Trump Meets With Jerry Falwell Jr, Potentially About Becoming Secretary Of Education
Update 11/23/16: Trump has picked Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education
There are a number of rumors that president-elect Donald J. Trump is considering appointing Jerry Falwell, Jr. to the position of Secretary of Education. Please remember that last week every newspaper was predicting that Dr. Ben Carson was Trump's only pick for this position. Until Mr. Trump announces the position, there is no way of knowing.
Last Friday the Washington Post reported that, "Falwell tells local media that he and Trump met Thursday at Trump Tower to discuss the U.S. Department of Education and Falwell's potential role."
“I let them know one of my passions is reforming higher education and education in general. I told them I’d be willing - I have a lot of responsibilities here - but I’d be willing to serve in some capacity that sort of brings education back to some form of sanity.” [source]
Falwell would neither confirm nor deny if he was being considered for the position. Since then, Falwell has not returned any requests for interviews or questions.
During the Republican primaries and the presidential election, Falwell received a lot of controversial media attention after he endorsed the president-elect. He was one of the first evangelical leaders to endorse trump, publicly announcing his support on January 26th.
Falwell on Education and Homeschooling
Jerry Lamon Falwell Jr. is the president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was appointed to the position of president after his father's death in 2007.
What are Falwell's thoughts on K-12 education and homeschooling?
School vouchers could transform the country and the inner cities by giving parents an educational choice that provides a whole generation of young people a new lease on life. [source]
Falwell has made no recent public statement about homeschooling, although his support of Trump's voucher system is enough to assume he will be in full support. Additionally, his father described himself as a part of the "religious right." The religious right had strong ties to homeschooling and the creation of the HSLDA. If we were to make an assumption, we would say that Falwell will most likely hold the opinion that homeschooling can inscribe family values and agenda much more thoroughly than public or private schools.
I am praying that this is not going to happen. Falwell is crazy.