It’s a Terrible Time to Be Secretary of Education, Especially If You Don’t Understand the Job
Even if Betsy DeVos understood her job, she could not have taken over the Department of Education at a worse time. The busiest and most complex process that any Secretary of Education will likely see over the next several years is beginning. States are set to submit their brand new implementation plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act. They have been operating under No Child Left Behind plans since 2002 and are now transitioning to entirely new schemes.
These plans include lots of moving parts and policy choices within a much larger regulatory structure. The people who understand those parts just exited the Department of Education building. New staffers are coming into the building and, as evidenced by the confirmation hearing, their boss does not understand the basic rules that have been in place for decades, much less the new ones.
To make things worse, DeVos just added to the confusion. On February 10, DeVos sent a letter to states telling them that the timeline for submitting their implementation plans remains in place, but everything else is up in the air. In November, the Department enacted final regulations outlining what should be in those plans, but DeVos indicates states should not worry about complying with those regulations. She points to a letter from White House staff and the possibility that Congress might disapprove the regulations. In such case, "these regulations 'shall Education Law Prof Blog:
