10 Teachers Share Their Honest Reactions to Betsy DeVos's Confirmation

"As I think about the students and families that I work with, I can’t help but wonder how Betsy could even begin to relate to their life situations. Half of the students I work with live in poverty. Many of them come to school with their basic needs not met: lack of adequate food, housing, and clothing, not to mention any emotional support. A growing number of parents are in prison, many single parents working two or more jobs to help make ends meet, and like so many other places, a rising number of parents addicted to heroin or other drugs. Post-secondary education is out of reach for most of our students and yet without some kind of post-secondary education, these students are likely to fall into the same poverty cycle.

Betsy comes from a life of privilege, having attended private schools throughout her educational career. She likely never had to worry about saving for college and/or finding ways to finance her college education. I would guess she has no idea how that process works and how unreachable a college education has become for most students. Has she spent time in a public school or spoken at length with a public school teacher to gain an understanding of the needs we have? My fear is she will make decisions about what schools need based on her own experiences, which are completely out of touch and do not represent the majority of our families.

We need an Education Secretary who advocates for those without financial resources. We need an Education Secretary who brings new ideas and policies for those without a voice. If our Secretary of Education does not support or believe in public schools, what is to become of our public school system during her watch?"

"Teaching is, I believe (and I run the serious risk of sounding preachy here), actually noble work. It's my third career and it's the hardest job I've ever had and the most rewarding job I've ever had, too. It's so important, yet a good part of the ethos behind the money machine that DeVos represents would put that noble work on the chopping block in the service of profit.

If we really valued education as a society and put the interests of the kids first, we would go through hell or high water to make sure that teachers have the resources they need to do their job as well as they possibly can. You know, the old saying about how it would be nice if the schools had all the money they needed and the Navy had to have a bake sale to get another aircraft carrier. But the Republicans appear willing to wreck the entire system, and that feels pretty scary.

I think my reaction [to Betsy DeVos's confirmation] was similar to the one I had the day after the election: dismay seasoned with a dash of despair and dread. Where to start? It feels utterly demoralizing to see such a completely incompetent person buy their way into such a critically important job at the top of my profession, especially when there are countless other people who are far more qualified. It feels like my profession has been profoundly devalued.

My heart sank when I heard the news, especially because it had seemed like there was some chance at least a couple of Republicans would 'see the light' and stand up to this completely incompetent appointment. I was texting with another teacher and the discussion turned to [DeVos's confirmation]. We reminded each other that the answer to the despair is what we do every day anyway, and that is to focus on the kids. They give me hope every day, they make me smile, and they help me to forget, even if for just a brief moment, the perils we face."

"When the senate confirmed Betsy Devos as our new Secretary of Education, my world as a woman, a Democrat, and a public school teacher filled with anxiety and shock.

I have the privilege to teach in a predominantly Latino community in the central valley of California. After Trump’s election, our class discussions have ranged from deportation, family members not 'having the correct papers', to 'the wall', to Trump’s hate. I’ve even had students ask me if they'll be allowed to come back to class [because of our] new president. But with the news of the approval of our new Secretary of Education, we have new anxieties and new worries.

Due to our geography, many of my students' parents are farm workers. Some actually migrate twice a year from Washington state to California, uprooting their entire family to follow the crops. With this lifestyle and the income earned as a farm worker, our students are severely economically disadvantaged, with 94.4 percent living under the poverty line. The challenges my students face daily make them the most resilient and hardworking students that I'm so incredibly lucky to teach and love, which is why I'm even more protective after Devos's confirmation — these kids deserve so much more.

How can a woman who has never attended public school run our country's public school system? How can a charter school survive in our community with 94.4 percent of the students living under the poverty line? How will parents know to fight for charter school funding when over half of my students' parents speak only Spanish? How can a multi-billionaire understand the worries and needs of our economically disadvantaged students?

While I don't have the answers to these questions, I do have the inspirational words spoken by our previous first lady, Michelle Obama: 'When they go low, we go high.' I remind my students of these words every day, in hopes that eventually kindness will prevail."

"While I was on a break between teaching groups of students with various learning disabilities, I received a message from my best friend, a fellow teacher. It said, 'Well, Betsy DeVos was accepted for the Secretary of Education position.' My immediate reaction was disappointment and uncertainty.

While I know many people will say, 'Of course you’re disappointed, you're a left-wing public school teacher who is going to be upset with any person appointed by a Republican president,' they are wrong.

I was raised in an exceptionally Republican household and attended private school. As an adult, my beliefs are moderate, and I voted neither Democrat nor Republican in the last election. In all honesty, I’m not an exceptionally political person, but my students mean everything to me, so I pay attention to how politics affect education.

