Conservatives may have been the only ones who didn’t jump on the education reform bandwagon during the George W. Bush administration.
But that doesn’t mean the GOP-controlled Congress has ignored education in the intervening years.
A new report from the Center for American Progress finds that since taking office, President Donald Trump has made education a top priority.
The nonpartisan group found that education spending has grown nearly 50 percent in the last 10 years, and that education policies are now on par with health care, housing, the environment and the economy.
The report also found that Trump’s budget proposals include $400 billion to fix schools, $100 billion for K-12 education, and $100 million to improve teacher training.
“We should be making our schools better,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said at the beginning of her confirmation hearing.
“But the most important thing is getting people into them.”
DeVos is expected to be confirmed to the post, and she has vowed to use her education secretary title to champion school choice policies.
While the Education Department hasn’t released a full list of programs funded by the administration, the report found that it has invested $11.5 billion on the program, and has plans to invest $5 billion more.
Trump is also reportedly considering creating an Office of College Access and Success to provide guidance on how to address the lack of diversity in colleges and universities.
Education Secretary Adam Putnam says there’s no such thing as “no brainers” for education policies, though some Republicans may have a point.
Education spending is still very high by any standard, but there is a lot of progress being made on this.
Read more at the American Conservative.
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