Betsy DeVos: The Wrong Choice for Secretary of Education
By: Maggie Kretzmann
It has been quite a year already so far for 2017, and it’s only just beginning. So far, we’ve seen the election of Donald Trump and the ban of people from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya. One of the more recent events to happen in politics is Betsy DeVos becoming the next Secretary of Education.
There are so many reasons why she’s the wrong choice, but here are the main reasons why DeVos is not fit for the American education system.
DeVos has never had any experience in working with education nor the public-school system, as she went to private school, and she sent her children to private school. Additionally, she has always voiced her support of private schools. The Secretary of Education should be familiar with both private and public education—not favor one over the other. She wants to put in voucher programs into schools, which prioritizes funding to private and religious schools over public schools. However, these voucher schools run differently than public schools. They lack secondary language classes as well as special education classes. What she’s done to the school system in Michigan is a fine example of what may end up happening to schools across the country. Michigan charter schools aren’t revealing what they are spending money from taxpayers on, and most of these charter schools are, “ranking below the 25th percentile than public schools” (Jung, 2017).
Another major controversial aspect of DeVos is the fact that she stated schools should be permitted to have firearms at the premise in the event of a, “bear attack.” Yup, you read that right, folks. Our Secretary of Education believes that our schools are not in danger of a potential school shooting incident, but that grizzly bears will come in herds and attack schools. The fact that this statement alone was made during her confirmation hearing should bring concern to those who depend on the public school system.
There are many other reasons why DeVos is not right for America including: her family being very anti-LGBT, using money to gain votes and power and having no organizational experience in general. Everyone should be entitled to education no matter what their social status is or how much money their family makes.