Yet, at least since the 1979 creation of the Department of Education, and perhaps even earlier, the federal government has dealt in educational policy.
What will such policy be in the near-term future? Policy statements are often vague, and citizens must often wait for the subsequent actual implementation to understand what the policies are.
In early November 2016, President Trump’s administration offered this statement:
The American Dream remains an illusion for too many families and taxpayers. We fail too often to provide our schoolchildren with a high-quality education to prepare them to be successful adults in a knowledge economy that rewards creativity and a smart work ethic, which in turns fails to provide our workforce with relevant intellectual and career competencies necessary for advancement in the U.S. or international business community. Each time our nation forgoes the academic preparedness of one child or adult we miss a window of opportunity to invent a roadmap for greatness our founding generation envisioned 229 years ago.
While an interesting assessment of education in the United States, the paragraph above sets no clear policy direction. The following paragraph begins to hint what the Trump administration might do:
For approximately 70 million school-age students, 20 million post-secondary students, and 150 million working adults, the Trump Administration will advance policies to support learning-and-earning opportunities at the state and local levels – where the heart and soul of American education takes place. We will accomplish this goal through high-quality early childhood, magnet, STEAM or theme-based programs; expansion of choice through charters, vouchers, and teacher-driven learning models; and relief from U.S. Department of Education regulations that inhibit innovation. A Trump Administration also will make post-secondary options more affordable and accessible through technology enriched delivery models.
This statement indicates that more control might be given to local educators as the quantity of regulations from the federal government decreases, that college and university tuitions might be nudged downward, and that parents and students might experience increased levels of choice in selecting a school.
It will take several years, however, to see precisely which concrete forms these policies take. Only then can the citizens observe and measure the net impact of the Trump administration’s education policy.
