Students at a New York City high school stage a walkout to protest the confirmation of Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Some of President Trump’s cabinet picks have stirred controversy on whether or not they are qualified for their respective positions. Some of those contested selections are Scott Pruitt for the Environmental Protection Agency Administration and Steven Mnuchin for Department of the Treasury. Betsy DeVos for the Department of Education Secretary is a chief concern.
DeVos received her high school and collegiate education from private Christian schools. She is heavily involved in politics, just like other elite billionaires. However, she possesses no government experience.
She was the Republican National Committeewoman from Michigan from 1992 to 1997. To uphold her billion dollar fortune, she is the chairwoman for the Windquest Group, which invests in manufacturing, technology and clean energy: quite uncommon for a Republican. She and her husband are chief investors in a company called Neurocore, which deals with brain performance.
DeVos was confirmed for her cabinet position of Education Secretary on Feb. 7. The vote ended in a 50-50 tie, and Vice President Mike Pence had to break it. This is the first time in history that a vice president needed to break a senate confirmation vote. Since the GOP has the majority, it should have been an easy confirmation.
This vote shows that legislative members are concerned about the progress of the whole as opposed to a select few, even if their parties aligns with the cabinet picks.
Two GOP voters came out expressing their concern for DeVos’ confirmation: Sens. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Susan Collins from Maine. These two senators are examples of selfless diplomacy. They objectively looked at qualifications first before their party affiliations.
Sen. Murkowski expressed a concern many Americans share. She said there are “serious concerns about a nominee to be Secretary of Education who has been so involved in one side of the equation.”
DeVos has no experience in public education, nor does she have experience dealing with trillion or billion dollar budgets in education. She’s never even had to consult financial aid to pay for college.
DeVos’ overly dedicated pushes for charter schools and school vouchers has the potential to hurt the progress of public schooling. Private schools are not bound by neutrality in their teachings, especially when it comes to topics like religion. Schools are charged with forming and nurturing minds. More students going to private primary schools could create fragmented or lost identities.
DeVos has been open about wanting to give parents more opportunities for students that might not have the ability to go to private schools. I have no doubt that she has a passion for children’s education, but it goes to show that she is blind when it comes to the vitality of public education, especially for the impoverished.
The teachers who work in public schools often have roots in the area near their schools and can relate to their students on a socioeconomic level. Kids in the same school district usually have a similar status of life; therefore, would feel more comfortable with peers as teachers.
Most private schools have vastly greater means of life. This gap in socioeconomic status can lead to bullying.
Even by expanding school vouchers, there’s no way DeVos is going to take all children in poverty and drop them into private schools. Why not take that money to improve public schools as a whole?
One big characteristic hurt her in the confirmation hearings. The Democrats ate DeVos alive when they were asking her questions. She seemed shaky and unprepared. If she wants to last in politics, she must build charisma and the ability to act agreeable, a characteristic Republicans are known for.
DeVos has a lot of research and briefing to do on the public side of education. It is not a one-sided conversation. There is not one right way to be educated. To be so adamant about young students, she has to take in consideration what the best option is for them—not just academically but socially and cognitively as well.
Some things are not meant to be for-profit, just for the betterment of society.
Opinion columnist Dana Jones is a print journalism junior and can be reached at [email protected]
Neurocore: quackery? http://regionalextensioncenter.blogspot.com/2017/02/neurobabble-update.html
D. Jones … you do know that print journalism is dying? Don’t you?
I’m reminded of a D.C. voucher program for school choice that President Obama killed early in his first term. Which denied Black parents school choice away from the rotting public schools that the D.C. school district offered.
Dana … can you do something for me? Please research the Detroit Public Schools, and see if you can find anything appreciative about that disaster?
Why should we appreciate public schools that are heavily influenced by Teachers Unions. U.S. Public School performance in math, reading, and science, lags far behind the rest of The World. Why should we appreciate that?
Why should we appreciate public schools that do not promote critical thinking and instead they just tell us what they want on Global Warming and to not like President Trump.
Betsy DeVos is gonna shake up the education system, and public schools should be very afraid.
Public Schools, especially inner city schools, are robbing students of their dignity. They are robbing students of knowledge they should possess by the time they graduate. All public schools do is make Democrat drones out of most of their students.
The fact that she knows very little about public education is precisely why she is a good pick. A fresh eye minus the decades-long built-in bias of the teachers unions and so called experts will bring a new perspective as to whether this department is even needed.
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