Op-Ed: Good Riddance, Betsy DeVos

On Thursday, January 7, Betsy DeVos announced her resignation from her position as Secretary of Education, leaving behind a controversial legacy and a dumpster fire for her successor to put out.

DeVos was never qualified to hold the position in the first place. To start, she has never worked in the education field. She has never had a position in a school building, let alone a public school. Unqualified and disconnected, DeVos’s lack of vision was apparent throughout her term. During her career, DeVos made no attempt at learning about public schools and has shown that she has no interest in it either. In fact, the policies that she pushes prove not only a lack of interest, but a drive to dismantle and defund public education. Her focus as Secretary of Education has been on increasing “school choice” policies, which steal funds from public schools and redistribute them to their private counterparts, including religious and charter schools.

In her letter of resignation, DeVos wrote, “too many [American students] are denied an equal opportunity to a high-quality education simply because of where they grow up or how much money their family makes.” This statement is hilariously and overwhelmingly ironic. The DeVos family has funneled millions of dollars in donations into charter schools and school choice programs. With her billionaire status, ten boats, four airplanes and two helicopters, it is no surprise that DeVos is detached and unpitying to those negatively affected by her mission. The effect of Betsy DeVos’s ill-considered school choice plan is a broken system of public education and an even greater equity gap. By robbing public schools of their already scarce funding, DeVos’s ideals do not instigate societal benefits. The majority of the United States’ public schools are deeply underfunded, reflected in hazardous conditions, shortages of counselors and flawed approaches to school safety. Shifting money from struggling schools to well funded private, religious and charter schools is not the solution to the United States’ public education crisis.