K-12 education

The Trump Administration continues to take decisive action to address the national K-12 public education crisis, ensuring a change of course from the dire status quo. The latest action occurred on May 7th when the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education sent a letter to all state education chiefs, which opened by stating: “Parents should never worry about their child’s safety at school.” Continuing the letter read: “All children deserve to attend a safe school in which they can focus on mastering the literacy, mathematics, and other skills necessary for success in school and beyond.” Yet, violence has become commonplace in American public schools. For example, during the 2021-2022 school year, schools reported roughly 1.2 million violent offenses to the U.S. Read More ›

On April 16, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and American Center for Transforming Education Director Keri D. Ingraham delivered a 45-minute speech at a Women of Washington dinner event. The speech was followed by a time for questions and answers. Approximately a hundred people attended the special event held in Bellevue, Washington. The following is an excerpt from Ingraham’s speech: As President Ronald Reagan famously said in his March 30, 1961, speech: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with Read More ›

Controversy has reared its head again in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) in California. The district recently convened a special board meeting to deliberate on its Ethnic Studies curriculum and the potential renewal of a contract with Community Responsive Education (CRE). As I reported last month, the State of California previously rejected the draft Ethnic Studies curriculum co-authored by CRE founder and director Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, which was deemed to promote antisemitism and neo-Marxist ideology. Though the district’s multi-stage contract with CRE was canceled in 2023 amidst the controversy, Tintiangco-Cubales’s ideas live on. No wonder many are concerned that PVUSD is considering a renewed contract with CRE. The meeting made it clear that PVUSD was fully aware of the nature of CRE’s philosophy Read More ›

Keri D. Ingraham appeared on NTD News on April 8, 2025, to discuss the continued changes to the Department of Education. Dr. Ingraham debated Educate President and former teacher Stacey Schultz on concerns about the transfer of student loans to the Small Business Administration, whether the dismantling of the Department of Education will benefit educators, and how education can be improved nationally.

The Trump administration hit the ground running, reforming education in America. Most recently, President Trump signed the “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” executive order. The order calls for the Secretary of Education to take all steps lawful to move toward closing the U.S. Department of Education and return authority to the states. According to a press release from the Department of Education, among other things, “Teachers will be unshackled from burdensome regulations and paperwork, empowering them to get back to teaching basic subjects.” This is a vital step forward for educators nationwide. However, the teacher education reforms that are needed must not stop there. Recently, Vivek Ramaswamy penned an article for The Wall Street Journal titled “Some Teachers Read More ›

On Thursday, President Trump announced from the East Room in the White House, “We are going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs. And this is a very popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it is a common sense thing to do, and it is going to work. Absolutely, it is going to work.” “Today we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making… I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education once and for all.” Continuing, the president said, “Everyone knows it is right. And we have to get our children educated.” Since taking office, 50% of the positions at the department have Read More ›

On Thursday, Keri D. Ingraham, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, was at the White House at the invitation of President Trump for the “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” executive order unveiling and signing ceremony. “It was an incredible honor to receive this special invitation to the White House and recognition as an education freedom champion in our country from the President of the United States. While at the White House, I had the pleasure of speaking with Governors Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Kim Reynolds, Bill Lee, Jeff Landry, Mike Braun, Mike DeWine, Brad Little, and Jim Pillen, among many others. It was a great day for the nation, taking an essential step in Read More ›

On March 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. Keri D. Ingraham attended the signing as a guest of the President. Afterward, she appeared on NTD News Today to discuss the executive order. She covered concerns about interruption in service to our nation’s schoolchildren, the failure of big government to improve student learning, the advantages of decentralizing education, and the future possibility of fully abolishing the Department of Education.