President Donald Trump didn鈥檛 coin the phrase 鈥済overnment schools.鈥� But he gave it a big stage and a broader public audience , when he used it to urge Congress to back a bill that would provide $5 billion in tax credits to support scholarships for private school admission, tutoring, and other educational services.
鈥淭he next step forward in building an inclusive society is making sure that every young American gets a great education and the opportunity to achieve the American Dream,鈥� he said, championing a bill that has had little traction in Congress. 鈥淵et, for too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools.鈥�
Some fans of private school choice liked his use of the term. However, public school supporters saw it not as a benign descriptor, but as a carefully crafted pejorative.
So how did it turn up in such a high-profile address? And what might the president have been trying to communicate through his word choice?
The phrase dates back decades to the earliest origins of the school choice movement. It鈥檚 been used by both economists like Milton Friedman, who argued free market ideas would strengthen education, and by proponents of faith-based education. 鈥淕overnment schools鈥� even once turned up in the writings of a pope. Today, it鈥檚 most notably used by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and groups that fervently advocate for alternatives to traditional public schools.
To listeners like public school organizations and teachers鈥� union leaders, the use of the term seemed intentionally provocative, especially in light of conservatives鈥� distrust of government and desire to reduce its reach. The term also seems to paint some public schools with a broad, impersonal brush.
And the word choice sought to change the orientation of the debate, said Kevin Welner, professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education and director of the , an organization that is critical of private school choice programs. Rather than presenting vouchers or tax-credit scholarships as an option to allow families to select an alternative to a public school, Trump鈥檚 language painted the failure to provide such options as limiting students鈥� freedom.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a focus group tested term that is attempting to reframe what we understand as our societal obligation to our kids,鈥� Welner said.
鈥淭he counter rhetoric would agree with the basic idea that there are a lot of kids who do not have good educational opportunities and that their public schools are not helping very much and are, in some cases, hurting,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut they would say: Why not take the $5 billion a year that President Trump wants to put into these neo vouchers and put it instead into educational interventions in these schools that are of concern 鈥攖oward educational interventions that have been shown to help children?鈥�
But others said the term was the most appropriate and accurate one Trump could have used.
鈥淐alling these schools 鈥榩ublic鈥� is inaccurate for a few reasons,鈥� wrote Corey DeAngelis, the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute, . 鈥淔or one, these schools are not open to all members of the public. Because children are generally assigned to schools in the United States by residence, government-run schools regularly exclude students based on their ZIP codes.鈥�
Origins of 鈥淕overnment 69传媒鈥�
鈥済overnment schools鈥� in his influential 1955 paper on government and schools.
鈥淚n terms of effects, the denationalization of education would widen the range of choice available to parents,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淕iven, as at present, that parents can send their children to government schools with out special payment, very few can or will send them to other schools unless they too are subsidized.鈥�
The phrase has a long history in both scholarship about school choice and in messaging policies like private school vouchers, said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College.
鈥淚t鈥檚 had this history that鈥檚 been tied to one sector that鈥檚 really animated by economic principles and ideas, kind of the wonky economic market stuff like the Milton Friedman folks,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 the part of that community that鈥檚 been animated by religious autonomy and prayer in schools. Those folks aren鈥檛 necessarily the same, but they both use of the term. And I think Trump鈥檚 more instinctually reacting to the elements of that that are tied to protecting religion and the rights of institutions and inviduals to act based on their religious beliefs.鈥�
DeVos, an outspoken supporter of publicly funded private-school vouchers and tax credit-scholarships who has privately contributed to advocacy groups, has used the term, or something similar, when speaking to both ideological wings of the choice movement.
On her back-to-school tour last fall, she sought to drum up support for the federal Education Freedom Scholarships proposal by telling parents that, if their 鈥済overnment-assigned school isn鈥檛 working for your child, you can take him or her anywhere else.鈥�
But, in a 2018 speech to the Catholic Alfred E. Smith Foundation, she quoted
鈥淎ccordingly, unjust and unlawful is any monopoly, educational or scholastic, which, physically or morally, forces families to make use of government schools, contrary to the dictates of their Christian conscience, or contrary even to their legitimate preferences,鈥� that writing said.
DeVos, who herself attended faith-based schools, linked the pope鈥檚 writings from decades ago to U.S. policy today.
鈥淭here are many in Washington who seem to think that because of their power there, they are in a position to make decisions on behalf of parents everywhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n that troubling scenario, the school building replaces the home, the child becomes a constituent and the state replaces the family.鈥�
DeVos, or one of their aides at the U.S. Department of Education, likely had some input into the framing of Trump鈥檚 speech. State of the Union speeches are generally drafted with input from a wide array of government agencies. Trump has also used the phrase many times before,
The word choice comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a major education case that could open the door for more state-level efforts to publicly fund private schools. DeVos sat in the front row for oral arguments last month as the Trump administration argued in support of Montana parents who argued Montana parents who argued in that the state violated their religious liberty when it prohibited recipients of state-level tax-credit scholarships from using them at religious schools.
Changing the Debate
Word choice is very intentional in policy debates, including debates over education, Welner said. He pointed to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which developed a long-term strategy to advocate for private school choice in Michigan. In a 1999 primer, that organization advised careful . It laid out a four-fold justification for the use of the term 鈥済overnment schools,鈥� arguing that the term was 鈥渁 more accurate and descriptive way to distinguish politicized, tax-funded schools from privately funded schools and forms of education.鈥�
鈥淚f you shift the discourse, then the policies will follow,鈥� Welner said.
The phrase has also been popularized in state-level debates, like arguments over
It鈥檚 useful for Trump to paint public schools as a broad, impersonal institution, Henig said. That鈥檚 because public polling shows that Americans generally support their local public schools, he said.
Data from PDK International鈥檚 annual poll about public perceptions of education finds respondents consistently rate their own local public school more highly than the nation鈥檚 public education system as a whole.
And the terminology also serves to link a very specific policy area鈥攅ducation鈥攖o broader, more general themes Trump has sought to emphasize in his presidency, Henig said. Those themes include deregulation and a distrust of government institutions.
鈥淧eople like a president, but also like a governor or even a mayor, they鈥檙e running on multiple issues at the same time,鈥� Henig said. 鈥淎nd in these big national battles, it鈥檚 really attractive to a candidate, whether other on the right or left have some themes that cut across issues. People can see the connection, right? 鈥楪overnment schools鈥� connects very well with socialism, socialized medicine, right? 鈥榃e鈥檙e the guys who are against government intrusion and bureaucracy. We are the guys who are for you being empowered to make choices that matter for you.鈥� So it makes it easier to tie together some disparate positions.鈥�
Photo: School choice supporters from eight schools demonstrate front of the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue in January--Graeme Sloan/Education Week