One thing I never ask presidential candidates about is education. I’m a big believer in subsidiarity, and I basically hold that K-12 public schools are none of the federal government’s business.

But that doesn’t keep some of these candidates from telling us what they want to do to — uh, I mean, for — our schools. Interestingly, more and more these days, the candidates we hear from most on the subject is the ones who want to position themselves as "conservatives." Of course, these days that usually means they will be pushing something that is in no way conservative, but a classically liberal idea — the diversion of funds from the public schools under the guise of our governor’s cause, "school choice." Just so you can keep it straight, folks: Undermining core institutions — of which public schools would be one of the most fundamental, in this country — is pretty much the opposite of conservatism.

And sure enough, this Mitt Romney release, detailing the proposals he unveiled right here in capital city today, is true to that form. Ironically, the very first thing Mr. Romney — shown above at Columbia’s Edventure this morning — says about schools is this:

Governor Romney Believes Our Education System Works Best When We Have More Local Control Of Our Schools.  While there is a proper role for the federal government to play in education, it is not in telling parents, teachers, kids and local authorities what to teach or how to run their schools.

To which I say, OK, so why don’t you butt out? Excuse me, but you are running for president, right — not another term as governor of Massachusetts?

Then, the very first item under the heading, "Governor Romney’s Conservative Strategy To Raise The Bar In Education" is that most anti-public school agenda that we’ve all heard more about than we ever need to hear:

Governor Romney Will Promote School Choice.  He believes that when parents and kids are free to choose their school, everyone benefits.  That’s because competition and choice in educational opportunities – whether it comes from private schools, charter schools, or home schooling – makes traditional public schools better and improves the quality of education for all of America’s kids.  Governor Romney believes that it is especially important that students in failing schools be able to exercise school choice so that they can get access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

That said, I’ll give the governor snaps for promoting merit pay for teachers, and for understanding that NCLB is flawed. But the solution to that is to ditch NCLB, not try to "fix" it. And you can ditch the U.S. Department of Education while you’re at it, if you’re so inclined.

But my bottom line for Mr. Romney and anyone else seeking the presidency is this:

Hey! Candidate! Leave them kids alone!

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