The Republican presidential nominee used his appearance at the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy to announce that his first budget would redirect $20 billion in federal funding to create a state-run block grant that he said he hoped would help poor children in low-performing public schools to enroll at charter and private schools.

Under Trump's education plan, the $2.3 billion OH receives in education funding from the federal government and $575 million that goes toward Title I funding for low-income students, could be in danger, according to data gathered by the Center for American Progress.

In a statement issued alongside his speech, Trump's campaign said his presidency would make it a national priority to provide a choice of schools to every low-income child in the country.

"Specifically, my plan will use $20 billion of existing federal dollars to establish a block grant for the 11 million school age kids living in poverty", Trump said in his speech.

"I will also support merit pay for teachers so that we reward our best teachers instead of the failed tenure system that rewards bad teachers and punishes the good ones", he said.

Packard, a prominent figure in the charter-schools market, in 2015 bought the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy and other schools as part of an expansion into the OH education marketplace, The Plain Dealer has reported.

"The school choice proposals unveiled today by Mr. Trump are a bold set of policies that will increase accountability and lead to better results for our nation's children".

Cleveland.com reports that Trump also has a private fundraiser scheduled for later on Thursday afternoon at the TownHall restaurant on West 25th Street. At about $1,800 per child, the money would be far from enough for private school tuition.

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In order to have access to federal student loans, schools need to be accredited by a government-recognized accrediting agency. The for-profit college industry has been under increasing scrutiny due to claims of predatory lending and false advertising.

Critics of school choice believe, however, that funneling money into school choice programs negatively affects traditional public schools by shuffling tax dollars away from them.

Another little discussed area of Trump's education policy will be his impact on immigrant students.

"We've seen behavior from Donald Trump that we would never accept in a classroom", added Eskelsen García who was the 1989 Utah Teacher of the Year before being elected president of the 3 million-member National Education Association.

When Republicans proposed an amendment that would add vouchers to the "Every Child Achieves Act", a piece of legislation that meant to address the shortcoming of the federal government's highly criticized education law known as "No Child Left Behind", Democrats came out in opposition. In Florida, the Tax Credit Scholarship Program is regularly supported by GOP lawmakers and opposed by many Democrats.

The focus on education is a turn for Trump from his recent emphasis on a buildup of the USA military and on his strident immigration proposals after his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Patty Murray (D) of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Senate's education committee, wrote in remarks prepared for a speech on the floor a year ago.

Restoring authority to the local level, he says, is at the heart of his priorities.

But some large groups of teachers disagree to whether Trump has the right idea on education.