Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a wave of education innovation has been sweeping across the United States. Parents, student, educators and education advocates alike realized the current one-size-fits-all system was not working and started to seek alternative education pathways that best fits each child’s unique needs. West Virginia led the way on this effort with the first universal education sayings program, the Hope Scholarship, with over a dozen states following suit. With President Donald’s Trump’s executive order to downsize the duties and authority of the federal Department of Education, we now face another historic opportunity for states and local communities to re-imagine education.

It is crucial we get this right.

Trump’s executive order calls on the Secretary of Education to create a plan for dissolving and returning education administration to the states. It will then be up to Congress to pass legislation to end the department and make this change permanent. Congress cannot pass the buck on this historic opportunity and should make it a top priority, immediately. We can imagine there will be plenty of different proposals, but the more administration that is returned to the states, the better.

What we must not see from Congress is any attempt to expand the federal government’s role in state and local education in ways that undermine educational policies that benefit students in our communities. The ideal scenario would be a “no strings attached” policy that defers education and federal funding decisions to individual states and local jurisdictions. This would allow the state departments of education and local school districts to meet the needs of their student populations in a way that is much more individualized around each child’s unique needs.

What this means for our local education systems is more support for teachers, significantly less bureaucratic red tape from Washington, supercharged innovation through alternative choices such as micro schools and education savings accounts. But most importantly, additional dollars following students instead of systems. We can–more holistically than ever–empowers parents, educators and students to find the right education for every kid.

If Congress does act, West Virginia policymakers would be better positioned to continue their work to make the Mountain State a leader in educational innovation. What those lawmakers should consider is fully reforming West Virginia’s school-aid funding formula. The way we fund education currently is unnecessarily complicated. Too many tax dollars are being wasted within top-down bureaucracy instead of following students to their classrooms across the state.

After that, we should work to remove barriers in state law that hold our teachers back from teaching by weighing them down with regulations. By removing the barriers already built into our education system and having education administration returned to the state level, we open avenues for innovation. The possibilities for our children, parents and teachers are endless.

President Trump’s executive order is a great start and clearly will force a conversation about the future of education in our nation.

Congress should use this historic opportunity to give states the freedom to double down on the crucial innovation we have seen from the state level that empowers parents and champions individualized learning. Without needless red tape from Washington, we can allow teachers to do what they do best; teach our students based on each child’s needs, dreams and aspirations. Every child deserves a shot at a bright future regardless of their income level or ZIP code. Congress should not squander this opportunity to be heroes for kids across our county.

Republican Larry Pack serves as the state treasurer in West Virginia.