The race to approve Trump’s cabinet selection for Secretary of Education has been a tough one. The vote was split along party lines, with Republicans voting for and Democrats against. During the last two weeks, a hard battle took place involving parents, teachers, administrators, and activists to convince at least three Republicans to switch their vote to defeat Betsy DeVos and keep her away from the trillion-plus dollar public school budget.
This is a person that had difficulty answering the simplest of questions during her “job interview” hearing before the Senate committee that approved her for a floor vote. She floundered on questions about funding, disabilities, federal education policies, and educational requirements for our students. She never should have made it past that initial screening process.
Why do we bother with the formalities if it boils down to how much money someone has lined pockets with and not whether or not they are qualified to do the job?
Betsy DeVos was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, educated in private schools her entire life – she didn’t ever have to apply for financial aid to attend college. She has lived a glorious life – but is totally clueless about what it is like to depend on public schools, grants and scholarships for higher education, and to have that literally yanked out from under you like the proverbial carpet.
In Michigan, the citizens are well aware of the devastation caused by DeVos and her wrecking crew of privatizers. They have long fought against vouchers for education, religion in our classrooms, the denial of science in favor of creationist ideas, Charter schools with no accountability, and so much more. But Betsy DeVos shall have her day, thanks to the well-lined pockets of Republican Senators without the balls to just say “No” to someone that has no business being in charge of our children’s futures.
Fifty Republican Senators and Vice President Pence have sold our children to to the highest bidder and given over a trillion of your tax dollars to a person that will act recklessly and relentlessly to destroy the very fabric of our public education system.
Featured image from Washington Post video.
