On February 7, 2017, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as the education secretary for the United States. As an education major, I am deeply affected by this event. There are many things Betsy DeVos wants to do, such as have taxpayer dollars help support private schools instead of public schools and possibly allow guns in schools. The vote was tied at 50 to 50, so Vice President, Mike Pence cast his ballot and was the tie breaker. He voted to have Betsy be the new education secretary. How is someone that has never worked or attended a public school, dealt with student loans, or financial aid supposed to run our education system?
As for future teachers and current teachers, the future is uncertain. If DeVos gets rid of public schools, the only children that will be getting an education are the ones that can afford it. This means that there will be many children not getting an education. This is a frightening thing that could happen while DeVos is the secretary of education. How could someone allow a child to not get an education? That just makes me sick to my stomach. As for the 50 people that voted in DeVos' favor, how could you allow this to happen?
Public schools are the foundation of our education system, 50.4 million children attend public schools. Going to a college that is mainly filled with education majors, this is a well talked about topic. Every education major I have talked to about this is just as upset as I am. DeVos is a billionaire with no education degree, no experience as an educator, who never attended public school, whose kids all went to private school, and who supports taking money from public schools and giving it to for-profit religious schools. I understand that there are many other people that will be in charge, not just her, but still having her be somewhat in charge of the education system is a horrible thought. As I sit in classes studying to become an educator, there is someone in office that is messing up not only my future but the students that I will eventually teach.
All we as educators can hope for is that DeVos makes everything better instead of worse. We need to set a good example and teach our students that things sometimes don't go the way we expect. Although we may not support her, we need to be positive and pray that she will do the right thing for the education system in this country.
