Last semester, I was planning on becoming a teacher. I took on substitute teaching, I did observations, and I wrote two of my standards in one semester. I threw myself into the education world completely and prepared for the numerous tests, multiple standards, and several hours of student teaching that would be taking place in the next few semesters. While I made the decision to change my major, it doesn't change the fact that I know how difficult it is to become a teacher. Some jobs are taught in a classroom and some are taught hands on. Teaching requires both. Four years of classes, nine standards to write, 75 hours of observation, numerous exams, and a semester of student teaching are all required to become a teacher of ANY kind. Why is it then that Betsy DeVos is close to becoming the Secretary of Education when she has not had ANY of this training? Why is our education system about to fall into the hands of someone who has never done any observations, student teaching, or even taken education classes?

In case you aren't aware of her big idea, DeVos wants to give everyone the opportunity to choose their own schools. Right now, everyone pays money towards public schooling. If parents want to put their children in private school, they have to pay for both public school and private. DeVos wants to give everyone the option to take the money they put toward public schooling and use it toward a private school or at the very least another preferred public school. In theory, this idea sounds great. We get to choose where our money goes and we get to choose our schools. However, what will this mean for those who depend on some of these public schools. And what will happen to public schools?

Unfortunately, I don't see this idea playing out well. Let's say DeVos wins and her idea is put in place. Parents can now take the money that was funding public schooling and put it towards a private school or another public school of their choice. There are several cities that are funded by the taxpayers living there even though they may not go to that school. However, there are also families that rely on those public schools for their children because they can't afford the other schools. If all of those taxpayers decide to take their money and put it elsewhere, that school will lose its money and eventually shut down, leaving those kids nearby with no other school to go to. An argument is that even those kids will be able to go to the schools that have the funding. But how will they get there? If these students have to rely on school buses to get to their schools, or they have to walk/bike to school, how will they get to these public schools that are twice as far or private schools that may not offer buses?

Another issue is an overflow of students in particular districts. There are specific districts that people are eager to get into and this idea allows them to pick that one. If everyone is wanting into that district, those schools will become overflowed and the others will become vacant. This could actually cause some cities to have no schools and the upper class cities to have several. Again, how will this affect the poor families who have no access to transportation other than the buses? How will they get to these cities that may be up to 20 minutes away?

This will also affect the teachers in public schools. This could very well cut teaching jobs by a significant amount. If a school loses its funding, and the school is forced to closed then dozens of those teachers are out of a job. Unless the district is considered a preferred district, teachers are going to start having to worry about job security. This may also mean that teachers will all be trying to get into specific districts and avoid those that will lose funding which could also contribute to a loss of funding at specific districts.

Overall, the concern is for those who can't afford to lose public schools. So many of these public schools offer free transportation, free lunches, and free tutoring. This is for those who can't afford to pay for it themselves. They NEED public schools and they NEED ones they can get to by bus or by foot. Every city needs a school for this very reason. Cities without schools are only going to divide classes even more. The poor areas are only going to get worse and the rich areas are only going to get richer. This is NOT a solution for our education system.

Here is the thing-- I know DeVos means well and believes that her solutions are going to work. However, DeVos has only ever been to private schools. She has NEVER gone to a public school. She has no concept of how her ideas will affect our public schools. She has spent her entire life in the upper class and has never had an issue paying for school. There are so many people in this world that need their public schools. We can all agree that our education system needs reform but this is not the answer. This idea does NOT address all classes. We cannot afford to let DeVos become our Secretary of Education. PLEASE call your senators. PLEASE be a voice for our schools, our educations, and most importantly, our STUDENTS.