The Impact of the Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families Executive Order on afterschool and summer learning programs

This week several additional Executive Orders were announced by the Trump Administration in addition to the Orders put in place last week. Two new Orders, on Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families (January 29) and Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling (January 29)could have impacts on afterschool, summer learning and youth development programs. Below is our initial review of the Executive Order on Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families. Additional blogs will be forthcoming on other Orders.  

Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families aims to enhance access to a diverse range of educational options. The order's primary focus is on broadening school choice, but a number of components could have implications for afterschool and summer learning programs. The Order emphasizes school choice, including public charter schools, private school options, and alternatives such as homeschooling, with a goal of empowering parents to choose the educational environment that best meets their child’s needs. The Order directs the Secretary of Education, within 60 days, to issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives. Depending on that eventual guidance, this could have broad implications for all public schools and those that serve low-income students as Title I formula funds are an important funding source. In addition to Title I funding, which can support afterschool and summer learning, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs (Title IV Part B) and the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV A) are formula funds that could be subject to any new guidance. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislates the formulas and eligible entities for the formula grants. New guidance from the Secretary would have to comply with that law.   

The Order also directs the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Labor to, within 90 days, submit a plan to include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. Discretionary grants like Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grants and Perkins Innovation and Modernization Grants are typically adjusted each Administration to reflect new priorities. From an afterschool perspective, as part of the push to expand educational opportunities and emphasize parent choice, the order encourages investment in non-traditional educational settings. This could lead to more resources for existing afterschool and summer programs, as well as the creation of new initiatives that aim to close achievement gaps for underserved communities. 

The Order goes beyond the Department of Education and Labor and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance regarding whether and how States receiving block grants for families and children from HHS, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGB), can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options. Currently, CCDBG vouchers can be used by parents to pay for school-age care and programs, including private, not for profit, for-profit, faith-based, and home care settings.  

The Executive Order also extends to the Secretary of Defense and  Secretary of the Interior asking them to look at grants and funding mechanisms for Department of Defense schools and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools to allow the use of their Federal funding for educational options of parents’ choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, for the 2025-26 school year.