Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal:
According to your report, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) justified with the following statement her opposition to Betsy DeVos’s bid to become Secretary of Education: “She [Ms. Devos] has, no doubt, done valuable work. Her concentration on charter schools and vouchers, however, raises the question about whether or not she fully appreciates that the secretary of Education’s primary focus must be on helping states and communities, parents, teachers, school board administrators, school board members, and administrators strengthen our public schools” (“Two GOP Senators Say They Will Oppose Education Nominee Betsy DeVos,” Feb. 1).
One important word is missing from this statement: students.
Sen. Collins reveals that right-thinking people’s fears about the Department of Education have been correct all along: that agency’s role is not to ensure that students get the best possible education but, instead, to ensure that government-school teachers and bureaucrats get the best possible protection from competition.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
