President Trump didn’t do charter schools in any favors with this budget. He made them a target and the policy isn’t even that creative. In U.S. News & World Report I look at that and all the reasons today’s budget request is unimaginative and a missed opportunity overall:

The presidential budget request is always a mash up of policy, politics, signaling and negotiation. Yet even with the caveat that any budget request is best taken seriously but not literally, President Trump’s first budget stands out as an exceptional missed opportunity in education and across a range of federal agencies. Ignore the theatrics about Trump’s new battle with Big Bird, he won’t win that one. And remember that some of the programs the president is putting on the chopping block are ones that President Obama sought to cut, too. Instead, what’s most tragic about this budget is how profoundly unimaginative it is at a time the country needs big ideas…

You can read the whole column by clicking here. Or defend your favorite programs or tweet me budget tips @arotherham.