Earlier today there was a discussion about Betsy DeVos on Facebook. The complainer tried to disavow Ms. DeVos as unqualified to hold the post of Secretary of Education. His big question? Name her qualifications because, says he:
“My grandmother, and aunt were both teachers. I advocate them… I support THEM, and I RESPECT them… NOT someone pretending they know anything about TEACHING.
Period. “
That always makes me laugh when someone, who loves and supports teachers throws that out there. As though his personal connection to them, his respect for them is worth more than how anyone thinks, feels or believes about Ms. DeVos and her excellent qualifications (depending upon which side of her you stand).
I, too, support teachers, ones who are free thinkers, who have not had to fall in lockstep with Teacher Unions or coerced into joining a union or forced into indoctrinating children.
I believe in not pitting school teachers against parents who are the primary teachers of children, or replacing parents as primary educators in the home. I believe that those claiming to care for children because their parents do not is wrong. I do not believe in educators who pit children against parents or families.
I believe that some public administrators in schools too often serve the educational bidding of talking heads desirous to simply indoctrinate children under the guise that licensed or certified educators are smarter than parents or even taxpayers. In fact, I also believe that anyone with vision toward a Gentle Revolution to break the administrative stranglehold being driven in public schools is a threat to administrator and teacher job security.
What I find fascinating, and what I truly believe, is anyone who can read can learn. And if you can read and learn from what you read, you certainly can teach it to another person. Now, you might not be the best reader, best learner, or best teacher but that does not disqualify you from being smart enough to chose to, or not to, blindly follow some talking head administrator or teacher.
It seems to be that for years, and I mean at least thirty years, I have heard the “poor teachers” mantra. Well guess what. It is going to be worse for them thanks to innovation with teaching and the Internet. With freedom to homeschool and charter schools the threat has and will increase for those seeking tenured, job stability in a changing work force. And that job threat reality is not unique to the field of teaching in public schools as technology continues to rapidly advance.
It used to be people worked for 25 to 30 years to earn their pensions. Public Service has now become the taxpayer burden to support, for life, those who work and demand funding for a lifestyle to which they are or wish to be accustomed after being vested at merely ten years.
Ten years! That in itself is ridiculous, especially when you add up all of the benefit packages the “poor” teachers have racked up thanks to Unions, and all without the opportunity to, as businesses must, learn from failures and successes.
So back to DeVos and her qualifications. Well, there are things to be concerned about regarding her personal agenda. I ran a search on her from sources I trust. The who-what-why-when-where-how pendulum swing is interesting but to say she is not qualified to be Secretary of Education is deceitful. She may not be your cup of tea but who cares, except you.
- Betsy DeVos Conservative Review
- Betsy DeVos Daily Signal
- Betsy DeVos Front Page Magazine
- Betsy DeVos Freedom Works
- Besty DeVos The Federalist
My vision is #Abolish the Department of Education and #StopCommonCore. And I am happy to do my part to make that happen regardless of who sits as Secretary in the DOE. The fact that Progressives #FearTheDeVos is a bonus in my book. I can live with the Daily Signal’s 10 Priorites for Betsy DeVos.
10 Priorities … Link corrected 12 Feb. 2017
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