Let Schools Do the Driving

Many conservatives who work on education issues are feeling twice-bitten-thrice-shy when it comes to Uncle Sam. This apprehension could prove to be consequential as the Trump administration considers pushing a large-scale school choice program.

In recent years, education causes previously embraced by the political right were seized by the federal government. Because conservatives believed so much in the particular issue, some were convinced to look past the principle of keeping reforms small, gradual and local. In other words, some conservatives tolerated a bossy Uncle Sam pushing policies so long as we liked the policies being pushed.

The first recent instance was the No Child Left Behind Act. The law was based on highly successful state-level "standards and accountability" reforms: A state government gets clear about what students should learn; administers assessments to make sure students learned it; and then holds districts and schools accountable for the results. This kind of transparency about expectations, explicit focus on student outcomes and consequences for persistent underperformance appealed to many on the right. So when former President George W. Bush advocated for a federal version via No Child Left Behind, most congressional Republicans voted "aye."

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-12-15/donald-trump-should-defer-to-states-on-school-choice