Trump visits private school in Pine Hills to promote school choice

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — President Donald Trump made his way to Central Florida on Friday for the second time in less than two weeks.

Trump visited Saint Andrew Catholic School on North Hastings Street near West Colonial Drive to meet faculty, staff members and students, and to hold a parent-teacher conference “listening session.”

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has a long history of promoting charter schools and vouchers, traveled with the president, as will his former presidential rival, Sen. Marco Rubio.

Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and their children were also on board.

Air Force One departed from Washington shortly before 11 a.m. When it landed, the president and his family were greeted by Gov. Rick Scott.

He started his tour of St. Andrew Catholic School with a visit to a fourth-grade classroom.

Trump shook hands with a pair of students who told him they were learning about the history of Florida.

He then joked to one girl who said she wanted to own her own business that she's "gonna make a lot of money. But don't run for politics."

Trump's visit was seen by some as a signal that his education agenda will focus on school choice. Some teachers' unions have said that the visit indicates his hostility toward public schools and his intention to turn education into a profit-making industry.

Many students attend St. Andrew on tax credit scholarships, which are funded through tax credits given to companies.

School leaders praised the plan and the president for taking time to talk to them about its impact.

While addressing a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump discussed his vision for a school-choice bill that would give students the option to attend private schools.

The president said the bill would provide businesses and other organizations tax breaks for donating money to pay for students’ tuition.

Resident Tonya Brennum said she hopes the visit can spark change to the crime-plagued Orange County neighborhood.

“I would like to know what he is going to do with this community," she said.

Trump met with the school’s alumni behind closed doors to discuss affordable access to education.

Alumnus Marcus Millen, 16, who has a 4.0 grade-point average, was among those who were invited to attend Friday’s meeting.

“As an immigrant, a lot of ideas I don't share,” she said. “So I don't feel comfortable with that situation.”

But Millen said he wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“Not many people can say that they've met the president,” he said. “So this is an opportunity that not many people get.”

While the president had his meeting, dozens of deputies kept a section of Orange County blocked off. Presidential visits typically cost local law enforcement departments thousands of dollars.

Orange County pulled deputies for Friday’s details, but will not charge the feds for the visit.

Palm Beach, where the president is staying throughout the weekend, has spent about $1.5 million protecting Mar-a-Lago.

Gov. Scott said the federal government should pay for the continued use of manpower.

“I want to be as helpful as possible when an expense if cause by something the federal government is doing,” Scott said.

After the brief meeting, the president departed from Orlando for Palm Beach, where he'll attend the RNC Spring Retreat dinner at the Four Seasons Resort.

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