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Saturday, December 10, 2016

Trump’s choice for education secretary vows to ‘end’ Common Core - The Washington Post

Trump’s choice for education secretary vows to ‘end’ Common Core - The Washington Post:

Trump’s choice for education secretary vows to ‘end’ Common Core

When Donald Trump was running for president, he said that should he win, he would “get rid” of the Common Core State Standards — as if the initiative had been mandated by the federal government. It actually was approved by individual state legislatures. No president can simply order it gone.
Betsy DeVos, the Michigan billionaire whom the president-elect tapped to serve as education secretary, is now making the same pledge that Trump did. Appearing with Trump on Friday night at his “thank you to voters” rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., she said she will work to put “an end to the federal Common Core” and let states set their own standards. Apparently nobody told her that states already can.
The Washington Examiner reported what DeVos said at the rally:
“In deference to the U.S. Senate confirmation, I’m not giving interviews, but just between us let me share this,” DeVos told the crowd gathered in Grand Rapids. “It’s time to make education great again in this country.”
“This means putting kids first,” she said to cheers. “This means expanding choices and options to give every child the opportunity for a quality education regardless of their Zip code or family circumstances. This means letting states set their own standards and finally putting an end to the federal Common Core.”
The Core is a set of math and English language arts standards that were initially adopted fully by 45 states and the District of Columbia, with bipartisan support. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was a big Trump’s choice for education secretary vows to ‘end’ Common Core - The Washington Post: