Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie
This is tragic. From all appearances, De Vos is at best a well meaning heiress with good intent, too much money but little knowledge. Even though I am an advocate of PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS, Ms. De Vos’ efforts to block review of charters in Michigan and to use public dollars to pay for vouchers have hurt children in her home state. Nonetheless. Betsy DeVos is a two-sided sword that leaves a lot of good advocates of educational reform as side kill.The truth is that DeVos is a horrid choice, but it is also true that our current
VP Pence casts historic vote
“public schools” are on the way to becoming charity schools …. containment centers for kids without the resources to move to better-off neighborhoods or enroll in private schools. Add in the reality of geographic separation, aka segregation, and students in many of our Seattle schools are being sentenced to those schools.
The liberal answer has been disastrous. We abandoned busing because it was costing us tax money and well-off families were threatened with loss of their schools. Teachers’ unions have done their part, too. The union fight for tenure and against merit pay, public charter schools and even against Teach for America is all about JOBS not KIDS.
At the core of this is the anomaly of the elected school board. Elected by whom? Not the parents or even the citizens that live in areas of a city with the most kids. The interests of the tax payers … and voters for school board … are at best charitable, more like our interests in paying taxes to support the homeless then supporting roads, parks, and the cops.
That is why I support PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. Given the choice between the bureaucracy of the SPS and the power of the teachers unions to finance elections, I think coalitions of parents and teachers who work together can use the taxes we collect to create divers and creative schools that serve their kids’ needs.