©C-SPAN screengrab
Betsy DeVos, the embattled school-choice proponent whose family has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates, was confirmed as U.S. Education Secretary yesterday by exactly one vote, that from Vice President Pence. That tie-breaking vote has never before been needed for the confirmation of a cabinet official.
DeVos’s nomination by President Trump triggered unprecedented opposition, even in a new landscape of unprecedented opposition. It was voiced through more than a million phone calls to the Senate offices in Washington, thousands upon thousands of letters and postcards, as well as a grassroots social media campaign and protests, even in DeVos’s hometown of Holland, MI. The widespread resistance continued unabated up until the last minute, even on Super Bowl Sunday.
“My initial reaction was ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. How can 1.5 million calls a day from constituents not count more than just blindly voting along party lines?’ I literally had tears in my eyes from how discouraging this feels,” says Deah Hester, a librarian in an alternative high school in Arlington, VA.
DeVos’s many opponents point to her apparent lack of knowledge of the workings of the public school system. She is well known for chairing the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group. She has never worked in a public school, attended one, nor had a child who went to one. That combination of circumstances makes her unique among all previous education secretaries. “I felt ill because I knew our elected officials had abandoned us and abandoned common sense,” says Gina Seymour, a high school librarian in Islip, NY. “If I have to be highly qualified, then the person in charge of policy should need to be as well.”
During her confirmation hearings, she was widely seen as being ill informed, in particular, about the fundamentals of college loans and the specifics of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Some also worry about her experience with early education. “Long term, is the achievement gap going to grow at an even faster rate? Does she even know what early education means?” wondered Lisa Kropp, a public librarian in Lindenhurst, NY, and an early learning specialist.
The outgoing secretary of education, John B. King Jr, now the president and CEO of The Education Trust, was among those voicing concern about DeVos’s appointment.
“Throughout the confirmation process, The Education Trust expressed concerns about Betsy DeVos’s commitment to fully embracing public education and to using the full range of tools at the secretary’s disposal to protect and advance opportunity and achievement for low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities….I sincerely hope that Ms. DeVos will work hard to prove these concerns wrong and will lead the department in a manner that protects fundamental civil rights and promotes opportunity and achievement for all students,” King said in a statement. Indeed, whether DeVos can emerge from this tumultuous start to bring excellence and equity to America’s students remains to be seen.
Katie, a librarian in the Midwest who asked to be identified only by her first name, put it more bluntly: “I started crying when I heard. This is a sad and dangerous day for the future of our nation’s youth.” Yet, some took this latest disappointment as another opportunity to get to work doing what librarians do best. “I searched for information right away,” shared Seymour. “Like who voted for her, and when they are up for re-election. After fact-gathering, I disseminated the information through social media. Gotta love librarians—fact-find and share.”
Beth Yoke, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association, is looking ahead as well. “Public education for all is a cornerstone of a successful democracy. As librarians and educators, we have a responsibility to protect this fundamental right for all youth in the U.S., and now is a time to regroup and move forward,” says Yoke. “Let’s not forget that the U.S. Department of Education has a limited role because education is so decentralized in the U.S. Education standards and curricula are determined at the state level, and key funding decisions are made locally. As advocates of youth, we can unite and direct our energies there to ensure all young people have equal access to a quality public education.”