Last week, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., dared to challenge a long-held sacred “truth” of education: That classes must be small to be good.

At Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, Paul said we should allow technology to take us from the traditional 15-to-30-students-to-one teacher ratio to “a million to one.”

Did you hear teachers’ union members suck in their collective breath? I pictured chalk graffiti on Rand Paul’s house. Rotten apples thrown. Death threats scrawled on the backs of last year’s syllabi.

[SEE: Cartoons about the Republican Party]

I loved so many things about this moment, it’s difficult to know where to start.

First, Paul is right. Smaller doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to class size. This is a classic example of a “fact” that no one has looked into lately. We just nod and say: “Oh, yes, of course,” when people tell us that “Johnny’s class is only 20 kids this year, which is great," or when they say, “We want Susie to go to a school where class sizes are small.” Because everyone knows that’s important, right? Not necessarily. Turns out, there is precious little recent data on this issue (probably because it’s such a blindly Is accepted “truth”), but the most recent analyses and studies show zero correlation between class size and student success. Holding on to this belief holds us back, and Paul is right to look forward at how technology might revolutionize education.

[SEE: Political Cartoons]

Second, challenging that which “everyone knows” is a great quality in any individual, and it’s essential in a leader. My ideal president would take a “Freakonomics” approach to life and policymaking, where commonly held beliefs or practices are objectively questioned, where scientific data – and I don’t mean run-of-the-mill polling – informs decisions instead of the opinions of the loudest voices in the room. Imagine what we can achieve when we free ourselves from old-fashioned beliefs, such as classes have to be small. Imagine the leader who takes us there.

Third, it takes guts to say something that will anger the National Education Association. The last high-profile Republican to publicly stand up to teachers was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and it made people cheer. Why? Because we’re tired of tip-toeing around the teachers’ unions and other groups who are electoral bullies. When someone stands up to a bully, we cheer. And we gain the confidence to follow.

[SEE: Cartoons on Chris Christie]

Finally, Paul was rocking blue jeans – and his libertarianism – at the Vanity Fair event. If the Republican party is ever going to have any hope with younger generations, we simply have got to get in touch with our libertarian side. It’s the part of our party that doesn’t judge people, and that’s key for appealing to millennials. The refreshing sight of a U.S. senator wearing blue jeans and a blazer on stage at a big event makes me proud to be a libertarian-leaning Republican.

