Home / Education / Alachua County Educators Deal with Betsy DeVos’ Confirmation

Alachua County Educators Answer Betsy DeVos’ Confirmation

By Katelyn Newberg

February 7, 2017 Education

Jenny Hill helps chance a charter school, but she was concerned when she realized Betsy DeVos include the next Secretary of Education.

“I do not believe Best DeVos overall is going to have a confident have an effect on education in the states,” said Hill, co-director of Resilience Charter School.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted on DeVos, who’s an advocate for charter schools and voucher programs that offer money to families for private-school tuition. The Senate vote ended 50 to 50, but Vice chairman Mike Pence broke the tie to evaluate DeVos, once a vice president must achieve this.

DeVos have not worked or attended a public school, good The revolutionary York Times. The billionaire may be a former Michigan Republican party chairwoman and it has long campaigned for education reform.

Hill acknowledged that DeVos’ stance on increasing funding for charter schools would help the programs, but she said it wouldn’t help education all together.

“I don’t believe that charter schools needs to be receiving any more funding over a traditional public school,” she said. “They should be held on the same high standards that this rest of the schools from the district are held to.”

She said most charter schools in Gainesville aren’t run by for-profit companies. While there’s conisder that charter schools can drain funds from public institutions and supply a lower quality of education, Hill says this does not must be this way with proper regulations.

“I do imagine that school choice is an effective part of our public school system,” she said. “We’re just providing a smaller alternative procedure for education that increases results for some students.”

Tara Lowe-Phillips, principal of Micanopy Junior high school, disagrees about funding.

“We must struggle to complete a many things,” said Lowe-Phillips. “We definitely needs any amount of funding the fact that state may help with.”

Lowe-Phillips, 38, would want to believe DeVos would help programs like hers, she’s not convinced she’s the correct woman job.

“It seems it could be easier to nominate somebody that might be in charge of the training system in the united states to have more knowledge in the exact school system,” she said.

Despite her reservations about DeVos, Lowe-Phillips said she supports DeVos’ stance that parents must be able to pick the best schools regarding their children.

Alachua County School Board Member Rob Hyatt said his opposition to DeVos is less about philosophies concerning how schools are organized, and even more about her lack of experience.

“As a lifelong educator, as the product of public schools and public university, I’m saddened and disappointed,’ Hyatt said. “She doesn’t have a grasp with the federal role in education.”

Hyatt said he desires the most effective with DeVos’ appointment knowning that her policies don’t negatively affect Florida or Alachua County.

“In Florida, we rank very low in what we invest in education,” he explained. “We that could an effective job. If we shall lessen that then it’s probably going to be the rest of an issue.”

Jackie Johnson, Alacha County Public Schools spokeswoman, declared while you will find concerns about DeVos from educators over the county, the college Board hadn’t taken a public stance for my child nomination.

“I think our major dilemma is wondering of course we have an applicant who’s excited about strengthening public schools, not dismantling them,” she said.

Mark Pudlow, a spokesperson for the Florida Educators Association, said since some of DeVos’ policies regarding voucher programs and charter schools can be witnessed in Florida, other states will be more affected when she takes office.

“Right now there’s no doubt that that’ll just reinforce things in Florida,” he said. “We don’t believe she’ll work well with the country.”

Pudlow said when using the current political climate since President Mr . trump took office, the union is getting ready to fight against any of DeVos’ policies they view as harmful.

“We’ve found in just two and a half short weeks how the Trump administration generally want to do everything it could to disrupt, create chaos in gov departments,” he said. “We think children’s public education is way too essential for the crooks to be playing games with.”