ICYMI: Lankford Highlights Education Freedom During National School Choice Week
WASHINGTON, DC — US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) spoke on the Senate floor yesterday to recognize National School Choice Week and celebrate Pell Grant expansion in the Working Families Tax Cut Act.
“We invested more into Pell Grants and expanded the growth of Pell Grants. Now, you might say, ‘Why does that matter for K through 12?’ Well, Pell grants have been really targeted towards institutions that do what’s called terminal degrees. So, if you’re a kid in poverty and you want to get a degree in philosophy, we would help you do that. But if you’re a kid in poverty and you want to get a certification in welding or in plumbing or in carpentry or as a truck driver, we would say, ‘You’re on your own.’ But what in the world? For years, we’ve been fighting this to be able to say, ‘If we’re going to help somebody, give them more options than just a four-year degree.’ If they want to do certification programs to be able to get into a vocation faster, why wouldn’t we help them do that, to be able to rise out of poverty? We fix that in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, to expand the use of Pell Grants so that more individuals that are in poverty can get access to education that helps them get to a job even faster,” said Lankford on the Senate floor.
You can view the full speech HERE and download it HERE.
Background
The Working Families Tax Cut Act, now law, added new tax benefits that strengthen educational opportunity and affordability for Oklahoma families by expanding the use of Education Savings Accounts, creating a new school choice tax credit, and establishing Workforce Pell Grants for short-term, industry-focused programs that create new academic and career pathways for students.
This week, Lankford joined Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Ashley Moody (FL) in introducing a resolution designating Jan. 25-31, 2026, as National School Choice Week to empower parents and students to choose the best learning environment that best fits their needs.
Lankford remains a strong school-choice and parental rights advocate that puts parents at the helm of their kids’ education. When new rules for charter schools were under consideration during the Biden Administration, he urged the Department of Education to reconsider proposed rules redefining the Charter School Program. He stood firmly for parental rights and school choice when he called for the Senate to immediately pass his resolution to support parents having the freedom to choose the best educational environment for their kids and remain in control of whether or not they want their children exposed to “woke” ideologies at school, including Critical Race Theory and others. Democrats blocked the Senate from unanimously standing up for American parents.
In 2022, Lankford voted on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to disapprove of the Biden Administration’s new rules adding burdensome requirements to charter schools seeking funding.
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