"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?"
