Betsy DeVos’ Mother Taught at a Public School That Is Now Closed
In her US Department of Education (USDOE) bio, US ed sec Betsy DeVos advertises that her mother was “a public school teacher”:
Secretary DeVos has been involved in education policy for nearly three decades as an advocate for children and a voice for parents. She is especially passionate about reforms that help underserved children gain access to a quality education.DeVos’ interest in education was sparked at an early age by her mother, a public school teacher.
DeVos tries to use this sketchy history about her mother as “a public school teacher” to establish credibility as a supporter of traditional public education.
Of course, the fact that DeVos offers no additional details is at once suspicious. She does not offer info on the subject that her mother, Elsa Zwiep, taught. She does not include the number of years that Zwiep taught.
She does not even name the public school.
On March 31, 2017, I published a post in which I sought answers to the above issues.
The short of it is that Zwiep taught for a few years at Longfellow Elementary School in Holland, Michigan, after receiving her bachelors degree in sociology in late 1953 from Calvin College. Zwiep began teaching mid-year in 1953-54 and apparently concluded her public teaching stint within a few years, likely by the time DeVos was born in 1958.
It is difficult for DeVos to gain any credibility as a supporter of traditional public education by disclosing the details above. The public teaching experience belongs to her mother, not her. Zwiep’s experience in the public school classroom was relatively brief; DeVos did not grow up with a mother who was actively teaching public school. DeVos did not attend public school. Her mother did not earn a degree in teaching, and Betsy DeVos’ Mother Taught at a Public School That Is Now Closed | deutsch29:
