DeVos as Education Secretary. . . Maybe, Maybe Not

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

In the United States Constitution the authority regarding education is not expressly enumerated, so the federal government has no authority to have a Department of Education in the first place.  If Donald J. Trump truly desires to follow the rule of law, he will work with the United States Congress to remove all federal influence in the education system and return it back to local control where it belongs.  From a constitutional point of view, education is the responsibility of the States.  Localism is the key.  American Education’s decline went into high gear when the Department of Education was created under Jimmy Carter’s regime back in the late seventies.  We became a super power educating our children in little red schoolhouses and using the basic standards carried down from the early years of our country.  When the liberal left began to seize control in the early 1900s, with Dewey’s socialist ideals crammed in wherever he could squeeze them in, it was the beginning of the end for American dominance in education.

When it comes to the importance of localism, in relation to education, the common sense of it all is that a community is going to know more about what it needs in terms of education than a bureaucrat in an office in Washington D.C.  The other thing about it is that the federal government tries to use a “one-size-fits-all” strategy, which always fails.  The problem is, if the federal government’s bureaucrats are the only ones allowed to do anything with education, there is no opportunity for innovation.

Innovation occurs when there is competition, and a free market of ideas and opportunity.  When the States control education within their own borders, rather than a single system being shoved down the throats of We the People, it creates 50 different laboratories who can learn off of each other, and create an innovative atmosphere as they compete with each other for the most successful education system in the country.

Unfortunately, right now that is not what we have.  So, until we can eliminate the Education Department, we must first incrementally reform it until we can finally give it the heave-ho out of existence.  Therefore, if there must be an Education Secretary, the person needs to understand that federal influence on education must be reduced, and eventually done away with.  The person needs to be against Common Core, and supportive of Private Schools, Homeschooling, vouchers for school choice, and must be one who encourages a process that is designed to return education back to local authority.

In other words, the perfect Education Secretary would be one actively seeking to eventually eliminate their own employment position from the purview of the federal government.

Trump, while determining who should take over the U.S. Department of Education, decided it was once again time to reach outside the establishment, and grab someone from the private sector.  His choice?  A fellow billionaire, but one who is happy to be a benefactor for good causes, Betsy DeVos.

“Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate,” Trump said in a press release. “Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.”

Previously a member of the Jeb Bush team, and someone who said she supported Common Core, DeVos now says she is against Common Core, and supports localism in relation to America’s educational system.