DeVos says some charter school 'reformers' have become 'just another breed of bureaucrats'
In a speech to over 4,000 charter school educators and advocates, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praised their work, but in the same breath leveled sharp criticisms at the charter school movement.
Speaking Monday to the annual convention of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C., she said a quarter century ago, when charter schools were getting off the ground, charter school leaders embraced “creativity, innovation and flexibility.”
But along the way, she said, the movement has departed from some of its founding principles.
“Somewhere along the way, in the intervening 26 years and through the process of expansion, we’ve taken the colorful collage of charters and drawn our own set of lines around it to box others out, to mitigate risk, to play it safe,” she said. “This is not what we set out to do, and, more importantly, it doesn’t help kids.”
“Charters’ success should be celebrated, but it’s equally important not to ‘become the man,'” she said. “I thought it was a tough but fair criticism when a friend recently wrote in an article that many who call themselves ‘reformers’ have instead become just another breed of bureaucrats – a new education establishment.”
The label of the “education establishment” has typically been used by “school choice” advocates like DeVos to describe teachers unions and other public school leaders who have not fully embraced charter schools, or in DeVos’ case, private DeVos says some charter school ‘reformers’ have become ‘just another breed of bureaucrats’ | EdSource:
