“When people make a contract with the devil and give him an air-conditioned office to work in, he doesn’t go back home easily.”
It took almost 24 hours longer than I predicted, but Saturday morning brought news that former Vice-President Joe Biden had secured the necessary votes to win Pennsylvania. With that win, he secured the Presidency via the electoral college.
A Biden presidency is a reason to cheer on many levels, not the least is that it means the imminent departure of current Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. There is bipartisan recognition of her reign as an unmitigated failure. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that a Biden presidency will be a vast improvement. After all, the Obama years were nearly as misguided as the DeVos years.
There is a reason for hope though. As president, Biden promises a much larger investment in education. He’s promising to triple funding for Title 1 schools, as well as double the number of psychologists, counselors, nurses, and social workers in schools. Increased spending on school infrastructure is on his radar, as is a dramatic increase in special education funding. All very needed investments.
However, I hope we don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s just money schools need. In order to see improved outcomes, it’s imperative that teachers be given more freedom in addressing student needs and that some of the additional responsibilities that have fallen on their plates are alleviated. Fully fund our schools, has become such a familiar meme, yet nobody ever defines what that CONTINUE READING: ENABLERS AND EXPLOITERS – Dad Gone Wild