Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 13 / Friday, January 22, 2021 / Presidential Documents 6797 

Proclamation 10137 of January 17, 2021 

National School Choice Week, 2021 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

As we mark National School Choice Week, my Administration reaffirms 

its commitment to solving the civil rights issue of our time: educational 

inequity. We have made substantial progress on this front, but we must 

continue our efforts to ensure that each and every family in America has 

the freedom to choose an education that best meets their needs and values. 

Our Nation currently spends more money per pupil than almost every other 

industrialized country in the world, yet nearly two-thirds of our youth 

are not proficient readers, and students across all age groups continue to 

struggle in math. These failures are largely the result of a one-size-fitsall, industrial-style approach to education. Currently, students are assigned 

to schools based on where they live, so only those whose families can 

afford to move to a better-performing school district or can afford private 

school tuition have a choice in the learning environment that best fits 

their child’s needs. That is fundamentally unfair and unjust. All Americans, 

no matter their family income, deserve the opportunity to choose the best 

educational option for them. 

What is often forgotten is that the failures of this rigid arrangement disproportionately affect racial minorities and distressed communities, perpetuating 

a cycle of poverty. We can no longer allow America’s classrooms to be 

an exception to our Nation’s promise of equal opportunity for all. Instead, 

we must provide equal access to a quality education for every American 

student, no matter where they reside. In the land of the free, a child’s 

zip code should never determine their future. 

That is why, I recently issued an Executive Order on Expanding Educational 

Opportunity through School Choice that provides in-person options for lowincome parents forced to send their children to virtual school during the 

pandemic. But we must continue this progress. Therefore, I renew my call 

to the Congress to pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity 

Act, so we can finally take a giant step towards true liberty for students. 

This landmark legislation would give more than 1 million children the 

freedom to attend the school that best fits their needs, and would create 

more than $5 billion in annual tax credits for those who donate to local 

scholarship funds, empowering more families to choose the best educational 

setting for their children. 

I also call on the Congress to pass the School Choice Now Act, which 

will ensure every State can fund elementary and high school scholarship 

programs, so that students do not lose access to their school of choice 

because of economic disruptions. As too many school districts across the 

country refuse to open, these scholarships are needed now more than ever 

so that families unable to afford private tutors or who work during the 

day can still provide an education for their children. 

Education will always be one of the most important factors in a child’s 

future success. That is why I am fighting to empower all families—of all 

races, backgrounds, and incomes—with the freedom and the resources they 

need to make the best decisions for their children. In America, more freedom 

leads to more opportunity—especially in the classroom. By embracing my 


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6798 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 13 / Friday, January 22, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

Administration’s school choice policy, we will make sure that every American student is able to fulfill their God-given potential. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 24 to January 

30, 2021, as National School Choice Week. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth 

day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and 

of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 

and forty-fifth. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01633 

Filed 1–21–21; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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