Betsy DeVos Pitches Virtual School with 4-Yr Cohort Grad Rate Below 32 Percent | deutsch29

Betsy DeVos Pitches Virtual School with 4-Yr Cohort Grad Rate Below 32 Percent | deutsch29:

Betsy DeVos Pitches Virtual School with 4-Yr Cohort Grad Rate Below 32 Percent

On March 20, 2017, US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addressed the National Association of State Boards of Education in Washington, DC.

Her speech includes the repeated, slanted story of Denisha Merriweather, whose story of private school success coincided with the stabilization of her home life— and whose private school has an established record of low math test scores.

Of course, DeVos does not mention such pesky details. Instead, she simplifies Merriweather’s story to suit her narrative of private school choice saving a student from those deficient public schools.

In short, when it comes to her shaped Merriweather narrative, DeVos continues to lie.

In this speech, DeVos follows her Merriweather tale with one about a student whose academic life was rescued by his attending a Washington State virtual school:

Another student I met, Sandeep Thomas, grew up impoverished in Bangalore, India with absent and neglectful parents. Sandeep was adopted by a loving couple from New Jersey but continued to suffer from the experiences of his early years. He was not able to focus in school, and it took him hours to complete even the simplest assignment.

This changed when his family moved to Washington state, where Sandeep was able to join a virtual public school. This option gave him the flexibility to learn in the comfort of his own home and develop at a pace that was right for him. He ended up graduating high school with a 3.7 GPA, and also having earned 39 hours of college credit. Today, he’s working in the finance industry and is a public advocate for increased school options that allow students like him a chance to succeed. …

Only moments later, DeVos urges members of state boards of education to focus on trees, not the forest:

All of these students’ experiences suggest that we should value and appreciate the individual trees rather than see a monolithic forest. Let’s stop prioritizing process over people.  If our actions don’t benefit students at the 

Betsy DeVos Pitches Virtual School with 4-Yr Cohort Grad Rate Below 32 Percent | deutsch29: