Stephen Dyer writes here about the curious fact that Trump and DeVos have failed to appoint any assistant secretaries in the Department of Education. His post includes a list of the agencies that are currently leaderless.
There is no Deputy Secretary, there is no Undersecretary. DeVos has assembled a few aides, but none that require Senate confirmation.
Dyer says this gives her a free hand to do whatever she wants. Of course, as Secretary, she would have the same free hand to do whatever she wants even if all the assistant secretaries were in place.
But there may be another reason to leave positions at ED empty:
For years now Republicans have made the Department of Education their favorite bureaucratic elimination target.
Even Rick Perry remembered he wanted to eliminate the Department during his infamous “Oops” moment during the 2012 debate season.
It appears that Trump has decided to let the Department wither on the vine, consolidate the power in the hand of a single person who is historically under qualified for the position and (like his comments on Obamacare this week), just let the Department die.
While I have certainly disagreed with federal interference in education policy over the years, I believe there is a role for the Department to play, especially when it comes to funding. Many areas of the country fund their education systems less effectively than others. The federal government can help equalize that difference to a great degree so that all Americans, regardless of where they live can achieve the American Dream.
After eight years of micromanagement by Arne Duncan (7 years) and John King (1 year), states will not miss the heavy hand of the feds.
DeVos’s slipshod review of state ESSA plans shows that she is not about to give up her desire to use the federal role to bully states and districts. But she is uniquely unqualified to tell any public school system what it should be doing. And the ESSA law says she should keep her hands off.
Before someone else points it out, I will note that the State Department is also running without leadership below the level of the Secretary Rex Tillerson. Perhaps Trump wants to eliminate the State Department too. Is Trump engaging in what Steve Bannon called “the deconstruction of the administrative state”?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“My goal is to… get [government] down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub” — Grover Norquist
“Rub-a-dub in the tub”
Shrink it down to size
And drown it in the tub
Really no surprise
Size is just the rub
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Neutralize the power of the government and the kleptocrats can have their way. Who would have thought that Jeff Sessions would start to look like the ethical one?
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Diane I think that’s exactly what’s going on–the deliberate “deconstruction of the administrative state.” I guess that’s what they mean by “draining the swamp.” It’s like when the Tea Party took actions to close down the federal government on Obama’s watch, people said: “But nothing will work!” And the Tea Party sat back smugly and said to themselves: “Exactly.” It’s the same with filling positions in “the government.” “But nothing will work!” And Bannon says to himself: “Exactly.”
BTW, thank you for the nice compliment on the other thread. With examples like Flint Michigan around, not to mention the gulf spill (we could write a book if no one has already), you don’t have to go far to get the picture of the powerful and degenerative influence of capitalist overreach into what is properly public institutions, not to mention people’s minds.
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Well stated as usual, Catherine!
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CBK,
The for-profit prison corporations are running detention centers and like to keep every bed occupied
Profits first
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I have no idea who is actually doing the reviews of ESSA plans, but several groups have decided to offer their own reviews to show they are still in yearning for a voice in policy. One of these outfits is Bellwether Education Partners, lover of all things charter. https://bellwethereducation.org/independent-essa-state-plan-peer-reviewers#Weiss
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Trump (or should I say Steve Bannon) is doing this to all of the federal departments, even the State Department and the Department of Defense.
The government of the United States is being dismantled.
And even GOP Senator Lindsey Graham has noticed and spoken out about it.
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After years of sending us unfunded mandates, not having anybody in Washington to add to the already burdensome policies of administrations sounds like a relief.
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