The American left saved most of its fire for Betsy DeVos who is the Republican nominee for secretary of education. There is a good reason. She is Donald Trump's most qualified and powerful cabinet nominee and she can transform American education. Which could transform the nation.
Finally, the children and parents of this country have an advocate.
It all comes to a head on today.
The numbers are stark. American education continues to sink. We are now 39th in math and 27th in science, having fallen dramatically under the last two presidents, a Republican and a Democrat. And the news only gets worse. Some American students, especially students of color, are now falling hopelessly behind world numbers.
New studies show that the top performing countries see fewer than 5 percent of their 15 year old youth scoring at the lowest levels of PISA for math, reading and science. Compare that to the United States where the numbers reach 29 percent.
Arguably, the teachers unions insist that there has been modest improvement in some of the testing and scores but unfortunately the educational improvements in other countries have left us in the dust, leaving us further behind in worldwide comparisons.
It is a vivid contrast to 2009, when newly elected president Barack Obama promised to be the "post partisan," education president.
National politicians united behind his choice for secretary of education, Arne Duncan. Former Republican secretary of education and Sen., Lamar Alexander, called Duncan "the best."
Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Shaprton actually took a national tour together to tout the Obama plan. Jeb Bush openly praised the program.
Obama sounded more like Betsy DeVos in those days.
He took on the entrenched teachers' unions and touted charter schools. But all of that slipped away when the teachers' lobby brought its power to bear. Barack Obama could send his own kids to private schools — that was okay.
But that was the end of it. From then on he would have to say and do what the teachers' union demanded.
Now, they are demanding that Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, vote against Betsy DeVos and support the status quo and it appears that the two obedient Senators have agreed.
This will force the Senate to take on this issue today, with vice president, Mike Pence casting the deciding vote.
The horror stories coming out of American schools are legion. If an American student is lucky, he or she will be subjected to years of propaganda promoting a leftist socio-political agenda.
They will see open drug use in the halls and classrooms and be subjected to violent attacks in front of teachers who will not report it to authorities. While less than 1.9 percent of them will be Muslim, they will be allowed to wear a hijab but will be openly ridiculed for manifesting any Christian beliefs.
And usually, teachers will not be fired. In Brooklyn a teacher who admitted to sexually abusing a sixth grade female student was kept on the school payroll.
Meanwhile, the American elite send their own children to private Christian schools.
This includes the Obama's and the Clinton's. Since 1906 no president of the U.S. has ever sent their child to a public school with the exception of Jimmy Carter who quickly backed out of the arrangement.
Betsy DeVos, herself, was criticized by senators for attending a private school as a child. But she is not alone. Most of America's presidents attended private school, including in recent years, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, and his son, George W. Bush; Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
The latter attended the New York Military Academy.
Donald Trump's bold choice of Betsy DeVos sends a clear message that it's time for the hypocrisy to end. It's time to fire teachers who are incompetent or, even criminal.
It's time to end the socio-cultural experimentation and start teaching our children how to read and to teach them math and science. It's time to end the government abuse of children and empower parents to find the best schools for their own sons and daughters when those options are available.
Read the story of Donald Trump as a student at the New York Military Academy.
Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush, with whom he co-authored the book "Man of Integrity." Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.
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