Center for Education Opportunity

Policy Priorities

Increasing Education Opportunities
Increasing Early Literacy
Creating Greater Student Outcomes
Improving Spending on Education

For American families and students today, education provides a pathway to the realization of their aspirations and a realization of their dignity. Right now, public education achieves neither end. The key to a better education system, one that serves both America and Americans, is advancing policies that puts American families first, including choice. That’s exactly what the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is here to achieve. AFPI will formulate educational policies that provide educational opportunity for all American families. This means putting parents and students—not bureaucracies, unions, or politicians—in charge of the education of America’s next generation. AFPI aims to restore our system of public education to its original, legitimate purpose: educating and raising the next generation of Americans, facilitating their dreams—and our prosperity.

AFPI aims to restore our system of public education to its original, legitimate purpose: educating and raising the next generation of Americans, facilitating their dreams, and our prosperity. Providing a high-quality education with opportunities that benefit every student will create greater outcomes for our next generation.

Team

Erika Donalds

Chair of the Center for Education Opportunity and Chair of the AFPI-Florida State Chapter

Michael Shires

Vice Chair of Education Opportunity

Laurie Todd-Smith,Ph.D.

Director, Center for Education Opportunity & Director, Center for the American Child

Julia Butch

Policy Analyst, Center for Education Opportunity and Center for 1776

Latest

Op-Ed | May 27, 2025

Education Belongs to Parents Again

In schools across America, a quiet revolution is underway — and it’s being led by President Donald J. Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. After years of bureaucratic overreach, ideological indoctrination, and declining academic standards, educational freedom has returned to the hands of those who know best: parents.

Statement | May 22, 2025

Another Federal Judge Prevents Progress at the Department of Education

Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) issued the following statement from Dr. Michael Shires, Vice Chair of Education Opportunity, regarding the preliminary injunction issued to prevent the dismantling of the Department of Education:

Statement | May 5, 2025

AFPI Names Higher Ed Expert Dr. Michael Shires as Vice Chair of Education Opportunity

Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) named Dr. Michael Shires as Vice Chair of Education Opportunity, adding significant higher education expertise to the growing bench of policy leaders at AFPI. Dr. Shires recently guided the launch of one of America’s newest universities, the University of Austin (UATX), a world-class institution dedicated to the relentless pursuit of truth, academic excellence, and freedom of speech.

Op-Ed | April 18, 2025

College Cost Reduction Act Doesn’t Threaten the Humanities

American higher education has gotten a bad rap lately. To be fair, much of it is deserved. Far from marketplaces of ideas, universities are hostile to dissenting viewpoints. Faculty openly discriminate against their colleagues on political grounds. Universities’ reputations have taken back-to-back-to-back hits from replication, antisemitism, and plagiarism crises. Academic hoaxes have exposed entire fields of study as preposterous.

Statement | April 14, 2025

AFPI’s Chair of the Center for Education Opportunity Erika Donalds Supports Education Savings Accounts for Texas Families

Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) released the following statement from Erika Donalds, Chair of the Center for Education Opportunity supporting Senate Bill 2 in Texas establishing Education Savings Accounts (ESAs):