DeVos’ hostility to public schools should be a disqualifier
In the United States, 90 percent of children attend public schools.
These young people and their families rely on this system, which is funded by tax dollars and is answerable to democratically elected school boards. In many communities, the public school system is the glue that holds a diverse population together.
We therefore expect the men and women who set federal education policy to support public education.
Yet President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education in his administration. That’s a problem. DeVos isn’t just indifferent to public education; she’s hostile to it.
DeVos simply has no credentials to do this important job. Our country’s education secretary should focus on promoting and improving public education. Instead, DeVos wants to dismantle it.
She has spent most of her adult life promoting private school vouchers. A lobbying group she heads, the American Federation for Children, seeks to transfer tax funds from public schools to private ones.Commentary: DeVos' hostility to public schools should be a disqualifier:
