On Tuesday, February 7th, 2017 the public education world got shaken. Betsy DeVos, a highly bred private education enthusiast, was confirmed as the United States Education Secretary. Winning by a single vote that, no surprise, was cast by a man who defunded most of Planned Parenthood in Indiana while he was still the governor. Sorry, I meant to say our VPOTUS, Mike Pence.

DeVos was never educated in a public school system, nor has she ever sent her own children to one. In fact, she has worked a majority of her life moving money around and spending millions to fund charter schools and even has vouchers that take the money from public schools and sends them to private institutions. She has no government experience, much like our POTUS.

Public schools give every child a chance to get their education. DeVos is slowly going to defund a majority of these and basically force the children to be educated somewhere else. She's never had to experience the reality of getting a public education, especially in rural towns. Nine out of 10 students attend public schools because those students and their parents can't afford anything else. Public education is not a bad thing. It may be the best thing in the world, especially in terms of learning different life lessons.

Growing up in a small town, there was one option for a private school, but two options for a public elementary school. I was fortunate enough to go to one of the public elementary schools, Jackson-Roosevelt Elementary. There, I made lifelong friendships, knew all the teachers, and I got an education. In this small town, the one option for private school was a Catholic school. The tuition is well above $2,000 a year, not including registration, uniforms, after-school care, breakfast or lunch. Granted at my school, you did have to pay for lunch, but the government had and still has, the free lunch program. More than half of the school was on this said program. A majority of the time, this was the only meal a student would get for the day.

This doesn't mean I don't support private or charter schools, but there's a time and place for said schools. The American education system is about to be wrecked by someone who has no experience in the field she's been elected to.

The public education system is so important in today's America. With it, you can get an education no matter where you live. You can better yourself, even if it is a small town. I got my education in Port Lavaca, then moved to Montgomery where I continued my public education. With the education I received from these schools, I am now in college on the track to being someone great.

I am proud to say I am a product of public school.