Reading Betsy DeVos: All About Children?
Now that Betsy DeVos has been named the national Secretary of Education, We’re going to have to get used to articles like this, “Betsy DeVos is All About Children,” from Ingrid Jacques of the Detroit News.
But that doesn’t mean we have to believe anything about them.
Let me start with my shock that someone like Betsy DeVos could ever be named Secretary of Education. Much has been written about DeVos (see this for one of the best pieces) so I won’t go into it all other than to express my disdain. Really, it seems like getting a position in the Trump administration is like joining a golf club- just do what DeVos has done- pay your fee. Your ability or actual experience are irrelevant if you can afford the position.
As for the Jacques piece, it leaves me a bit flabbergasted. She begins by writing, “… DeVos embodies the principle that the education establishment fears most: school choice.” There’s much truth in that statement. I am scared sh*tless of school choice. (More to follow.) What’s notable here is her use of the phrase, “educational establishment.” This phrase works to bring up echoes of the same kind of intentional language from the right that devalues anything that we all hold in common, language such as “government schools”, and “status quo.” The argument implied by “reformers” like DeVos (and Jacques) is that public education is an institution that has little to do with the needs or learning of children, but rather is about the protection of adult careers. Yes. That is aimed directly at you, dear educator. The implication in the use of the phrase “education establishment” is that you do not care about children, and certainly not as much as Betsy DeVos. That you do not care about learning. That you only care about your big fat pay check, your pension and your summers off. You lazy S.O.B’s. So when you read “education establishment,” replace that with “lazy S.O.B.’s” and you will have an accurate reflection of how you are thought of by Reading Betsy DeVos: All About Children? | educarenow:
