Long Island teachers protest Trump’s education nominee

What does Betsy DeVos mean for education in New Jersey? Their opportunity to succeed should not depend on living in the right zip code, winning a charter-school lottery, or getting into a private school.

“How can we have a nominee who has never even attended a public school, whose children have never attended public school?” asked Donna Walker, a special education teacher at Brucie Ball Educational Center, voicing a common complaint among the protesters. For critics, it was a scary window into a nominee who clearly doesn’t sweat the details of federal policy.

She was so desperate to dodge a question about treating all schools the same that she repeated the same three words four times. They’ll happen a lot closer to home, in the state legislatures that have always been the main drivers of education policy. That said, however, the developments of the past few weeks could provide a hint of what’s to come. This attempt to erode public education reflects Trump’s comments on education during his campaign.

DeVos has also been a proponent of charter schools.

Wilson went on to lay out the unsafe effects of DeVos’ actions regarding education in Detroit, and emotionally expressed how she and her family have been personally affected.

“She has never been in a public school, never had her children in a public school, has advocated for vouchers which take money out of public schools, advocated for charter schools“.

Here’s where states still have the most influence, even if DeVos might have some sway. “It’s going to be very hard for her to do that if a President Trump betrays authoritarian tendencies with respect to the press in this country”, he said.

“Would they all line up? I’m not here against President-elect Trump at all”, said Fremont Unified school teacher Kerrie Chabot.

Senate democrats questioned her involvement in the foundation during her confirmation hearing Tuesday night. Whether he speaks for the larger reform movement is unclear, but the discomfort is palpable.

And when DeVos was asked if she would uphold those guidelines, here’s what she said: “It would be premature for me to do that today”. When she was asked if she ever managed “trillion [or billion] dollar loan [programs]” before, she said no.

DeVos’ nomination has raised concerns among church-state separation groups for precisely the reasons the Orthodox groups favor her. She seemed unfamiliar with the debate on whether test scores should be used to measure proficiency or growth from one year to the next.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., rightly raised the issue of DeVos’ missing ethics report from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. “This, to me, is one of our most risky situations”. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate education committee and co-sponsored ESSA, said he is optimistic that she won’t interfere with states’ visions.