Adviser’s note: This story has been nationally published on Best of SNO!  Congrats to Jared Serre on his excellent reporting!

This coming January, the United States will be directed by the opinion of one man: Donald J. Trump.

The outspoken businessman, running for president for the first time since he was a member of the Reform Party during the 2000 election, has come under scrutiny for his controversial stances on various subjects. These ideas were often brought to the forefront of the campaign in order to take down the New York native but ultimately failed as Trump took down Clinton, winning the electoral vote 306-232.

One of his controversial ideas surrounds the future of the United States educational system.

“I may cut Department of Education—Common Core is a very bad thing,” Trump said on Fox News Sunday on Oct. 18, 2015. “I think that it should be local education.”

Statements that Trump has made like this one have stirred around amongst Mayfield High School.

“I’m involved with public education,” history teacher Ed Beck said in regards to his political affiliation. “When looking at the different political parties or politicians who are in power from time to time, I care about their support for public education. If you are supporting public education and supporting public education policies, then I look favorably upon you because that is something that is important to me.

“Obviously, if you are someone who is maybe going to be attacking certain parts of public education, that would cause me and many other people that work in my profession some concern,” Beck said.

Math teacher Joseph Nidy isn’t sure what Trump will do.  He said, “There is no indication that he will actually do that. Just like with anything else, you just don’t know. It was all campaign rhetoric.

“You aren’t going to know until he actually does something. You can’t take anything he said in the campaign—this is the same man who said he was going to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But he can’t. He doesn’t have that power. It’s a wait and see,” Nidy said.

Multiple staff members refused to comment on the matter.