Republicans have railed for years against federal intrusion in state government — and especially public education. 

Many abandoned their original support for the No Child Left Behind education law mandating annual testing during the George W. Bush presidency and opposed the Race to the Top incentive program under President Obama on the grounds that these federal policies intruded on state prerogatives. Never mind that the Common Core learning standards created at the state level were often misconstrued and mischaracterized by Republicans as a federal incursion into local control. 

The message was clear: Keep your hands off our schools. Public education is the domain of the states, not bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. 

But that was then. With Donald Trump poised to assume the presidency, the Republican Party will have control of all three branches of the federal government. It will be the height of hypocrisy if they suddenly shift gears. 

Yet the signs are ominous: After vowing to “drain the swamp” and criticizing Hillary Clinton for her close ties to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs, Trump has stocked his cabinet and inner circle with lobbyists and investment bankers. So don’t be surprised if Republicans embrace the power of the federal government when it serves their purposes now that they have their hands on the steering wheel.

There is reason for grave concern, given Trump’s nomination of billionaire fundraiser Betsy DeVos to lead the U.S. Department of Education. For decades, DeVos has unapologetically used her family’s enormous wealth to push school vouchers and charter schools in her home state of Michigan and elsewhere, including New York State. 

She would bring to Washington, D.C., a track record of failure in Michigan, where she’s spent the most money by far: Charter schools in that state are among the worst in the nation, operating with no accountability and siphoning millions of dollars from public schools, and the Detroit school system — which is riddled with mediocre, for-profit charters — is in shambles. 

Now, if confirmed, DeVos will be inheriting a federal education budget with $68 billion in discretionary funds that she would no doubt look to leverage to exert her will nationwide. Her nomination as education secretary should strike terror in the heart of anyone who cares about public education. We’ll have to stand strong in the face of this threat.