By now, you likely know of Betsy DeVos. She’s in the final step of possibly being confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of Education. However, she’s a total idiot. Yes, she isn’t like the rest of the country because she’s a billionaire, but that’s okay. Yes, she didn’t go to public school, but that’s okay. She’s never worked with public schools, her kids didn’t go to public school, and she only associates with rich people who also did not go to public school, but that’s okay. As Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out, she’s never worked in finance before to support an education fund nor has she run any organizations that give student loans, but that’s okay. She also no experience dealing with such issues in school as bullying, students with disabilities, guns and security measures, and education tools and supplies like books and multimedia, but that’s okay, too. All of this is okay.
The problem is…SHE’S NEVER EVEN TRIED! SHE’S NEVER EVEN ATTEMPTED TO LEARN ABOUT ANY OF THOSE ISSUES!
Okay, whew, alright. So, she’s dumb. Yes, she’s a total idiot when it comes to education, though I’m sure, like many people, she’s an expert in something…apparently grizzlies in Wyoming.
Also, former comedian now Senator from Minnesota Al Franken didn’t think it was funny when Betsy DeVos couldn’t talk in context of the debate between proficiency and growth, a debate central to the education system in the United States and one that has been publically debated for many years. She couldn’t speak to the issue because she didn’t know what it meant. She hadn’t heard of it before, and frankly, it’s not hard to understand, but she, during her time knowing she might become the Secretary of Education and her many years in what she calls experience in education, didn’t know a thing about it. You don’t get that way without avoiding any form of learning about a particular subject. She clearly and absolutely avoided educating herself about the education system. More than that, she wasn’t asked about the proficiency and growth but was expected to have an opinion about which was a better one on which to focus.
Quickly, the debate is whether to have one single standard that all students should meet or to ensure that each individual student is able to grow. That means either students who are smart aren’t challenge enough while students who are struggling can barely or never meet that standard or schools will try to ensure that every student, no matter their skill level, improves their skill level. It’s a simple mathematical choice between getting all students to an average amount of intelligence or focusing on a percentage increase in student performance over their performance in previous tests.
Frankly, one-size fits all never works and has never worked. Therefore, I’m in favor of growth. However, Betsy DeVos is the one being possibly confirmed in a couple hours as Secretary of Education, and she doesn’t know anything about this debate, at all.
Of course, it gets worse. She is challenging Congress on the issue of being required to answer their questions. She doesn’t think she should be required to answer any questions from Congress, from the people! We all know by now her hilarious response to Senator Kaine about accountability, but let’s take another look:
Tim Kaine has repeatedly hit nominees hard, leading to a funny moment with Rex Tillerson biting back. Rex Tillerson was asked, “Do you not know the answer to my question or do you not want to answer?” He responded, “A little of both,” drawing laughs from the gallery in the committee hearing. However, with Betsy DeVos, Senator Kaine tried so many ways to get her to answer a question, but she refused. With a smirk and a smile that showed she knew she could get away with it, DeVos refused to answer. Moreover, it’s clear she was repeating a byline given to her by Trump. Following through on the orders squawked to her by Trump, it’s clear that DeVos will do whatever Trump wants her to do, and that can’t be good.
Based on all of this, it’s clear that she has no training and, much more importantly, no interest at all in our education system, our students, or anything related to education. Moreover, to anyone who says she doesn’t know everything because she hasn’t started the job yet, I say she had plenty of time to learn about it and would’ve done so if she cared, but she doesn’t.
Keep protesting and keep calling Congress to voice your concerns. Keep being loud. Keep studying the issues. Also, go to Change.org to block Betsy DeVos. Only a couple hours left. All of our voices is proof that DeVos is not wanted!