Educators have expressed skepticism with President Donald Trump’s recent nomination of Betsy DeVos for secretary of education.

DeVos, who has advocated for school choice and voucher programs, was nominated by Trump in November and had her confirmation hearing in front of the United States Senate on Jan. 17. The hearing intensified what was already a controversial nomination, with Democratic senators and DeVos engaging in debate.

Tatiana Melguizo, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California, said she doesn’t think DeVos is qualified for the position.

“I think she’s going to be appointed and that we’ll have to work with her,” Melguizo said. “We need to learn to work with her and just focus on what is better for the students in both lower and higher education.”

Phone calls have overwhelmed senators’ phone lines, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), urging them to vote “no” in DeVos’ Senate confirmation hearing, according to Politico. Kaine’s office said it has received more than 25,000 emails and letters regarding DeVos’ nomination.

Kristi Andersen, professor emeritus of political science at Syracuse University, called DeVos’ appointment a “terrible choice.”

“She has no expertise or experience in the educational world,” Andersen said. “She has not been a teacher, she has not been an administrator, she has not been a policymaker, she has not worked for an educational think tank and she has not written about education.”

Andersen criticized DeVos’ lack of experience in education, adding that she thought it was evident from DeVos’ nomination hearings that she did not understand a number of issues relating to K-12 education over the last decade.

“They could have found somebody who was conservative but competent,” Andersen said.

DeVos, a billionaire lobbyist from Michigan, has been a vocal advocate of school choice, charter schools and voucher programs for years. Vouchers are public funds given to families of students to subsidize payment for a school of their choice whether it be a different public school, a charter school, a private school or even homeschooling. They are designed to give students a choice in where they are educated and a chance to leave a public school that may not push them to fulfill their potential.

The voucher program caused some political controversy in the past, notably during the 2012 presidential election, when Republican nominee Mitt Romney supported the use of vouchers.

Melguizo said there is concern among the education community about vouchers because available evidence on vouchers suggests that they may not be the best option for bridging the gap between lower-income students and students of color, and higher-income and white students, he said. Vouchers have increased those gaps, Melguizo added.

She referenced a voucher program used in Chile, aided by economist and voucher-creator Milton Friedman. The Chilean program is similar to voucher programs DeVos has lobbied for in the past.

According to The Washington Post, only 10 percent of lower-income students in Chile use vouchers to go to private school and 90 percent of private school students come from the nation’s wealthiest 60 percent of the population. In addition, budget cuts in Chilean public schools caused a decline in educational quality in public schools.

“You end up giving a subsidy to upper-middle class and wealthy families to contribute to the payment of a private school’s tuition,” Melguizo said. “That is somewhat concerning if you want to think about an efficient use of public funds.”

Stephen Macedo, professor of public policy and political theory at Princeton University, however, said he thinks providing vouchers for low-income students isn’t necessarily a bad idea if the system is structured to make sure students get into good schools and that the schools the students leave still offer quality education.

Melguizo said she is not sure whether DeVos will follow Trump’s support in simplifying student loans. Processes such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and Pell Grants need to be simplified, she added, so that lower-income families could take advantage of money that could send their children to college.

Andersen said she believes DeVos will be confirmed because she has not heard of any Republican senator opposing DeVos’ nomination. It would take every Democrat plus three Republicans to block DeVos from getting a spot in Trump’s cabinet.

Published on January 29, 2017 at 7:41 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001