Education Secretary is No Friend of Public Education

On February 7, 2017, Betsy DeVos officially assumed office as Secretary of Education. Since that time, many education leaders have strongly questioned her ability to perform the duties of her position and to fully comprehend the depth and breadth of the issues facing public education in our country.

 

In fact, some have wondered whether or not it is Mrs. DeVos' position that public education should be completely replaced by private charter schools.

 

Mrs. DeVos has come out in favor of drastic cuts to public education funding in the federal budget, a move unprecedented for someone in her position. She has testified in Congressional hearings in favor of the elimination of funding for the Special Olympics and has reduced protections for minority students in special education. Mrs. DeVos has also introduced regulations that make it more difficult for victims of sexual assault on college campuses to receive justice and has acted to destroy programs aimed at assisting young people with college loan burdens.

 

To be sure, Betsy DeVos has given many in public education quite a bit of cause for concern.

 

The National Education Association has put together a web page with many of the actions of Mrs. DeVos that have been in direct conflict with the best interests of public education and government protections for those in public education. The full web page can be found here.