Betsy DeVos rewrites the definition of “public schools” to suit her own Christian Dominionist ideology
In a presidential administration that seems to function as a turnstile with people coming and going from their positions on a nearly continuous basis, one person seems to be a constant: Betsy DeVos. It’s no surprise, of course. She and her husband and other families members give enormous amounts of money to Republicans. The Center for Responsive Politics found the DeVos family had given over $20 million to Republicans between 1989 and 2016. That’s a whopping figure that buys some serious political influence, something DeVos herself has acknowledged. “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence,” she told Roll Call. “Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect something in return… We expect a return on our investment.”
One of those “returns on [their] investment” was being anointed as the United States Secretary of Education. Once elevated to that lofty position, she has risen to the maximum level of influence possible in the realm of education. And she clearly plans to exert that influence.
This week, during an appearance at the Education Writers Association annual conference, DeVos literally redefined the meaning of the phrase “public education”:
“Let’s stop and rethink the definition of public education,” she said. “Today, it’s often defined as one type of school, funded by taxpayers, controlled by government. But if every student is part of ‘the public,’ then every way and every place a student learns is ultimately of benefit to ‘the public.’ That should be the new definition of public education.“
This is quite clearly a statement that DeVos wants to do nationally what she has failed to do twice CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos rewrites the definition of "public schools" to suit her own Christian Dominionist ideology | Eclectablog