World leaders, outside organizers and even former rivals of President-elect Trump have all been touted as potential candidates to lead his Education Department.
Trump’s Cabinet picks come quick and furious A week after his election, the next education secretary could also be the last, as Trump and his allies have regularly discussed Elimination of the entire department.
The president-elect has mentioned some potential names for the position on the campaign trail, and experts point to others who have positioned themselves favorably for the role.
Trump’s election could be a sturdy signal about his plans for the department’s future, which will include rolling back the Biden administration’s efforts on student loans and protections for transgender students.
“I would probably look for a strong, capable, proven leader, someone who has been the state superintendent of schools,” said Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Recently, Ryan Walters of Oklahoma has made a splash for his fights against the culture war, including by introducing Bibles into every public school classroom and supporting the nation’s first openly religious charter school, whose creation was blocked by the courts.
“The first name that comes to mind … that, at least in my opinion, has resonated with Trump and what he values in education is Ryan Walters, the superintendent of public instruction in Oklahoma,” said Neal McCluskey, Director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute.
“He seems fixated on the same things as Trump. He is a staunch opponent of what he calls woke and has acted accordingly, and he is a supporter of school choice, which Trump is too,” he added.
And Walters welcomed Trump’s election on Monday Announcement of a state committee to streamline education changes under Trump’s second White House, including the possible death of the federal department.
“The future of public education in Oklahoma is bright with new President Donald Trump, who has fearlessly worked to eliminate federal bureaucracy that has excluded local communities and parents from decisions that impact their students’ education,” he said .
While Walters has continued to make headlines in recent months, there are other states with education leaders that conservatives would like to see higher.
“The ones that come to mind when I think about it are Cade Brumley in Louisiana, who I think is, you know, great. His conservative bona fides are in very good condition. And he’s just very, very smart and far-sighted,” Pondiscio said.
“Penny Schwinn would be on that list. She was most recently Commissioner of Education in the state of Tennessee and did great work there in improving literacy, which I think is important. Manny Díaz is the third guy that comes to mind at Florida State who – Florida has had a very consistent run for almost 20 years. “Florida has demonstrated very stable performance under successive governors and state leaders,” he added.
Florida’s efforts in education have been in national headlines for years, from attacks on its diversity, equity and inclusion offices to its public dispute with the College Board over the African American studies program.
And Trump, who changed his official residence from New York to Florida in 2019, is already in the process of recruiting several Sunshine State officials to his Cabinet, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R). as foreign minister and Rep. Michael Waltz (R) to serve as national security advisor.
One celebrated Floridian who would make an attention-grabbing choice would be Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a group that became vigorous during the COVID-19 school closures and continued to grow, tackling issues such as textbook bans and transgender rights .
Although Justice does not have a college degree and her experience in politics is constrained beyond serving on a school board before Moms for Liberty, experts say she is a great messenger for Trump and would carry out his goals well.
“If I had to bet on the most likely… I would put Tiffany as the most likely in that you would expect Trump to want someone who is an extremely good, courageous, fearless, effective communicator and deputy.” And I think that Tiffany has since proven to be one of the bravest communicators of right-wing education policy [former Education Secretary] William Bennett,” said Max Eden, research associate at AEI.
The Trump campaign did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Trump himself brought two names into the election campaign for education secretary: former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin. But Trump has now chosen Zeldin to monitor the Environmental Protection Agency, and observers don’t believe Ramaswamy is well suited for the role.
“Maybe Vivek wants it, maybe he gets it. I would be more surprised than not because it doesn’t seem like a clear stepping stone to future success. I think it’s kind of a job for someone who wants to do this job,” Eden said.
And it’s always possible that Trump will return to a previous election. Betsy DeVos, his first-term education secretary, has expressed interest in the position, although her resignation on January 7, 2021, in the wake of the Capitol riots likely derails her chances.
“I’ve been very clear about what I think needs to be the agenda, which is passing the federal tax credit and defunding the Department of Education. If President-elect Trump wanted to talk to me, I would be very open to talking,” DeVos said Education week.
