Explanation:
Speculation abounds on new priorities and the fate of current programs and policies in the U.S. Department of Education under the direction of Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary. One thing is certain, there will be changes in the offing under the new administration, which is as averse to government regulation as it is inclined toward free market forces, which, in education, includes for-profit charter schools and vouchers.
Noting that much of what has been written on education policy involves where the federal government should stay out of education governance, the Brookings Institution sought to initiate a public conversation on what the federal government can and should do. The result is Memos to the President on the Future of Education Policy, a series of 12 articles written by education leaders and policymakers with diverse perspectives that are intended to make “an affirmative case for an important but limited federal role” in education policy.
The preface to the series, A principled federal role in PreK-12 education, explores the history and evolution of federal policy around public education in the period soon after the Revolutionary War. The authors begin in 1791 with ratification of the Tenth Amendment, which gave states jurisdiction over all powers not reserved for the federal government in the U.S. Constitution, including education, and continues to current programs aimed at providing equal access to quality education for all students regardless of race, income, gender, ethnicity, language, and immigration status.
