Trump Budget Would Defund Two Failed Progressive School Experiments

Education reformists are, once again, wailing and gnashing teeth as the Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2018 eliminates a number of programs funded through the Department of Education. Two of the programs were pet projects of the former Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and, aside from serving no meaningful purpose, raised the ire of conservative grassroots education activists as simply furthering the nanny state agenda. The proposed budget would eliminate funding for 21st Century Learning Centers to the tune of $1.16 billion. The Trump Administration explained the proposed budget cut as follows: This program makes formula grants to States, which

Another Common Core Apologist Opts Out of Trump Admin Job

Prominent Indiana businessman Alan Hubbard just recently announced his withdrawal from consideration as Deputy Secretary of Education, the number two position under current Secretary Betsy DeVos. In his statement, he cited the significant financial sacrifice his family would need to make as far as selling assets for him meet ethics requirements in order to take the job. This is fabulous news for parents, citizens, and activists fighting against the Common Core/Fed Ed machine. Hubbard is a strong ally of both Betsy DeVos and the pro-Common Core American Federation for Children, as well as working closely Jeb Bush and with disgraced

2 Reasons Why DeVos’ Education Reform Plan Would Be a Disaster

Charter school and voucher expansion has been a hot topic across the nation at both the state and federal levels. Interest and grave concern about this expansion, especially at the federal level, has intensified from all points on the political spectrum in light of several recent developments: Florida’s bill serving as a trial run, the release of President Trump’s first federal education budget, Secretary DeVos’ recent testimony and speech, and the Jeb Bush-led promotion of these ideas. Betsy DeVos is very correct when she remarked in her prepared testimony about the federal education budget at the US House Appropriations Committee this

Betsy DeVos’ Latest Speech Should Keep Conservatives on Edge

Conservatives have been waiting for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to unveil how much federal muscle she’ll exercise to push school choice. In a speech Monday before the American Federation for Children (AFC), an organization she previously chaired, DeVos hinted at but didn’t lay out the plan. In fact, her messages were decidedly mixed. Throughout the Fed-Ed Era of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, most of what the feds did through No Child Left Behind and then the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) had no grounding in the Constitution. Education isn’t a constitutionally delegated power, so the opinion

The Student Data Grabbers Are Back At It Again

The bureaucrats and technocrats who see education as mere workforce preparation and who are devoted to monitoring, tracking and slotting free-born American citizens from womb to tomb in order to create their vision of a planned economy are continuing their dystopian efforts with a new bill.  S 1121, the College Transparency Act, is sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).  As if there is need for yet another federal data set, the Postsecondary Student Data System is established to be housed at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the

Pay Attention to What President Trump Does Next on Religious Freedom

The mixed reviews of President Trump’s religious liberty executive order reflect two simple facts. First, by itself the order doesn’t do or change much. The ACLU tweeted that it had expected to be in court today over the executive order but instead concluded the order did little or nothing to change the status quo: Trump’s assertion that he wished to ‘totally destroy’ the Johnson Amendment with this order has proven to be a textbook case of “fake news.” — ACLU National (@ACLU) May 4, 2017 Trump merely provided a faux sop to religious conservatives and kicked the can down the road

President Trump Issues Order to Rein in Department of Education

This piece was co-authored by Jane Robbins, an attorney and senior fellow at the American Principles Project. On Wednesday President Trump issued an executive order directing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to determine which regulations and guidance documents issued by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) have unlawfully overreached on education policy to the detriment of state and local control. According to a senior USED official, Rob Goad, the order “puts an end to this overreach, ensuring that states and localities are free to make educational decisions as required by” three federal statutes that prohibit federal “direction, supervision, or control”

Why Does Betsy DeVos Keep Making False Claims About Common Core?

Monday, in an appearance on Fox News, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos once again asserted that “[t]here isn’t really any Common Core anymore” and that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed last year by Congress and signed by an enthusiastic President Obama, “essentially does away with the whole argument about Common Core.” You can watch DeVos’ full interview below: BILL HEMMER: When it comes to Common Core, will the administration withhold funds for states that pursue Common Core education, in order to get them to change their mind? DEVOS: Well as you probably know, the Every Student Succeeds Act, which

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