DeVos may have limited sway on education policy
As U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ rocky confirmation process drew to a close this week, opponents, including parents, teachers, unions and politicians, railed against her. On Wednesday, one day after the U.S. Senate approved her appointment, even high school students walked out of classes to rise in protest.
But those Pittsburgh high school students who descended on Sen. Pat Toomey’s office could go years without ever feeling the effects of a Department of Education policy.
While her inexperience with public education set critics’ teeth on edge — DeVos and her family attended private schools, and she has championed private-school vouchers — and some critics warned that she’ll bring about nothing less than the downfall of the USA’s vast public education system, it’s unclear how much influence the Department of Education will have over how schools operate nationwide.
Most of the day-to-day power — over curriculum, instruction, safety, teacher preparation and even much-maligned standardized tests — lies with states and local school districts.
In fact, the legacy of the Obama administration may have been to shift even more power to states and school districts and away from the federal government.
Any plans by President Trump to make big changes in schools would most likely need a helping of cash — and Congress’ approval.
On the campaign trail, Trump rarely talked about education except to criticize urban school districts. Yet in September he proposed handing taxpayer money to families so they can send their kids to the public, magnet, charter or private school of their choice. He said the plan would benefit about 11 million low-income children, who would receive about $12,000 apiece each year.
The proposed federal contribution? An eye-popping $20 billion, more than the department spends each year to educate lowincome children.
“It is a big number,” says Nina Rees, a former deputy undersecretary under President George W. Bush who now serves as president and CEO of the Na- tional Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Joy Pullmann, managing editor of The Federalist, a rightleaning blog, has suggested the worst thing DeVos and her boss could do is hand billions in federal voucher money to private schools.
The administration, she says, could “destroy school choice in the name of expanding it” if some future administration sees handing over federal dollars as a way to make private schools agree to more federal regulations and testing requirements.
What about much-maligned testing regimens in schools?
Michael Cohen, a former assistant secretary under President Clinton, says most schools’ standards, testing and accountability systems will be unaffected by the change in administration.
“Whether (DeVos) likes the Common Core or doesn’t like the Common Core — and I’ve heard both — it doesn’t matter,” he says.
The latest reauthorization of the federal law overseeing much of the department’s K-12 education requirements, Cohen says, “makes quite clear that the secretary doesn’t have a role to play in state standards.”