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Friday, January 8, 2021

‘Good riddance’ and other reactions to resignation of Education Betsy DeVos - The Washington Post

‘Good riddance’ and other reactions to resignation of Education Betsy DeVos - The Washington Post
‘Good riddance’ and other reactions to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s resignation



Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has turned in her resignation, effective Friday, and after four years of her highly controversial tenure, the reaction is coming in thick and fast.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who called public schools a “dead end” before she became education secretary in 2017, was a hero to conservatives who wanted to expand charter schools, school vouchers and other alternatives to traditional school districts.

Critics saw her as a longtime leader of the movement to privatize education who got the job despite having no experience as a teacher or even a public school student — and her departure is delighting them. For example, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers union in the country, had two words for her: “Good riddance.”


DeVos and Weingarten had a mutually critical relationship: Weingarten accused DeVos of undermining public education and DeVos accused the teachers unions of wanting to maintain “the status quo” and caring only about their members.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the country, was equally direct, tweeting: “Her complicity, cowardice, and complete incompetence will be her legacy.”

DeVos also antagonized teachers, Democratic legislators, parents and others with her policies. Some critics slammed her on social media for resigning now after spending four years standing by President Trump no matter how damaging his policies were to children.

Even some who supported her school-choice policies did not do much to praise her tenure Thursday night in their social media reactions CONTINUE READING: ‘Good riddance’ and other reactions to resignation of Education Betsy DeVos - The Washington Post