Ryan's VP Nod: What's It Mean for Education?
by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 13, 2012 at 8:29 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
On Saturday, Mitt Romney announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee, has been perhaps the leading voice among House Republicans pushing for a smaller, more disciplined federal government. What's Romney's choice mean for education?
First, let's keep in mind that the importance of VP picks is always overrated. That said, the Ryan selection is important because of what it signals about Romney and the kind of race we're likely to see this fall. Ryan was the most ideologically compelling running mate that Romney could have selected. In choosing Ryan, Romney passed on safer picks like former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and Ohio senator Rob Portman, in favor of an unapologetic champion of overhauling entitlements and downsizing the federal government.
Ryan's budget has been the litmus test for serious conservatives, and Romney has already endorsed it. The
