Almost everyone in Trump’s cabinet has experience with public education—except the education secretary
Among the myriad of objections leveled at Betsy DeVos, US president Donald Trump’s pick to lead American public education, the most stark is the fact that she’s never actually attended a public high school or university. Nor have her four children.
The criticism becomes all the sharper when looking at Trump’s overall cabinet, which at this point is almost completely assembled.
*Shulkin attended a private university. The details of his high school are not available.
With the exception of DeVos, Trump himself, and just a handful of others, most of Trump’s administration have had some form of experience with American public education, whether that’s graduating from public high schools or attending public universities. And that’s even given their absurd wealth (Trump’s cabinet picks have more money than a third of American households combined), and the fact that affluent people usually gravitate toward private schooling.
DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who favors the idea that federal money should go to independent schools as well as public ones, was called out as an ill-fitting choice to lead the US Education Department from the start—and now the awkwardness is all the more apparent. She attended a private Christian high school in Michigan, then a private liberal arts college.
She also failed at her own confirmation hearing to understand basic education terms or take a stance on issues such as student-performance accountability and campus sexual assault. If her appointment is Almost everyone in Trump’s cabinet has experience with public education—except the education secretary Betsy DeVos — Quartz:
