DeVos can set a bold path for an education revolution at the federal level

Traditionally, the first 100 days of a new presidential administration get a lot of special attention. They can, and often do, set the tone and direction of the 1,360 other days that will follow. It’s axiomatic in Washington that it’s better to get the big things done early, while there’s plenty of momentum to ride.

At the Department of Education, where both bureaucratic inertia and the influence of the educational establishment (especially teachers unions) are very strong, it will be critical to tear up the top-down mindset that has guided the agency since it was created in 1979. President-elect Trump’s pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is a fresh, worldly and bold thinker that’s desperately needed at the helm of the department.