Shamrauction and the student raffle raise money year after year to provide students with financial aid assistance.

And if the new Secretary of Education, Mrs. Betsy DeVos, gets her way, there may be another source of tuition money heading up the Hill.

DeVos’s program will allocate a greater portion of federal funding and apply that toward private and charter schools, rather than just public schools.

Principal Mr. Dave Worland said, “Those advocates of school choice are advocates for education overall. This will allow the competition to raise the bar for all schools.”

Students will have a choice where to attend school with a federal voucher program. Under such a program, currently in place in Indiana and offering benefits to Cathedral, funding follows the student.

Worland said, “That money allocated for them should follow them wherever they think is the best fit for school.”

Compared to the Obama administration, such a proposal on the federal level marks a significant change in federal education policy.

AP Government and Economics teacher Ms. Jill Baisinger, who also serves as the coach of the We the People team, said, “There is a desire by the new presidential administration to have a change in the educational policy.”

The Trump administration looks toward other models than just the public school option.

Different focus

The two most recent secretaries of education under Obama, Arne Duncan and John B. King Jr., promoted No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act. However, DeVos strongly promotes the Education Freedom Fund.

Baisinger said, “With the different perspective on policies, this could make it difficult for DeVos to be successful in regard to interaction with public schools.”

While DeVos’s nomination was controversial—her confirmation required the vote of Vice President Mike Pence to break a 50-50 tie in the Senate, Worland said, “We should take away the political elements that are going on with her selection and support and evaluate her on her success.”

Baisinger said, “Public schools will be on defense because they fear losing funding and or support of federal or even state government.”

While the federal government funds a small percentage of public schools, failure to follow federally mandated policies can affect their funding.

Baisinger said, “If the school is not meeting requirements, then the government does not have to provide funding.”

Private, parochial and charter schools could, in the future recieve federal funding. This will make education for students who could not previously afford this schooling attainable. Worland said, “This will help schools with a product that meets all the goals of what a family wants.”