The Daily Mississippian interviewed local professors and public school teachers in response to the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.
DeVos is a Michigan billionaire whose support of voucher systems and other steps to make public schools more competitive has made her a standout amongst President Donald Trump’s other controversial cabinet picks. Her confirmation has sparked campus discussions about the future of public schools and higher education’s role in shaping them.
“In a lot of areas, it’s just not certain what her views are, or even how much she’ll be directing what’s happening,” said Neal Hutchens, professor of leadership and counseling education.
Hutchens said he is bothered by question marks surrounding DeVos, whose résumé lacks what many feel is the requisite background for the job. DeVos has never attended or taught in a public school.
DeVos is a member of the nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which supports the SAFE Campus Act, requiring victims of sexual assault to first file a complaint of sexual violence to the police in order for the school to begin investigation.
“Leaving cases of campus sexual assault to the criminal justice system are problematic, because the privacy of victims could be at stake,” Hutchens said. “By taking away the power from victims to control how they feel best to response, in a way that’s a form of re-victimization.”
Hutchens said the role of for-profit institutions is another concern, which some feel will have greater power and fewer taxes.
“The Obama administration certainly made an effort to crack down on practices of for-profit education that seemed to take advantage of students,” Hutchens said. “Under the new secretary, we may see a reversal in the treatment of for-profit institutions.”
Senior education major Jennifer Wolf said she has always known she wanted to teach high school English, but the confirmation of DeVos has her worried about her future classroom.
Wolf said her concerns are around the idea of school choice and alternatives to public education, which DeVos, a member of the American Federation of Children, strongly advocates for. Without care, school choice could result in overcrowded and underfunded schools and many teachers without jobs, Wolf said.
“There’s no part of me that can support giving monies to private schools because the majority are religious-based, and everyone has their right to do religion, but that cannot be the main priority for our public schools,” Wolf said. “It is very un-American, to say the least.”
Wolf is also concerned about DeVos potentially giving state the responsibility of working with those who fall under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guides schools in how to give children with disabilities the assistance they need.
“If it is thrown back to the states, that means the states can individually decide whether or not they want to give those assistances to those students or give that funding to other students,” Wolf said. ”Me and several other people that I have worked with in the school system will fight every step of the way.”
Amy Wells Dolan, associate dean and associate professor of leadership and counselor education, said she is also concerned about DeVos’ advocacy for K-12 voucher programs.
“Advocates of voucher programs believe by introducing vouchers where you take public monies and redistribute them to parents for education, that would introduce competition to improve schools,” Dolan said.
She said DeVos’ support for greater states’ rights in education could lessen the accountability in public education.
“Our history shows us the negative effects, that discrimination is often felt on the local level, and historically we’ve needed the federal government to step in to help us protect the rights of all,” she said.
