President Trump has issued an executive order which would review the federal government’s role in K-12 education, and identify ways to return that power to the individual states and localities.
The order advises that it will be “the policy of the executive branch to protect and preserve state and local control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, and personnel of educational institutions, schools, and school systems…”
Via the New York Times:
President Trump issued a sweeping review of federal education policies on Wednesday in an executive order to pinpoint areas where the government may be overstepping in shaping operations of local school systems.
The order requires Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s education secretary, to review, modify and possibly repeal any regulations and guidelines that are not consistent with federal law.
Mr. Trump described the order as “another critical step to restoring local control,” and one that fulfills one of his campaign promises.
“For too long,” the President explained, “the government has imposed its will on state and local governments.”
“The result has been education that spends more and achieves far, far, far less,” he added. “My administration has been working to reverse this federal power grab and give power back to families, cities [and] states — give power back to localities.”
Today, I signed an Executive Order on Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education. EO: https://t.co/cdgj53B3yo pic.twitter.com/yO6tRcbkXD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2017
The following chart from the Cato Institute shows how a drastic spike in federal spending has had a negligible effect on educational achievement:
Julie Borowski of FreedomWorks explains, “The federal government meddling in education has been a failure to say the least.”
“A group of federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. cannot possibly design a curriculum that meets the unique needs of millions of school children across the nation,” Borowski adds. “We need to restore control over education to the local level where teachers and parents are put back in charge.”
DeVos agrees, saying “when it comes to education, decisions made at local levels and at state levels are the best ones.”
Do you support Trump returning education decisions back to the state and local level? Share your thoughts below!
