Editorial: Betsy Devos: Public School’s Enemy Number One

Warfare on Educational Welfare

The war on our public education system is on. Betsy DeVos’s appointment as the Secretary of Education is the first indication that our education system is in trouble. DeVos’s devastating record of promoting the deregulation and privatization of schools is the signal for all public school students to arm up with their cell phones and keep their representative’s on speed dial.   

DeVos showcased her ignorance on running the public education system during her confirmation hearing which was only compounded by the denial of the second round of questioning.

DeVos has never worked with or attended public school. She has no government experience or experience in running a large organization, and yet she has been deemed fit to run our nationwide education system.

The last two decades of DeVos’s life has been dedicated to the promotion of for-profit charter schools that offer weak accountability standards. DeVos also tirelessly advocates for vouchers to redirect public funding to pay for these private and religious schools.

The problem with this is that the money would come directly from taxpayers’ pockets. You and me. Not only would we have to pay for these new schools, but we wouldn’t have the opportunity to check their credibility or hold them to basic education standards.

DeVos has extreme views on the way our schools should run. In a 2001 interview with The Gathering, a Christian philosophy organization, DeVos said she wants to use these vouchers to “confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s kingdom.”      

Critics of DeVos are worried about student civil rights. Devos has made it clear that she doesn’t understand the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and it is possible and likely, that DeVos may move to reverse the Obama administration’s direction on LGBTQ student accommodations and the policies dictating how to handle instances of sexual assault.

Our public education system needs reform. Not to be gutted and replaced with an unchecked privatized corporation.