I would be honored to serve in a role of the ever important Office of Special Education as the population of humans that this department serves have been unrepresented and left with minimal life skills by the time they exit out of school and become an adult. Life skills and self-advocacy skills are highly important to navigate this world full of unexpected situations, especially when all you have known is a classroom and school setting your whole life. We can and we will do more to support these humans with cognitive and physical challenges, while supporting the educators with tools and training that is necessary to feel confident and comfortable working with students, especially in a general education setting, who need additional supports based on SSTs, 504 plans, and/or IEPs. We can and we will do better!
Ben Carson
Abolish the department of education
I deleted my original post because it was too long so I copied and reposted it here…
I personally wish I could have a role in the department of education and I feel like the current department is full of a bunch of parasites. But I know I wont get a role like that so if by some miracle someone from that future department see’s my post please take into consideration these improvements that would be so beneficial in my opinion.
By the way there is A LOT of political propagandizing in the schools, like one time when I was in 7th grade I had this one teacher who would non stopp talk about how she hated trump. So one day she had all of us write letters bashing trump that she wanted to send to the white house or whatever. But I didn’t want to do that so I wrote a letter thanking trump and I think that made her really dislike me because one day when I brought in my homework it turned out that none of the other kids at my table had done the assignment. And when they asked if they could copy me I said yes since im non confrontational and just try to be nice. Then when we all got our assignments back from the teacher for some reason they all got like 92%,95% and whatever but I got like a 72%! Even though we all literally turned in the same exact assignment.
But the four major improvements which I think should be made to the education system if anyone wants to read it, its not very long but here it is…
I like a lot of your points but I would also like to add that Anger Management classes needs to be taught too. Kids do not know how to deal with their anger now-a-days and their first reaction is to shoot the person that they have a beef with. This really needs to stop. Another thing is the Special Education system. I had a couple of boys that have a learning disability. Once they reach high school, they are not made to go to the resource room to get help with their work. They only focus on trying to be like everyone else and not learning properly. Their grades suffered as a result. I think your idea of teaching all learning styles could have solved my sons learning problems.
I am a passionate supporter of homeschooling and alternative education. For nearly 3 decades of my time working with children and youths, including as a mental health counselor and educator, I have stood up to schools and spoke out about the abusive practices in schools that deny children the right to their basic needs. I have also spoken up about the developmentally inappropriate practices in schools. My advocacy and my two books recommend that, in order to meet children’s holistic needs, we must seek alternatives until the public school system is overhauled. Children in school, at all ages and grade levels, are denied the basic fundamental and human rights to meet their physiological needs when they arise (snacks and hydration, toilet use, movement and exercise, rest, and safety), play, passion-centered learning, developmentally appropriate learning, respect (boys are treated like they are “bad”, and are drugged, punished, dehumanized, stifled, typecast, villainized, abused, and neglected more than their female peers), and bodily integrity (transgender ideology, psychiatric drugging, regimentation of basic needs). The list of abuses could go on and on, including physical, sexual, and mental abuse. In fact, in some states, teachers and school authorities are still legally permitted to HIT children with paddles! This is egregious!
I will help overhaul this prison-like system of public schooling and help usher in a time in which education is play-based, passion-centered, and joyful for ALL children–at ALL grade levels! Most advocates wish to fix one or two issues, yet keep the poisonous system intact. They do not understand that when children act out, it is due to trauma, including the school environment itself. The children are not the problem–The problem is how they are treated. I wish to overhaul it completely–Root out of the teachers and staff who play out their childhood traumas on the bodies and minds of innocent kids.
@Jalfe Just a thought. Have you sent in your resume and credentials via their portal, and nominated yourself on this site with a full robust profile that clearly identifies your areas of expertise, publications, etc. for review? If you are an expert, or “the foremost expert” you should do so and link us to that nomination so others can support you if they too agree on your potential value to the administration.
Can we please stop nominating influencers for positions? 
Come on America stop thinking with titles and tiaras mentality. Quit following the stars.
I would rather education be turned back to the states. But if it’s a must, I hope it’s dismantling the current system. Making school choice and parental rights paramount in the way it operates.
As an educator with 15 years of experience, I suggest that whomever is placed in this position should have first-hand experience in the classroom in recent history. For too long, we’ve had policies being made in education by those who do not know what it is currently like in our classrooms. Personally, I think this position should not be held by one person, but made up of a committee which includes teachers who are currently in the classroom and parents who currently have children in the educational system.
A total of 4,000 appointments are needed across all categories, so these nominees aren’t all competing for the same position.
I completely agree!
I suggest that any teachers nominated must prove that they put the needs of children first, above school rules, policies, and adult convenience. In my experience as a mental health professional, public school teachers have been among those causing some of the greatest traumas to children (at all grade levels) due to joyless environments of force, coercion, regimentation, denial of basic needs, and refusing to allow children–especially boys–the kinesthetic modes of learning they need. While there are many “gem” teachers, and you may be one of them, there are far too many other teachers who are defensive, rigid, and contemptuous of children’s needs. They even expect parents to align with them against the best interests of their own kids. Boys experience the brunt of this.
I couldn’t agree more! In my opinion, teachers trained in the “Normal School” (what we now call teacher colleges) need to detox from their views on learning and the role of the educator. The term “Normal” was meant to establish a standard way of teaching, it has led to unseen indoctrination that needs to be addressed. The Rockefellers didn’t get involved in that process without embedding some darker elements into it to further their own agenda.
