Western Prof Rips DeVos Choice As Education Secretary
WMU Education professor, Dr. Joseph Kretovics has ripped President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, of Grand Rapids."Betsy DeVos has a strong aversion to public education, and I think in her mind, in her actions at least, she has demonstrated that she believes that charter schools, vouchers, virtual education--anything that doesn't require 'public'--is good," Kretovics says. "So the idea of private is better than anything that is public or governmentally run. That to me is a real, real issue."
DeVos has been a vocal advocate of Michigan charter schools and the voucher system, giving parents more options.
But Kretovics says DeVos has no experience at all with public education.
"She has never been in any way associated with public education," Kretovics says. "She's never been in a classroom, she's never been an administrator. She's been a lobbyist for the special interests of charters and vouchers.
Kretovics belief is that vouchers don't work and charters are no better than public schools.
"The evidence is very clear that vouchers don't work and that charter schools are in no way better than public schools," Kretovics says. "The best charter schools are as good as the best public schools, and the worst charter schools are much worse than the worst public schools.
He goes on to say, "today Michigan tolerates more poor performing charter schools than any other state in the country," Kretovics says.
DeVos assumes her position after confirmation hearings in Washington. Expect to see and hear some lively debate on education matters.