Betsy DeVos, a multi-billionaire conservative activist for school choice, has been Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of education. She is a known advocate for voucher programs, which give taxpayer dollars to families in order to attend private schools. It might sound like a great idea to some people when in reality, it conceals the harmful truth.
The vouchers will only funnel taxpayer money, which could help public schools, into private education, most of which are religious institutions, according to the National Center Of Education Statistics. In addition to that, about 79% of private school students attend a religious school, which may explain the growing intolerance among young students.
This does not only harm public schools, but it’s violating the separation of church and state. That is public money that is funding religious institutions.
During the education hearing, DeVos failed to answer any and all questions intelligently. When she was questioned by Senator Al Franken on the popular debate of proficiency versus growth, she failed to answer and was clearly oblivious to the definition of proficiency, as she implies here:
“I think if I’m understanding your question correctly around proficiency, I would also correlate it to competency and mastery so that each student is measured according to the advancement that they’re making in each subject area.”
To which Senator Franken responded with:
“Well, that’s growth. That’s not proficiency.”
Senator Chris Murphy also questioned DeVos on whether or not guns should have a place in schools, and she agreed that there is a need for deadly weapons in schools, but only because, and I quote, “grizzly bear attacks.” Yes, folks – the next possible Secretary of Education thinks that schools should be armed to protect against bear attacks, when the chances of getting attacked by a bear are only 1 in 1.2 million, according to the National Park Service.
Call your senator today and let them know that you believe this “American education activist” who has no experience in the education system should NOT be approved by the senate. This could widely affect millions of students in America.
