On the Ed Week homepage, Max Eden and I lament the lack of a conservative in the presidential contest. We argue that a conservative candidate is sorely needed after 16 years of Bush-Obama tutelage in the perils of federal education expansionism.
What鈥檚 that? You say that Donald Trump is a conservative? Not so much. Trump has spent at least half his adult life as a Democrat, has been on every side of every major issue, and seems wholly unacquainted with the Constitution. As Max and I put it, 鈥淭rump will occasionally utter conservative-sounding phrases, but he鈥檚 no conservative鈥攈e shows no taste for limited government, no respect for federalism, and no faith in local institutions.鈥�
That gets to the real problem with Trump鈥攚hich is that, as an aspiring executive, he is Barack Obama鈥檚 spiritual heir. Yep, you read that right.
Our Madisonian system of government was designed to safeguard against the passions of the moment and the proclivities of problematic officials. The executive is unable to legislate on his (or her) own, and is thus limited in important ways.
Unfortunately, those strictures have been loosened in recent decades, especially by Obama. Perhaps nowhere has his disregard for this design been on clearer display than education. Those same progressive 鈥渆ducation reformers鈥� who are worried what a President Trump might do should recognize that the same stuff they鈥檝e cheered under Obama has opened the door for Trump鈥攐r future imitators.
As Max and I wrote:
Trump promised earlier this year, 鈥淚 will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, you have to. ... My first day, it gets signed, OK? My first day. There鈥檚 no more gun-free zones.鈥� While conservatives do typically support gun rights, this isn鈥檛 even remotely a conservative proposal. Actually, it鈥檚 a lesson in the value of conservative governance.
Given that 4 in 10 Americans think arming teachers would make schools safer, Trump can insist that school safety is too important to leave to the whims of local officials who may put their own interests over what鈥檚 best for the kids. After all, Trump鈥檚 stance would be entirely consistent with the Obama administration鈥檚 鈥減en and phone鈥� approach to teacher evaluation, Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers, school discipline, campus sexual assault, supplement-not-supplant, and much else. The logic is always: The federal government has a duty to ensure that local officials and educators are doing what鈥檚 right for kids.
I haven鈥檛 liked it when Obama has done it. And I suspect that I鈥檒l have more company if Trump starts doing the same on behalf of school vouchers, or moves to conscript schools and colleges into combating illegal immigration. The question, if that comes to pass, will be whether any of my progressive friends recognize how much Obama has done to make possible the most disconcerting aspects of a Trump presidency.