Donald Trump had the right idea about education during his first administration: judging potential employees on their skills and experience, not their degrees. Open a world of bright future to people who don’t have a bachelor’s degree but are hungry for education and hardworking.

In fact, besides launching Operation Warp Speed ​​to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, Trump’s most interesting official act was probably signing the ruler that federal jobs should not require a bachelor’s degree unless it is truly necessary.

Trump and other Republicans saw that President Obama’s vision of education—consisting of a vague Common public school curriculum followed by “college for all” – had alienated the American working class. Well-paid manufacturing jobs had all but disappeared, and people were looking for a new middle-class future.

The growth of technology told Obama’s education advisers that success would depend on a college education, preferably in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields. But it wasn’t a message many working-class people wanted to hear. This struck them as an elitist judgment that they are nothing without a four-year degree.

Obama was to some extent right: greater growth those in well-paying jobs will be among those requiring a college degree. But Trump was also right: 45% of people with a bachelor’s degree do. underemployed even a decade after graduating, working in jobs that don’t require a degree, and 28% of people have a two-year associate’s degree earn more than the average four-year college graduate. Meanwhile, more than a third of students not getting a degree in six years, and almost none of these students complete their studies.

The problem is that high schools have become so focused on college that students who don’t plan to pursue higher education typically receive little or no guidance on what careers they might consider, according to a recent study. Gallup poll. There is a wide and rapidly expanding variety of possibilities.

So while Trump’s opening of federal jobs to more people without degrees was a start, schools can do much more to prepare young people to become both citizens and members of the workforce. This would be a much more productive path for Trump on education during his second administration than the issues he has tackled of late — particularly because he will struggle to realize his ambitions even with a Congress docile.

Shut down the U.S. Department of Education, as the president-elect did threatened to dowould require congressional approval, and eliminating a Cabinet-level agency would be difficult to obtain, even with some Republican lawmakers. Its responsibilities could be returned to the Home Office – where they came from before the creation of the Department of Education, in 1979 – but what good would that do? Laws requiring equal treatment of girls and women in education should still be enforced; college financial aid applications should still be processed; Pell grants and student loans should always be monitored. No matter where the necessary personnel are located, the work will have to be done.

Even though Trump promises to get the federal government out of schools — although in reality, now that the No Child Left Behind Act is dead and gone, the Department of Education isn’t doing much to interfere with public education – he wants to interfere further by withdrawing funding from schools. all schools that teach LGBTQ+ issues or “critical race theory.” Although these topics make for provocative topics of discussion, they are not a significant part of learning in most districts. These are decisions that must be made at the state and local levels, and voters who don’t like what their school board decides can expel its members in the next election. They very rarely do it.

Another pillar of Trump’s agenda, school choice, appears to be facing public resistance. All three statewide votes on the subject this fall have taken place against the choiceincluding two in conservative states. Nebraska voters have reversed an earlier decision by the state to spend taxpayer dollars to allow parents to send their children to private schools. Parents rely on and support their local schools more than Republican elected officials could understand.

Trump tends to favor disruption over constructive policymaking, but he has already made non-college pathways a signature statement on education, and the idea has become popular with both parties. Now is the perfect time to take advantage of it. His administration could use corporate tax credits and public-private partnerships to create apprenticeships and put young people into white-collar jobs with a future, as Switzerland has done for years. Instead of deconstructing education, those responsible could rebuild it with more relevant and exciting curricula with practical applications.

The president-elect’s pick for education secretary, former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon, has so far remained quiet about her priorities, although vouchers are likely among them. But just before the announcement of her appointment, she rented Switzerland’s system of white-collar apprenticeships for high school students, which lead to managerial and professional jobs. I have long thought that the United States should imitate the model; a modest but very successful program in Denver does it.

Presidents George W. Bush and Obama considered education an important part of their administration, but they stumbled on the issue due to sometimes harsh and unrealistic policies. No child left behind And Race to the top ultimately, they did little to improve learning, motivate students, or close achievement gaps. Trump has a chance to build on what he has already said and become a true education president.