What's the Scoop on Betsy De-lores Umbridge?
Has anybody ever had a more hectic start to their presidency than Trump? It’s been one of the most turbulent times for politics, especially among the younger generations (the scary millennials taking over social media). Something that young people have really been rallying against (there’s a ton of options here, like literally every other thing Trump has done) has been the nomination of Betsy DeVos as head of the Department of Education. Most people (people that care about education), who watched her confirmation hearing were disappointed (absolutely baffled) with everything that came out of her mouth. (I can’t be the only one distracted by her teeth, I guess that’s what a billion dollars gets you). Her inability to answer simple questions was surprising and the answers she did give either exemplified her inexperience or was confusing (the massive threat that grizzlies pose to our school system, who knew). Thousands of teachers have come together to almost unilaterally oppose her, including the private charter schools she is such a big fan of. For her to be opposed by the very people she is seemingly going to be in charge of is curious to say the least. I want to find out the details of this appointment, why there’s opposition, why there’s support, and what she could mean for public education in America. I’m going to try to stay as factual as possible and hopefully get to the bottom of it (but seriously how is this happening?).
So let’s look at why the GOP is going to support Betsy DeVos despite the wishes of those in the education field. The primary reason seems to be the emphasis on giving parents more choice of where their child goes to school. She has been a longtime and unarguable proponent of charter schools and private religious institutions. This choice in schools would be supplemented through a voucher program that would help to offset the costs associated with private schools. Charter schools, including those in urban areas, have outperformed the local districts in many instances. If the charter schools are performing better, increasing access to these seems (put “seems” in quotes though) like a good idea. Besides this she has been lauded by the GOP for her commitment and passion for children and their families (like that’s even relevant...). The millions she has donated to promote more choice in schools is seen by Republicans as a sign of her future commitment to the job. They see her ideas for less regulation by the federal government as a good thing that can allow states and school districts to tailor education to their specific needs. Much like the sentiment middle America had about the presidential election, some Republicans are excited about the new face and outsider that has the potential to overhaul and shake up the education system. I tried (I really tried, like actually tried) to find the plausible reasons for Betsy DeVos to get confirmed for this position but that’s really all I could find (trust me I looked everywhere; Fox News, Breitbart, everywhere and that’s it, two things, school choice and deregulation). Now some of the multitude of arguments against her.
First is her lack of experience in public schools. (and when i say lack I of course mean her complete and total absence of experience). She didn’t attend, nor teach, nor manage a public school, though she did attend a private christian school. (which means something, I guess). Her advocation for private and charter schools is well documented and her millions of dollars in lobbying led to the current charter school landscape in the Detroit area. While some GOP members insist that the worry from the Democrats (and pretty much everyone else) is hyperbole, all one must do is look at the facts (the real ones not the alternative ones). A lot of the charter schools in the Detroit area are failing their students, not as in giving them bad grades but as in using these schools as a way to enrich themselves at the expense of the students and their families. According to the Detroit Free Press, they investigated the repercussions of such deregulated private entities and the results are not good. Over $1 billion of taxpayer money is getting funneled to these schools and most don’t perform significantly better than public schools. Those in charge of the schools don’t have to disclose how they’re spending the money and are not held accountable to the public in any meaningful way. While there are amazing charter schools that are giving great educations, the lack of oversight in this area has led to a free-for-all and an influx of profiteers trying to commercialize education. The Detroit Free Press’ piece is quite damning, as this deregulated school system seems to be what Mrs. DeVos is pushing for the rest of the country. Even if this piece is 50% accurate there need to be real reservations as to what we will be getting ourselves into with Betsy DeVos (I don’t really know what else you’d need to not vote for her but there’s more, yeah there’s a lot more).
She has still not passed the ethics review in order to determine whether she is free from conflicts of interest where her investments are concerned (like anyone in this administration is?). This is made ever apparent in her recent graduation rate mistake outlined by NPR. She reported that the graduation rates for online K-12 programs were much higher than they actually are after you account for those that transfer or dropout. This wouldn’t be so concerning (still super concerning) if she wasn’t personally invested in the management company of those online classrooms (seriously). But looking at the rest of the executive branch conflicts of interest seem to not immediately disqualify you from the job (seriously...).
Another big issue is her lack of knowledge and support for IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is a federal mandate that requires equal opportunity for students with disabilities to receive an education. DeVos in her hearing displayed a frightening lack of knowledge in regard to this and raised the concern about her nomination even further (did she do any research at all? It’s a federal law, of course you have to enforce it!). Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire has a child that went to public school who happens to have cerebral palsy displayed her concern in The New York Times. The culture of limited accountability that DeVos has bred in the Detroit area would leave many of those under IDEA left behind with sub-par educations or cause the price of quality education to be out of reach for many families.
While there are still more specific arguments to be made on both sides, especially in relation to the Common Core (that’s a can of worms in and of itself), tax dollars going to religious institutions, school districts refusing to adhere to a general curriculum (i.e. teaching creationism and not evolution), this seems to be the general outline. I wanted to outline my path to understanding this situation (hahaha like I understand what’s going on anymore) and why there is such vehement opposition (vehement is still an understatement). When comparing the pros and cons it is hard (impossible) to see how she’s in consideration for this position. The Senate will vote on her tomorrow, Tuesday February 7th, and as it stands Mike Pence will be the tie breaking vote as two Republican senators have decided to go against the Party and vote no. (because a record number of phone calls apparently weren’t enough to get them to vote her down in committee...). I’ve never seen opposition like this to a simple cabinet pick (watch out this could be a ploy to distract everybody from the fact Jeff Sessions is about to become AG which should be terrifying), but when you look at what her confirmation would mean without hyperbole, it could be supremely detrimental to the education of millions of children.
If you were wondering about the links to the references above here you go (its called barely researched not thoroughly researched but I tried)
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/04/513220220/betsy-devos-graduation-rate-mistake
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/opinion/why-i-wont-vote-for-betsy-devos.html?_r=0
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/betsy-devos-and-the-plan-to-break-public-schools
http://nbc4i.com/2017/02/02/sen-portman-says-he-supports-betsy-devos-for-secretary-of-education/