Education is the key to success when it is accessible, equal, and of good quality. It is what shapes future voters and employers. Education is what teaches people to think critically and it is what nurtures future pioneers in every discipline. It should give disadvantaged people an opportunity to survive in a system where the odds are stacked against them.
Trump’s America is an environment where alternative facts and discrimination fester like disease, attempting to taint the roots of truth and tolerance. The historically-narrow confirmation of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education is a major step backward for the American education system and perpetuates these negative attitudes.
DeVos supports the voucher system
As a someone who supports vouchers, or “publicly funded credits parents can use to send their kids to the school of their choosing,” DeVos believes that if parents don’t want to send their own kids to public schools, then their tax money shouldn’t have to go to public schools. DeVos’s desire to re-route public funding to private education is selfish, because it will trap children from lower income families into poorly-funded public schools. By cutting federal public school funding and placing the burden on states, the quality of these schools will continue to go down, which could put these children’s economic and academic futures at risk. Instead of working to improve resources at poorly-funded schools, DeVos is giving into the stereotypes about public schools being “less than” while failing to recognize the value of an equal education, and good teachers and students from these public schools.
DeVos is unqualified for her new role
DeVos was not educated by public schools, nor has she ever had to take out student loans to pay for her own education or that of her children. She did not study education or teach at any point in her life. Her shocking level of inexperience was apparent when she failed to properly answer Senator Al Franken‘s question about proficiency vs. growth at her hearing; this question reflected a larger debate within the education system about whether children’s knowledge should be based on current performance, or the development in their academic performance over a period of time. Regardless, DeVos is not a good choice for supporters of either educational approach, because she simply doesn’t know what she is talking about!
DeVos doesn’t understand how her policies impact American families
As a wealthy woman who donated $200 million to the Republican Party, DeVos is out of touch with American families that cannot pay out of pocket for their children to attend a “better” charter or private school. Her pro-voucher attitude also shows how out of touch she is with families that have special needs children. These children are more likely to receive better support from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act than by their individual state.
DeVos is also a supporter of private Christian schools funded by vouchers, which are exclusionary and therefore inaccessible to many American children, as they receive public dollars that could fund secular public schools. Not to mention, the belief that charter schools are better than public schools is a misconception. Some charter school children are often found to be behind their public school-and possibly private school- counterparts due to deregulation. Charter schools can also harm public schools and school districts, putting these students and teachers at risk. Charter schools are not an equal and accessible option for all students for many reasons, making them well-deserving of criticism.
The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education has brought public school educators and former public school students together under the hashtag #ProductofPublicSchool. This campaign attempts to reclaim the power DeVos is trying to take away from public school- a successful educational system for Americans.
We at HCUBC hope that through spreading awareness and keeping the public eye on DeVos, we can keep her policies in check. We have more power together, and we will not stop fighting for what is right.