I knew there was going to be trouble with Secretary DeVos’s appointment when Senator Tim Kaine asked Mrs. DeVos at her confirmation hearing if she believed that all schools that receive federal funding should be required to meet the requirements of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and she responded by saying, 'I think that is a matter that is best left to the states.'

I work as a Special Education teacher, and this was the last thing I hoped to hear from the future Secretary of Education. IDEA legislation is the foundation of my entire job. DeVos's notion that IDEA legislation is best left to the states means there would be no federal oversight of Special Education amongst states. One state might exemplify Least Restrictive Environment for students with special needs, while other states may expose them to no general education – completely undermining the key principals of IDEA.

While this appointment is unfortunate, it has increased my motivation to teach my students and their parents to be advocates for themselves. I truly hope that Secretary DeVos wants to protect the rights of students with disabilities, but how can she do that if she doesn’t know what they are?"

"Ultimately, the confirmation of Betsy DeVos did not surprise me nearly as much as I wish it had. For one, it's been widely publicized how much financial support she and her family have doled out to many of the senators voting in support of her, and one would have to be a fool to not think that helped brighten the light in which they saw her.

But still, that's not why I wasn't surprised. No, the reason I saw this coming was that, in our society, there is a pervasive belief that our jobs, as teachers, simply don't warrant the same level of respect as similarly specialized positions. We all went to school, so who couldn't teach if they really wanted to? It's a logical conclusion that, when looked at more closely, doesn't hold up to reason. Never mind the fact that I had to complete four years of undergraduate studies focusing on my content area, as well as the psychological and cognitive theories behind learning. Never mind I had to follow that up with a year of graduate school that saw me wake up at 5 a.m. to start interning at a local high school and crawl into bed at 8 p.m. after a course on differentiation dismissed for the night. Never mind the fact that I spend over at least 50 hours a year participating in professional development opportunities. Never mind the fact that, everyday from 8:10 to 2:55, I spend every waking moment I can find helping Sara improve her writing or Julian improve his reading or Helen improve her speaking.

Never mind all that, because anyone could do that. This is what didn't surprise me about the confirmation on Tuesday. Betsy Devos has no experience, no understanding of educational philosophy or the inner workings of a school. Her resume wouldn't even get her through the doors of my high school. She is wholly unqualified to lead those who are now under her direction. But what does that matter? She went to school. What else could she possible need to know? When, one day, a teacher actually leads the department of education, maybe then we'll all be able to answer that question."

"I teach fourth grade at a public charter school in Kansas City, MO. Roughly 96 percent of the students I serve are African-American and qualify for free and reduced lunch. The election of President Trump was hard enough to explain to my students. They were just as saddened, confused, and disappointed as I was. The nomination of Betsy DeVos to Education Secretary has instilled the same sense of not only confusion and disappointment, but fear for the future of my students' academic success.

I am deeply concerned that DeVos's lack of experience in the education field will have dire consequences for my students and the funding my school receives from the federal government. As a Title I school, we require additional funds to help close the achievement gap and ensure all students can succeed, regardless of where they live or how much money their family earns. By the time my students get to fourth grade, they are already one-and-a-half years behind their higher income peers in both reading and math. By the time they get to eighth grade, they are three years behind. Statistics like these are the reason that now more than ever, we need experienced, diligent leaders who are advocates of both our public school system and the children that accompany it.

My heart sank when I first learned that DeVos had been confirmed. It is unfathomable to me that someone with absolutely no experience with education is now leading our country's entire education system. Her frequent denouncement of America’s public schools in exchange for private, religious schools through the use of vouchers is detrimental to the millions of students who attend our country’s public schools today. Moreover, the fact that DeVos (and her children) have never attended a public school or have had to take out student loans to pay for higher education worries me; in order to be an effective leader, one needs authentic engagement with the subject matter.

While I am thoroughly discouraged with the future of the American education system due to this appointment, it makes me realize that the work I am doing is that much more important."

"I have many concerns for my own students and the rest of the country's children who attend our public schools now that DeVos has been confirmed. She claims that she wants to 'fight for quality education for all children,' but her actions in Michigan and her donations to worrisome organizations and campaigns simply do not reflect that. She does not seem to be a strong advocate for our nation's children, but rather an advocate for her own personal ideas and interests in education reform.

Her complete lack of basic knowledge surrounding IDEA – a law that any person with actual experience in education should recognize immediately – concerns me the most. After stumbling over a question on her commitment to protecting the rights of disabled students during her Senate hearing, her follow-up letter several days later still showed a fundamental lack of understanding of what public schools truly do for students with disabilities. I find it hard to believe that DeVos, a person with such a lack of knowledge about public schools and what they do, truly wants to reform public schools for any other reason besides personal gain.

