As we get closer and closer to the 2016 presidential election, more of the presidential hopefuls are starting to get serious about letting the public know where they stand on the issues, including their plans for education.

Ben Carson has recently released his plan for the future of American education on his campaign website where he outlines “5 Principles to Restore American Exceptionalism in Our Schools.”

The plan uses familiar buzzwords like “school choice and “innovation” and promises to decrease federal involvement in education- all things that many people want to hear.

But Hechinger Report contributor and education expert Dr. Andre Perry isn’t buying it, calling Carson’s attempt to reach the public “outdated” and missing the mark.

Perry scratches his head at Carson’s promise to limit Washington in education: " did Team Carson miss the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) just a month ago, which essentially did what he plans to implement if elected?”

“[I[f Carson wants to reduce the feds’ role even further then he should have clarified that he’s abreast of current policy changes,” Perry criticizes.

Perry accuses Carson’s education plan of having more nonsensical jargon than it contains an actual, structured plan.

“'Encourage Innovation,' is the least innovative phrase one can utter in education next to ‘disrupt,' 'laser light focus,' 'data driven' and 'adult issues.' Still, Carson has it as one of his five pillars.' An aside – ban the aforementioned jargon from the education lexicon,” Perry says.

Perry criticizes Carson for “rehashing” old quotes to drum up excitement as opposed to actually creating a meaningful plan for American education- an argument that can be used for many politicians focused on buzzwords and jargon over policy and action.

Read Perry’s full post for The Hechinger Report here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

1/22/2016