Trump is pushing 'school choice,' but some Republicans aren't on board

"School choice" is a Trump priority that has divided Republicans, drawing support from parents' rights advocates but opposition from rural communities.

Tyler Hansford, superintendent of schools in rural Union, Mississippi, voted for Donald Trump three times.   

But Hansford, 36, who leads a district of just under 1,000 students, disagrees with the president on one big issue: using public money to send children to private schools.   

"School choice," as its proponents call it, is a Trump priority that has divided Republicans, drawing support from many conservative governors who see it as an issue of parents’ rights but opposition from small communities concerned about losing much-needed public school funding. In his state, Hansford worries that a proposed private school tuition support bill wouldn’t help local families who are unable to drive to reach those schools and may not find the special education services they rely on once they get there.  

“How is it ‘choice’ when there’s no transportation or special education services provided?” Hansford wrote recently on Facebook about the Mississippi bill. “School choice with no transportation for families without a car is no choice at all.” 

Last month, Trump signed an executive order directing the Education Department to identify ways federal funding could support students attending private and faith-based schools. On social media, he has urged legislators in Texas and Idaho to pass proposals to create private school vouchers or similar programs, and Linda McMahon, his nominee for education secretary, has backed the programs, as well.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/trump-pushing-school-choice-rural-republicans-rcna192601

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