Reading online articles and watching her recent Senate confirmation hearing got me to thinking how does Betsy DeVos compare to previous Secretary of Education, John B. King? To begin with, Secretary Besty DeVos has proved she isn’t qualified for her new job as Secretary of Education. Aside, from being a billionaire she has never taken out a federal student loan or attended a public school. Betsy De Vos went to a Holland Christian High School, a private religious school and she later attended Calvin College a private liberal arts college.
As Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out that she has no experience working with public schools K-12. Also, Senator Warren did bring up a good point when she mentioned:”I think it’s important for the person who is in charge of our financial aid programs to understand what it’s like for students and their families who are struggling to pay for college”. But let’s remember Betsy DeVos was appointed by the same person who ran a fraud-for-profit University.Although DeVos does have experience working in politics she has been the four-time chairwoman for the Michigan Republican Party and she served on the Republican National Committee.
Now let’s talk about her predecessor, John B. King Jr. John B. King Jr. was appointed by President Barack Obama on January 1, 2016, succeeding Arne Duncan.Growing up, Secretary King attended New York City public schools and later obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University and he received a Masters and a Doctorate from Columbia University.If that isn’t impressive enough? he received Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School. Dr. King has a very outstanding career in Education. He was a teacher, a co-founder and co-director for curriculum and instruction of Roxbury (Massachusetts) Preparatory Charter School, and the commissioner of education for the state of New York. In addition, Secretary King was a speaker at 2016 Beating the Odds summit hosted by Michelle Obama for incoming college freshmen. Secretary King now resides in Maryland where his children attend Public schools.
It is clear that DeVos is less qualified in comparison to Secretary King. Well, it is certain one thing is certain that free tuition for public colleges and Universities will not be on her agenda because “consider the fact that there’s nothing in life that’s truly free“. As a college student who receives federal student aid, to pay for school it is frightening to see someone so unqualified and privileged be the new Secretary of Education. The scary thing is that Betsy DeVos isn’t the only elite ill-prepared person on Trump’s Administration. I question if he’s trying to “Make America Great Again” why is he choosing people like DeVos aren’t the least bit qualified to make decisions which will impact an entire generation of people?
