The Bottom Line

Parents, as your children head back to school, remember this: You know and love your child best. You are your child’s first and most important educator. You have a right to know what your child is being taught, what information the school is keeping about your child, and what decisions are being made that affect your child. Recent court decisions and federal protections have strengthened parental rights. Here are four rights every parent should know, and what you can do to exercise them: You Have the Right to Opt Out Know Your Right: Parents have constitutional protections when school instruction conflicts with their religious beliefs. Recent Supreme Court decisions have strengthened parents’ ability to receive notice and opt their children out Read More ›

Keri D. Ingraham joined the Tiffany Meier Tonight show on NTD News on September 2 to encourage parents to take an active role in their children’s education and offer practical recommendations for staying engaged throughout the school year. Ingraham emphasized that parents know and love their children best and will remain their most important advocates long after the school year ends.

President Donald Trump’s recent White House “Back to School and Education Freedom Event” showcased the extraordinary progress his administration has made in just a year and a half to replace federal overreach with parental empowerment and education freedom. As President Trump declared in his remarks, “We’re systematically ending every single one of these radical left betrayals, and we’re putting the parents back in charge. They’re the ones that love our children. They’re the ones that should be in charge.” President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon understand the fundamental truth that parents, not distant government bureaucrats, belong in the driver’s seat of their children’s education. One of the Trump administration’s most consequential achievements is the nation’s first Education Freedom Tax Credit scholarship program, Read More ›

For far too long, Washington has expanded its control over K-12 education while student learning has continued to decline. However, President Trump is changing course by returning education to the states, advancing education freedom, and restoring parents’ rightful authority over their children’s education. After decades of federal overreach, a long-overdue hard reset for American education is underway. The U.S. Department of Education has been a 45-year, astronomically expensive failure. More than $3 trillion has been spent without improving student learning. While states receive only about 10% of their education funding from the federal government, those dollars bring a disproportionate burden of rules, regulations, and bureaucracy. The result is less freedom to innovate, higher costs, and decision-making increasingly removed from students, parents, and local Read More ›

Keri D. Ingraham appeared on Newsmax to discuss the continued advancement of school choice under the Trump Administration. Ingraham addresses the 45-year failure of the U.S. Department of Education and why returning education to the states is crucial for the improvement of academic outcomes. She also explains the exciting new Education Freedom Tax Credit and how Americans can contribute to a scholarship-granting organization to help children and, in turn, receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit up to $1,700 a year. This interview followed Ingraham’s participation in Monday’s “Back to School and Education Freedom Event” at the White House.

Keri D. Ingraham joined White House Correspondent Daniel Baldwin on One America News on Tuesday to discuss her participation in President Trump’s “Back to School and Education Freedom Event” at the White House on August 24. Ingraham explained how the Education Freedom Tax Credit works, the federal government’s ongoing efforts to return education to the states and empower parents, and the importance of restoring academic excellence in K-12 education.

On August 24, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and American Center for Transforming Education Director Keri D. Ingraham participated in the “Back to School and Education Freedom Event,” hosted at the White House by invitation of President Trump. The event brought together students, parents, educators, policymakers, and education leaders from across the country to celebrate historic wins for education freedom, the protection of parental rights, and working to move K-12 education control out of Washington and back to the states where it rightfully belongs. From the steps outside the Oval Office, President Trump greeted guests seated in the Rose Garden and delivered remarks. He noted that our country’s education has been “weaponized against the goals that we all stand for.” More Read More ›

A poll by the Cato Institute found that over 60% of Americans aged 18-29 hold a “favorable view” of socialism, with 34% saying the same of communism. By contrast, 98% of those age 65 and over have an “unfavorable” view of communism. This shift did not emerge overnight. With an anti-capitalist and anti-free-market worldview taught in K-12 education, Gen Z has been conditioned to view socialism not just favorably but as superior to capitalism, free enterprise, and free markets. At the same time, rising housing costs, inflation, and affordability concerns have made promises like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s government-owned grocery stores, rent freezes, and universal child care sound like solutions. If we want future generations to preserve America’s prosperity, students must learn why capitalism Read More ›

Last week, Iowa led the nation with the first Workforce Pell Grant program in the country approved by the U.S. Department of Education. According to a press release from the Department, it is “a major milestone in expanding faster, more affordable pathways to careers in high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations.” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds explained that “Now, the Workforce Pell program will allow schools to fast-track students within eight to 15 weeks into rewarding careers with little-to-no debt, expanding high-quality career opportunities and paving the way to a stronger and more resilient economy.” Director of the Iowa Department of Education McKenzie Snow said, “With the nation’s first Workforce Pell application, Iowa will identify postsecondary programs with the best completion, employment, and earnings outcomes, ensuring students get a Read More ›

Nearly 60 years after Congress outlawed housing discrimination, the federal government has had to remind America’s colleges and universities that racial segregation is still illegal. That fact alone should alarm every American. This summer, Craig Trainor, assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), issued a Dear Colleague letter reminding colleges and universities of an important legal and moral principle. In the letter, Trainor wrote: “The law is clear: When educational institutions permit the existence of racially segregated student housing — or openly encourage separation on the basis of race, color, or national origin, advertise a discriminatory preference, or have policies that discourage students from one race, ethnicity, or nationality Read More ›

Keri D. Ingraham appeared on NTD Evening News on August 2 to discuss the rising monopoly of the American mind. Ingraham explained that school choice is needed to counteract the widespread promotion of socialism and communism in public schools. She went on to explain why capitalism and free markets are superior, given the examples throughout history of human flourishing under systems that allow for individual freedom rather than top-down control.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson’s warning remains timely today. A free people will not remain free if they do not understand the ideas that protect freedom. As we continue to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary this year, it’s an important time to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future. As we consider the future of our country, it is imperative that our nation evaluates the education of its citizens. How we educate our next generation will determine the direction our country heads. Today, the majority of students exit K-12 public education without achieving basic proficiency across academic subjects, Read More ›