Congressman Burgess Owens speaks about education changes

• Parental rights and education choice are at the forefront of both state and federal policy, with new scholarship programs and a proposed federal Parents’ Bill of Rights.
• Innovation in education, including AI, is a priority for Rep. Burgess Owens, who says schools must embrace new approaches to better serve students.
• States are leading the way, from Utah’s “Utah Fits All” Scholarship to religious accommodation laws, showing how local leadership can shape education more than Congress.

On August 21, Sutherland Institute hosted Congressman Burgess Owens as part of our annual Congressional Series, hosted by the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah and sponsored by Zions Bank. Given Rep. Owens’ role as the chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, we were eager to hear from him about how education policy discussions are shaping up in Washington, D.C. circles.

In particular, a lot has been done this year on parental rights and education choice at both the federal and state levels.

As we have seen in our research, the Trump administration has reorganized and reduced the staff of the U.S. Department of Education in crucial ways. This means there is more space for state and local leadership, and likely parent empowerment. Furthermore, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” created a federal tax credit scholarship that gives parents more options, a concept that Congressman Owens has supported.

Regarding the trajectory of education policy and what Congress can do, Rep. Owens said, “What education has been missing out on for decades is innovation… So, what we have to do is make sure we’re bringing the greatest innovation, now with AI.”

This year, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of parents in the case Mahmoud v. Taylor, where parents’ religious freedom and right to direct their children’s education were affirmed. Congress has also introduced a federal Parents’ Bill of Rights in the past.

Utah has been supporting parents in several ways. At the state level, the new Utah Fits All Scholarship program offers parents new options for their students, although it is being challenged in the courts. Utah has state-based statutory language that allows for “participation waivers” for students based on their or their parents’ religious beliefs, which Sutherland believes could be a useful template for accommodations for Congress. Altogether, this shows that states, in many ways, are the leaders in education rather than Congress.

For more education analysis, visit our education policy page. And to watch more livestream events in our 2025 Congressional Series, visit our event page here.