The orders are likely to strain against the limits of the federal government’s role in K-12 education, a role that Mr. Trump has said should be reduced.
That paradox is a “confounding” one, said Derrell Bradford, president of 50CAN, a nonpartisan group that supports private school choice. He applauded the executive order on vouchers and said that taken together, the two orders mark a major moment in the centuries-old debate over what values the nation’s schools should impart.
“You can like it or not, but we’re not going to have values-neutral schools,” he said.
Still, there are many legal questions about the administration’s ability to restrict federal funding in order to pressure schools.
The major funding stream that supports public schools, known as Title I, goes out to states in a formula set by Congress, and the president has little power to restrict its flow.
“It seems like a significant part of the strategy is to set priorities through executive order and make the Congress or the Supreme Court respond — as they are supposed to in a system of checks and balances,” Mr. Bradford said.
The executive branch does control smaller tranches of discretionary funding, but they may not be enough to persuade school districts to change their practices.
