Did Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos think that the teachers of the year as chosen by the states would like her any better than other teachers? If so, she got a rude awakening when she met privately with more than 50 teachers of the year, several of whom were not shy about challenging DeVos on her disastrous education policies, Rebecca Klein reports:
Jon Hazell, Oklahoma’s teacher of the year, told DeVos that school choice policies are draining traditional public schools of resources in his state. He specifically referenced charter schools and private schools in voucher programs, Hazell told HuffPost. His comment received support from other teachers in the room.
But Hazell, a Republican who voted for President Donald Trump, said he found DeVos’ responses to his concerns unsatisfactory.
DeVos told Hazell that students might be choosing these schools to get out of low-performing public schools, he said.
“I said, ‘You’re the one creating the ‘bad’ schools by taking all the kids that can afford to get out and leaving the kids who can’t behind,’” Hazell said he told DeVos in response. (Hazell said he was not referring to DeVos specifically as creating the “bad” schools but to school choice policies generally.)
DeVos also criticized teachers for striking or walking out for increased education funding:
“She basically said that teachers should be teaching and we should be able to solve our problems not at the expense of children,” [Montana teacher of the year Melissa] Romano said. “For her to say at the ‘expense of children’ was a very profound moment and one I’ll remember forever because that is so far from what is happening.”
Underfunded schools are a problem for students as well as teachers. When teachers are so underpaid that they either move to a state with better pay or have to work multiple jobs, that’s a problem for students as well as teachers. Remember that Oklahoma teachers walked out after they were promised a raise. Arizona teachers, too, are in the streets for school funding and to make sure that school staff who aren’t included in a promised raise get what they’re due.
Betsy DeVos just doesn’t know what she’s talking about. All she knows about is privatizing education and buying political influence. Oh, and potential grizzlies.