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She is not an educator or education leader.
An editorial in the Detroit Free Press in December highlighted concerns over Mrs. DeVos’ appointment. It read, “She’s not an expert in teaching or curriculum or school governance. In fact, she has no relevant credentials or experience for a job setting standards and guiding dollars for the nation’s public schools.” (Source: BBC) With someone who has never taught or had any experience in terms of education at all, how can she be expected to be the head of all of education in America?
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She has a net worth of over a billion dollars and her family has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Republican Party.
One of Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to “drain the swamp.” However, he wants to appoint a billionaire to head a department that she has no experience in. (Sound familiar?) Senator Bernie Sanders even asked during her confirmation hearing “if she believed she was chosen because of her major contributions to the Republican Party.”
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She supports unregulated charter schools and vouchers.
Mrs. DeVos has used her billions of dollars to influence education policy in her home state of Michigan and decrease efforts to increase oversight of charter schools. An article in NY Times read that “research suggests that traditional public schools and nonprofit charter schools generally outperform for-profit charters and private schools that accept vouchers.”
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She has never attended a public school or applied for a federal loan or grant.
Outside of teaching or any other educational expertise, Mrs. DeVos has only attended charter schools and has never had to apply for federal financial assistance. Neither has her children.
Check out the full video of Betsy DeVos’ confirmation hearing here.