American Family Association Urges Trump to Choose Anti-Common Core Education Secretary

TUPELO, Miss.—Various media outlets, including the Washington Post and Breitbart.com, are reporting that Donald Trump’s list of potential candidates for the Secretary of Education includes some supporters of Common Core, which Trump called a “disaster” while on the campaign trail; he’s also said he wants to “get rid of it.” As Donald Trump and Mike Pence meet with candidates today, some are asking them to heed warnings regarding their education picks.

The president-elect has also said that the federal government should leave education to states and local school districts, and the American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) could not agree more.

But after Trump’s harsh criticism of the standards initiative that has raised the ire of many parents, AFA is concerned about a Common Core proponent having a place in the next presidential administration.

“It is alarming to the American Family Association, and to many parents across the country, that some Common Core supporters are on the short list for the next Secretary of Education,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “As education posts begin to be filled in President-elect Trump’s administration, we want to communicate that the American Family Association and millions of faith-based Americans are not supportive in the least of Common Core. The American people have spoken and elected Donald Trump and Mike Pence for the purpose of ‘draining the swamp’ in Washington, D.C. And we sincerely want to see our next president become part of a solution to the many issues within our government rather than part of the problem.”

As one of the most crucial cabinet appointments is being considered, AFA shares the following about education in America:

• Education is mentioned nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Thus, according to the 10th Amendment, education should be returned to the states.
• Common Core must be abolished once and for all, as it gives government bureaucrats the power to control local education by federalizing it.
• School choice is a must in order to have a thriving education system in communities across the country.

“It is AFA’s position that anyone being considered for the important position of Secretary of Education who does not agree with the above positions is not qualified to serve under a Donald Trump administration,” Wildmon concluded. “America’s families need less government intrusion in their children’s education and more power back in the hands of ‘we the people.’”

For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or on Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.