Saturday, February 18, 2017

Betsy Devos, Secretary of Education - Let Her In!

The other day I smiled as I watched the video where Betsy Devos, our new Secretary of Education, was blocked from entering a school in D.C.
"What a way to humble her!", I thought.
"Now, she will understand that everyone cannot be bought, there are still free thinkers, my thoughts rambled on.
Then I read a statement from the AFT Union President Randi Weingarten, where she stated that Devos should be let into public schools.

Yes. let her in.
Let her in so she could see what public schools are about.
Let her in to see in many of the public schools of children of color and rural schools:
the lack of supplies and resources
cramped rooms
large class sizes
no Recess
digital inequity
inexperienced educators
stressed and depressed educators
"whole child" ignored
children suffering from trauma and/or poverty
excessive testing
high turnover in teachers

Yes, let her in.
She can also view:
teachers working miracles with what they have
educators with empathy and compassion
students learning who deal with things adults couldn't
educators going above and beyond to do for "their" kids
a sense of community
out of pocket purchases for the students
happy parents
teachers meeting the needs of the "whole child"
children succeeding
children learning how to code, build robots,collaborating globally

Let her see the reality of public schools, the positive and/or the negative.
I don't expect miracles, she is a billionaire who has a charter school agenda. But maybe if she visits public schools, she will come to understand why we love them, and work hard in them.

Update: Well, they #letherin and this is what happened...

2 comments:

  1. I think with a lot of people in this administration, Betsy DeVos is not used to hearing the word "no", and not used to being around people who disagree with her vision. I'm not hoping for miracles, but if she visits enough public schools, maybe she will start to see how much public schools do with the students they receive and the (lack of) resources that they have.

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