I was particularly disappointed to hear that DeVos had been confirmed after watching an overwhelming number of people speak out against her nomination. I was especially disheartened that Senator Deb Fischer (R-Ne) voted to confirm her after so many of her constituents (myself included) contacted her to express their concern with DeVos. I wanted to believe that citizens could help stop this nomination."

"When I heard the news of Betsy DeVos’s confirmation, I was sad, above all else. I had watched the #NoDeVos movement gain momentum, and I had kept up hope that the Senate would choose what was best for America’s students. When Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote, amidst feelings of anger and uncertainty, my heart also broke.

Mrs. DeVos has demonstrated (on more than one occasion) her utter lack of knowledge in the field of public education in America. Her career’s focus is solely on charter schools, and I have no doubt that she is knowledgeable about them. However, her idealistic views on charter schools are a threat to public schools. My primary concern with Mrs. DeVos’s confirmation is in her apparent disregard for the value of public education. In her [vision of a] perfect world, parents everywhere would have the option to send their child to a charter school. She claims that students in America are being “trapped by their zip code in a school that fail[s] to meet their needs.” DeVos is an advocate for what she calls ‘school choice’, which to me, means she favors sending students to private or charter schools instead of public schools.

I fear for rural America when it comes to school choice. There are towns I teach at across the Midwest that have populations of less than 1,000 people, and the K-12 public school in those communities may be the only school for 40 miles. Mrs. DeVos is forgetting that for these small towns, charter schools are simply not feasible. As Senator Claire McCaskill said, these private charter schools will never exist in small towns of 500 or 600 people; taking money away from public schools in favor of charter schools would only serve to irreparably damage the quality of rural education in communities that may already be struggling. My fear is that her enthusiasm for charter schools will cause public schools across the country to suffer."

"As an educator, I believe that part of my duty is to have optimism about the future of our country. But after hearing the news of Betsy DeVos’s confirmation as Secretary of Education, I've struggled to stay optimistic, instead feeling increasingly fearful of what might happen to public education.

I am terrified that the country’s public schools will deteriorate in both quality and population. DeVos is not an educator, and she does not have the proper credentials to direct her into a position that sets the standards for public education. As I look at the unfortunate condition that DeVos has left Michigan schools in, I cannot help but anticipate the same outcome for public schools throughout our entire country under her leadership.

Worse yet, President Trump has established a plan to use $20 billion of federal funds for block grants to states to support vouchers for poor children to attend private schools. This funding may come from the $15 billion allocated to Title I, which is used to allow for public school students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds to have equitable education. It allows for teachers and schools to give their students the education that every person deserves. Even if funding comes from elsewhere, population in public schools will decrease immensely. If this plan goes into place, I imagine the school quality in public education will significantly deteriorate.

Unfortunately, my very real worries make it extremely difficult for me to stay optimistic about the future as a public educator."

"I am a fifth year teacher in a Title I school in Virginia Beach. Our school is predominantly made up of at-risk, disadvantaged African-American students. Currently, schools meeting the requirements to receive Title I funding have a majority of students' families falling below the poverty line. These additional federal funds are to ensure equity; that all students receive the tools needed to succeed.

Scrolling through my social media newsfeed on Tuesday afternoon, I was left in anger and disbelief. I realized that the public school system is under attack, and that much of our government turned a blind eye to this bout rather than consider the millions of students, educators, and families that will be affected. My initial reaction to the confirmation of Mrs. DeVos was that the future of our country had been sold to the highest bidder, costing Betsy personally near $115,000 and her family a combined total of $950,000 in just this election season.

In addition to my outrage at DeVos’s confirmation, I am also filled with fear. My position in my current school as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher relies solely on Title I federal funds. This program was implemented this school year through a Preschool Initial Grant and has already given my disadvantaged students a head start at being successful life-long learners. What will happen to our program? What about the 18 four- and five-year-olds that so enthusiastically run through the door everyone morning, excited about what they will learn throughout the day?

My concern is that evidence shows that Betsy is not only unqualified for the position of Secretary of Education, but also she has a lack of compassion for students. However, after reflecting on my initial anger, I realized that one person will not stand in the way of a quality education for my students. We, as teachers, will still show up to work tomorrow morning. We will still spend hours of our personal time creating dynamic, engaging lessons. We will still create relationships with our students and their families. We will continue to meet students where they are and offer personalized instruction. We will still show our students love and teach them how to love each other. We will continue to speak of all of our children as if they are our own no matter their race, religion, gender, orientation, or place, or origin.

I may not be satisfied with Mrs. DeVos’s role in an area that so personally affects all Americans, but I will continue to fight for students because that's what teachers do best."