As Republicans and conservatives across the country rejoice in the “by the skin of their teeth, confirmation of Betsy De Vos as America’s new Department of Education Secretary, take a breath and hear some reality. De Vos is not going to do anything to “fix” education. And you shouldn’t be fooled into thinking any of her “school choice” rhetoric is going to allow parents greater freedom, power, control over their children’s education.
Don’t take it personally. Most people, parents, who are desperate to provide the best for their children will glom on to anything that sounds like a solution to, what is now a catastrophic disaster, the mainstream educational option available, public education.
The truth is, public education is has become so big, such an over bloated bureaucracy, that it cannot be “fixed.” And if you scoff at that statement, just ask yourself, how have past efforts worked for you so far? How much closer are we, to attaining the goal of quality education by leaving the it up to government to provide the solutions?
I mean really! Do you seriously think that government is going to ever, under any circumstances, Democrat, or Republican, going to release control of all that lovely tax money, and cultural social engineering power?
The selling point that put De Vos into the DOE seat is that she’s a school choice advocate. So here are some interesting facts about Betsy De Vos you should know.
We are immersed in Common Core. And whether you like it or not, whether your state has officially adopted it or not, it is governing education in your child’s classroom from kindergarten though college. It’s already invaded the homeschooling and private schooling realms. And Betsy is a part of that.
She was tied to the hip of Jeb Bush for years while he subversively worked to promote Common Core. This Breitbart article explains how a turn of a phrase, and twisting of words can change the meanings and messages, that lie between the lines, of a person’s actions. And what was that your mother always told you about being guilty by association?
“I mean she worked for some years with Jeb Bush on making sure we have really high internationally competitive performance standards for kids,”
… Many politicians have learned to avoid using the words “Common Core” because of their political “toxicity.” Instead, they frequently use phrases such “high” or “rigorous standards,” and “accountability,” to refer to Common Core. Grassroots parent activists who have been battling the Core in their states, however, say they have learned the meaning of these other terms as well.
And while De Vos denies support for Common Core, well, we’ve heard that before from politicians, haven’t we? She is a member of The Foundation For Excellence In Education, a think tank founded by … wait for it … Jeb Bush.
Missouri Education Watchdog outlines some great points about others, with whom De Vos surrounds herself.
In this article there is a running list of pro Common Core administrators who are already sworn in to posts beneath her. This is just a small, partial list. Click the link above to read about the others. The many, many others.
Jason Botel, … “I’m very excited about Common Core”… “I insist on Common Core”…”Common Core is a necessary first step” to prepare students for college and collect needed data to compare students nationally.
Josh Venable, … is considered a top candidate for chief of staff. … Venable was National Director of Advocacy and Legislation for the Jeb Bush-founded Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) which was very pro common core and pro testing.
Andrew Kossack, the former commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue and former Deputy Policy Director for Next Generation Reform at FEE, remember big fans of Common Core. He was also the Senior Program Director at the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation which gave $3 million to The Mind Trust in Indiana which promotes alternatives to traditional public school including charters.
And here, MEW outlines that De Vos is pro Islamic in curriculum choice, pro data mining of students and is against marriage protection.
So, what about the selling points that put De Vos into the spot light, school choice. Charter schools and vouchers.
Well, here’s the sad and hard truth, folks. Charter schools are public schools. It’s really that simple. They receive public funding. Therefore, they are bound by all the regulations, standards, and rules to which any other public school is bound.
As for vouchers and tax credits, when was the last time you took money from the government that didn’t come with regulations, rules, requirements, mandates? Go ahead, I’ll wait. What was that? You can’t think of any? Really? And you think that because De Vos was appointed under a Trump administration, while she is surrounded by Common Core vultures, she’s gonna be the one person in modern education history to turn that one around? Well, please pass me what ever it is your drinking, smoking, taking. I want to live in that fantasy world with you. It must be nice.
The only school choice that anyone is going to be privy to under a De Vos tenure is what will your kids eat for lunch, and maybe what they will wear to school each day. Will there be cupcakes at the winter holiday party or candy bars?
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