“The term “normal” herein refers to the goal of these institutions to instill and reinforce particular norms within students. “Norms” included historical behavioral norms of the time, as well as norms that reinforced targeted societal values, ideologies and dominant narratives in the form of curriculum.” -The Center for Teaching the Rule of Law
I nominate Dr. Seuss, a fictional being that focused on the early years of learning. Why? Because I think the Department of Education should be disbanded at the Federal Level and the administration of education returned to the states. With California having so many representatives and a proportional influence on legislative matters and the associated funding, I don’t think they have the best interest of the country in setting educational standards. People are fleeing that state because it is mismanaged. The progressive policies imposed on the citizens there have resulted in many families opting to home school their children to protect them from educational policies and ideologies that are disturbing and dangerous. We’re not all willing to accept an imposed California culture in our communities or our children being indoctrinated to woke ideologies and gender mutilating decisions at an early age, we just want them to be educated to read, write and learn enough math to be able to be able to conduct transactions upon graduation. For twenty years that seems to be a stretch for many graduating from our public education system.
@ReblMom Exactly! I imagine you have read John Taylor Gatto. The purpose of public schooling has always been to indoctrinate, subdue the population, break the child’s body and mind, and teach him to take his place as a cog in the system. The purpose of public schooling has been to create the very type of docile, automaton population we have that has allowed tyranny like Communism and Globalist agendas to take control of our U.S.A population. Any school teacher that has not deschooled themselves from believing that children need to be forced to learn, that they should do as they are told, or that they need to sit still and not move, or that their basic needs should be regimented by a clock or teacher’s whim, is a risk to children.
@carterdn The best thing for parents to do is rescue their children from the public schools and homeschool. I agree that the Dept of Education needs to be disbanded at the federal level, and should be run at the state level like a homeschool co-op–By parents, children, child advocates, and those who are not playing out their own childhood traumas with the children as the hostage victims.
@Elizabeth2 That is dangerous for homeschoolers to be looped into the federal Dept of Education, so this has to be done with care–Focused only on helping more parents rescue their children from the public school system. The whole point of homeschooling is to exit an abusive, prison-like, controlling system. Homeschoolers want to be independent. I am a veteran homeschooling/unschooling Mom who is passionate about homeschooling/unschooling. Please vote for me and I will fight to be sure more children are rescued and helped into homeschooling and alternative education.
I understand where you are coming from. I have worked in districts where we are able to meet Maslow’s Hierarchy for children. Where innovation in learning is encouraged with a “fail-forward” mentality there was no administrative oversight for breaks, bathroom or otherwise, where I could feed hungry kids when they were hangry, and I have also worked for districts where student voice and choice is stifled, there is a set amount of bathroom visits unless a doctor’s note is provided, and studeents are expected to sit and work quietly (even when working in groups). In addition, a strict instructional framework is in place that stifles innovative and experiential learning experiences for students. The fiip side of this is that when you have 30+ children of the same age in a room (also problematic) there needs to be some semblence of order and rules are part of the expectations. Teachers have a ton of pressure to keep children safe, due to “in loco parentis” laws-- and have the liability for ensuring nothing happens to these children on their watch. That is a heavy responsibility for any person for 5 or even 10 children, but exponentially so, when concerning 25- 35 children. So yes, there are rules about how students can leave the classroom (if there is a fire drill and a student is out, your sign out sheet goes with you so you can find said students) or how students must behave when under the tutelage of a teacher. Having said that, I am ALL for education reform to be developmentally appropriate for children as the progression of academic expectations for students is not developmentally appropriate. While I am a professional educator, I was also a passionate homeschooler who has continuously advocated play-based learning for elementary students and experiential learning for all. I have been trained in trauma-informed practices as well, so I know what you are speaking on when you say that both hom and school can lead to behavioral issues. I think there are a lot of great things that can be done to reform this systemically, but I also feel that decentralizing education will ultimately improve education for the better, through giving parents and school boards more latitude to meet their students/children where they are.
@Jkatiebuie The irony is that teachers are supposed to keep children “safe”, but it isn’t safe to deny children toilet breaks, snacks, movement, hydration, fresh air, rest, and other basic human necessities–That is abuse and neglect. Children sit for hours with needs burning, and are forced to assimilate information that is irrelevant to them. The fact that there are so many kids in the room and that there needs to be order is no excuse. I am glad to hear that you understand these issues and that you are a passionate homeschooler who advocates for play-based learning. It shouldn’t be school boards, though, it should be parents, children, and child advocates who reform schools at the state level. I don’t believe there should be a federal Dept. of Education–That it is not Constitutional. Any federal dept. should be to help local depts raise funds, but never to control funds or curriculum. What do you think?
I couldn’t agree more! JTG was a brilliant man who saw right through the intentions of the system, and it’s sad he isn’t here now—I’m sure he’d already have Trump’s ear! He actually wrote an open letter to Trump before his 2016 win, if you haven’t read it already, and I imagine he’s smiling now, seeing how his work continues to inspire people to question the schooling system. I was unschooled my entire K-12 education and have been advocating for deschooling for years. If you check out my nomination page, there’s a link to my Substack, where I’m working on a deschooling guide. I feel like a broken record sometimes, but it’s worth it!