不会超过其亲生父母。”
家长权利倡导者蒂芙尼·贾斯蒂斯（Tiffany Justice）对政府将教育选择权置于优先位置的做法表示赞赏。她在一份发给美国广播公司（ABC News）的声明中表示：“特朗普总统的态度一向十分明确：每位家长都拥有指导子女教育的根本权利。在他的领导下，在麦克马洪部长的带领下，本届政府正坚定地让父母掌握主导权——扩大真正的择校权，让家庭而非官僚来决定什么对孩子最好。”
周一也是华盛顿特区及其他主要学区公立学校学生的开学第一天。
特朗普大力宣扬了他的教育政策，特别是税收抵免和扩大择校权。政府将“择校权”列为优先事项。这是一种日益普遍的做法，允许公共教育资金跟随学生流向家庭选择的学校或学习环境。同时，政府呼吁家庭离开那些被其认定为“失败”的公立学校，因为当前学生面临着历史性的学业退步和落后的考试成绩。
多年来，“择校权”一直是教育界的热词，其核心含义就是让家长主导孩子的教育。然而，一些教育倡导者认为，这会掏空公立学校的资金，并将资源输送给私立学校。
消除联邦官僚主义和华盛顿对教育的监管是特朗普的竞选承诺，麦克马洪将其称为自己的“终极使命”。总统已指示麦克马洪采取法律允许的一切必要步骤解散教育部，从而“让自己失去工作”。
自获确认以来，麦克马洪已与多个机构建立合作以共同管理该部的职责，并通过裁减近一半的员工大幅削弱了该部门的力量。
一年多来，教育部一直敦促各州州长参与总统税法中的择校模式。该税法规定，自2027年起，将为个人和企业提供慈善捐赠激励，以资助奖学金，用于支付学生K-12（从幼儿园到高中）公立和私立教育的相关费用。
该机构还向各州发放了20多项无限制豁免，不仅赠予各州数百万美元的联邦资金，还取消了部分联邦要求，从而减少了政府援助所附带的限制条件。
尽管白宫辩称，大多数美国学生和家庭都有资格从择校计划中受益，并享受更低的教育成本，但批评人士担心，总统这项庞大法案中的相关条款可能会导致传统公立学校系统失去资金或遭受重创。
随着该机构重新调整方向以将权力归还给地方社区和家庭，教育专家强调，在美国，教育本身就已经是一个地方层面的问题。平均而言，全国约90%的公立学校资金由州和地方教育机构提供。
与此同时，保守派认为，该税法为家庭提供了更多选择，而非更少。教育政策分析师科琳·赫龙奇奇（Colleen Hroncich）此前在接受美国广播公司采访时表示，选择公立特许学校、私立学校、家庭教育或微型学校等传统公立教育替代方案的家庭数量出现了“上升”，这些家庭对此感到不满。
赫龙奇奇来自自由意志主义智库卡托研究所（Cato Institute）的教育自由中心。她指出，由于新冠疫情期间的学校停课，这些替代教育选项的受欢迎程度有所上升。
在活动中，特朗普还宣传了他为改变学校课程和解决性别问题而出台的政策。
特朗普表示：“因此，我一上任就签署了一项行政命令，禁止在公立学校教授批判性种族理论和跨性别意识形态。这是一件大事。我们还禁止男性参加女子体育比赛。这做起来太容易了。”
他还特别提到了第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普发起的“培育未来”（Fostering the Future）倡议，并感谢他的妻子“帮助改变了那些即将超龄离开寄养系统的儿童和年轻人的生活”。
Trump admin touts efforts to shut down Education Department as school year begins
With hundreds of thousands of students returning to classrooms this week， President Donald Trump and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon hosted a ＂Back to School＂ event at the White House on Monday．
But the ＂wins＂ the administration is celebrating include highlighting their efforts to shut the department down as well as progress on bolstering school choice．
The event in the Rose Garden on Monday afternoon was headlined by Trump， McMahon and supporters of these efforts．The event touted the president＇s education reforms from the Working Families Tax Cuts Act andMcMahon＇s continued actions to return Department of Education responsibilities back to the states．
McMahon discussed the president’s commitment to putting parents “back in the driver＇s seats where they rightfully belong＂ and ＂defending parental rights like never before．＂
＂At his direction， we are working hand in hand with the Department of Justice to ensure no school district ever has more power over a child than their own parents，” McMahon noted．
Parental rights advocate Tiffany Justice praised the administration for prioritizing choice in education．
＂President Trump has always been crystal clear： every parent has the fundamental right to direct their children’s education，＂ Justice told ABC News in a statement． ＂Under his leadership， and with Secretary Linda McMahon at the helm， this administration is putting parents firmly in the driver’s seat -- expanding real school choice so families， not bureaucrats， decide what’s best for their kids．＂
Monday is the first day back for public school students in Washington， D．C．， and other major school systems．
Trump touted his policies around education， especially tax credits and more access for school choice． The administration has prioritized school choice -- a growing practice that allows public education funds to follow students to the schools or learning environments families choose -- and urged families to leave what they contend are failing public schools amidhistoric learning lossandlagging test scoresfor students．
School choice has become a buzzword in education circles over the years and can simply mean putting parents in charge of their child＇s education． However， some education advocates contend that it helps to gut public school funding and funnel resources to private schools．
Removing federal bureaucracy and Washington oversight from education was a campaign pledge for Trump that McMahonhas called her ＂final mission．＂The president directed McMahon to put herself out of a job by dissolving the department using all necessary steps permitted by law．
Since her confirmation， McMahon haspartnered with several agencies that can co-manage the department＇s responsibilitiesand severely gutted the department＇s workforce byslicing its staff nearly in half．
For more than a year， the Education Department has urged states＇ governors to opt in to the school choice model within the president＇s tax law． The tax law provides a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to fund scholarship awards for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education starting in 2027．
The agency has also handed out more than two dozen unrestricted waivers to states，gifting them millions of federal dollarsand dropping certain federal requirements so that fewer strings are attached to the aid they receive from the government．
While the White House argues that most American students and families will be eligible to benefit from its school choice program and will benefit from lower costs， critics fear that the provision within the president＇s megabill could defund or harm the traditional public school system．
As the agency is reoriented torestore power to local communities and families， education experts stress that education is already a local-level issue in the U．S． On average， state and local education agencies provide about 90% of public school funding across the country．
Meanwhile， conservatives argue that the tax law provides more options for families -- not less． Education Policy Analyst Colleen Hroncich previously told ABC News there has been an ＂uptick＂ in frustrated families who have chosen alternatives to traditional public education， such as public charter， private， home and microschooling．
Hroncich， of the libertarian think-tank the Cato Institute＇s Center for Educational Freedom， noted that there was a rise in popularity for these options during the COVID-19 pandemic because of school closures．
At the event， Trump also touted policies he put in place to change curriculum and address gender issues in schools．
＂So immediately upon taking office， I signed an executive order to ban critical race theory， and to ban transgender ideology from public schools． That was a big deal． We banned men from playing in women＇s sports． That was so easy to do，” Trump said．
He also highlighted First Lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative， thanking his wife for “helping transform the lives of children and young people aging out of the foster care system．”
