Donald Trump on Education

2000 Reform Primary Challenger for President

Cut Department of Education and Common CoreQ: Would you cut departments?

TRUMP: We’re going to be cutting tremendous amounts of money and waste and fraud and abuse. But, no, I’m not cutting services, but I am cutting spending.ÿBut I may cut Department of Education– Common Core is a very bad thing. I think that it should be local education. If you look at a Jeb Bush and some of these others, they want children to be educated by Washington, D.C. bureaucrats.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 Coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Oct 18, 2015

Common Core is a disaster[As president I’d] end Common Core. Common Core is a disaster. Bush is totally in favor of Common Core. I don’t see how he can possibly get the nomination. He’s weak on immigration. He’s in favor of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can’t do it. We have to end–education has to be local.

Source: 2015 announcement speeches of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Jun 16, 2015

Cut the Department of Education way, way down

Department of Education: “You could cut that way, way, way down.” — South Carolina Tea Party Convention, Myrtle Beach, January 2015
Common Core curriculum standards: “I am totally against Common Core.” — South Carolina Tea Party Convention, Myrtle Beach, January 2015. “That’s a disaster. That’s bad. It should be local and all of that.” — Iowa Freedom Summit, Des Moines, Iowa, January 2015
Infrastructure: “Fixing a country’s infrastructure–our bridges, our schools, our airports–that, I can tell you, no one is close to Trump.” — Iowa Freedom Summit, Des Moines, Iowa, January 2015
Local control: “Education has to be local.” — Announcement speech, New York City, June 16, 2015

Source: Forbes Magazine “2016 Candidates Want You to Know” series , Jun 16, 2015

Founded Trump University to teach the art of deal-makingBack in 2005, he started an online school called Trump University to teach the art of deal-making, but it didn’t offer degrees. The New York Department of Education complained and he changed the name to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.

Source: Forbes Magazine “2016 Candidates Want You to Know” series , Jun 16, 2015

Opposes Common CoreDonald Trump doesn’t think the GOP is demanding enough. “Republicans have to toughen up,” Trump said in a speech at CPAC. “Toughen up on the IRS, toughen up on Benghazi, toughen up on everything.”

Trump bashed Jeb Bush on education, who Trump said was “in favor of common core.”

“I thought Romney could do it,” Trump, who backed the candidate during the last election, said. “I don’t want what happened to Mitt Romney to happen again.”

Source: CBS News on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf. , Feb 27, 2015

Americans don’t know their roots: study your ancestryI was listening to some Europeans once and they seemed to agree that Americans didn’t seem to know their roots. Of course, their roots go back for many more centuries than ours and may be easier to decipher because many of us have ancestors from different countries. But it gave me a reason to think about what they said, and I realized in many cases they were right. I recently went to Scotland, as my mother’s side of the family is of Scottish ancestry, and I’ve spent time studying that country & therefore my heritage. It could even explain why I love golf so much–it originated in Scotland.

I found that I enjoyed learning about Scotland and it has broadened my horizons as well as my interests as a businessman. I am building a golf course in Aberdeen that will be spectacular, and I very much enjoyed my visiting and meeting the people from the culture and country. I also realized I still have a lot to learn, which will no doubt lead me into more interesting ventures as well as adventures.

Source: Think Like a Champion, by Donald Trump, p. 37 , Apr 27, 2010

Comprehensive education instead of limiting subjectsComprehensive education dissolves the lines between knowing too much and knowing too little on a variety of subjects–subjects that are necessary for success. Recently, I interviewed a young man who was very well versed in his field of expertise and almost uneducated in every other subject. It was like he had tunnel vision, and although I admired his knowledge of his field, I had to realize that, considering the scope of my enterprises, he might not be a great fit because of his limited interests.

Source: Think Like a Champion, by Donald Trump, p. 47 , Apr 27, 2010

Teach citizenship; stop “dumbing down”Our schools aren’t safe. On top of that, our kids aren’t learning. Too many are dropping out of school and into the street life-and too many of those who do graduate are getting diplomas that have been devalued into “certificates of attendance” by a dumbed-down curriculum that asks little of teachers and less of students. Schools are crime-ridden and they don’t teach.

How long do we think the U.S. can survive schools that pretend to teach while our kids pretend to learn? How can a kid hope to build an American Dream when he hasn’t been taught how to spell the word “dream”?

Public education was never meant to only teach the three R’s, history, and science. It was also meant to teach citizenship. At the lower levels it should cover the basics, help students develop study habits, and prepare those who desire higher education for the tough road ahead. It’s a mandate the public schools have delivered on since their inception. Until now.

Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p. 67 , Jul 2, 2000

End “creative spelling,” “estimating,” & “empowerment”The people running our public schools don’t want to damage a student’s self-esteem. They’re concerned about “empowerment.” They’re worried kids will feel bad if they get a problem wrong or flunk a spelling test. It’s better to pat a kid on the head and praise his “creative spelling” than point out that there is a traditional name for people with poor spelling skills. We call them illiterates.

Some educators think being “judgmental” is the worst of all sins. The problem is that life tends to judge-and harshly at that. There’s no room for error when you’re launching the space shuttle. Or mixing the concrete for the foundation of Trump Tower, for that matter. Try giving a number “in the neighborhood of” on your tax returns and you may end up in a place where there’s a very definite number stamped on the back of your shirt.

Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p. 69 , Jul 2, 2000

Bring on the competition; tear down the union wallsOur public schools have grown up in a competition-free zone, surrounded by a very high union wall. Why aren’t we shocked at the results? After all, teachers’ unions are motivated by the same desires that move the rest of us. With more than 85% of their soft-money donations going to Democrats, teachers’ unions know they can count on the politician they back to take a strong stand against school choice.

Our public schools are capable of providing a more competitive product than they do today. Look at some of the high school tests from earlier in this century and you’ll wonder if they weren’t college-level tests. And we’ve got to bring on the competition -open the schoolhouse doors and let parents choose the best school for their children.

Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships. I call it competition-the American way.

Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p. 80-81 , Jul 2, 2000

School choice will improve public schoolsDefenders of the status quo insist that parental choice means the end of public schools. Let’s look at the facts. Right now, nine of ten children attend public schools. If you look at public education as a business- and with nearly $300 billion spent each year on K-through-twelve education, it’s a very big business indeed-it would set off every antitrust alarm bell at the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. When teachers’ unions say even the most minuscule program allowing school choice is a mortal threat, they’re saying: If we aren’t allowed to keep 90% of the market, we can’t survive. When Bell Telephone had 90% of the market, a federal judge broke it up.

Who’s better off? The kids who use vouchers to go to the school of their choice, or the ones who choose to stay in public school? All of them. That’s the way it works in a competitive system.