Heavens to Betsy!
- Paul Perry
- Jan 22, 2017
- 3 min read
Why Democrats should take responsibility for Betsy DeVos and what they can do to fix it.
The greatest danger over the next four years will be the potential for failures of imagination and perspective.
By this, I mean, proceeding forth in the theater of the absurd as if the setting around us has not fundamentally changed in such a way to dictate a new path forward. Moving “ahead” in such a way that normalizes the unnormalizable rather than fighting back as asymmetrically as our opponents. Continuing to operate the machinery of political discourse as if our institutions are strong enough to protect all of us.
They are not. By design.
Democrats did an OK-to-solid job of grilling Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos and taking a tough stance on her blatant inadequacies. Other writers have well-documented her ethical lapses, her abysmal track record in further damaging public schools in Michigan, her attacks on teachers and support for anti-LGBTQ organizations.
As Trevor Noah noted however, she’ll still get confirmed despite her grave flaws. This is because we don’t actually run our government based on any sort of merit or capacity on the part of those selected to govern. It’s based on money, mostly. DeVos, with over $200 million in contributions to Republicans, proves that better than any other cabinet nominee.
So this tells us that both this specific nominee must be rejected and that the nomination system itself must change to prioritize skill in governance over all other qualifications for future nominees.
Stop fooling ourselves
We need to stop pretending that people like DeVos have any interest in governing in a way that improves our society. They do not believe this to be the function of government. This needs to be made clear to voters time and time again. It needs to be demonstrated to them in a tangible way from the policies progressives enact to how we campaign for offices differently than conservatives (e.g. spending part of our campaign funds on direct services to support families). We have an obligation to help voters feel the difference between the parties.
In this case, as Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post noted quite eloquently, the Democrats have failed at this by paving the way for DeVos in word and action. As a party, they’ll have to dig deep to reconcile their rightward shift on education policy and its clear connection to the ascendancy of DeVos and her ilk. Here’s what I’m wondering:
Why is one of the Democrats’ leading party figures and likely presidential candidate in 2020 (Cory Booker) one of the biggest proponents of one of the worst, neoliberal education policy ideas ever (school vouchers)?
Why have Democrats participated in the construction and maintenance of a parallel, apartheid system of education for poor, mostly children of color in America?
Why don’t Democrats push us to learn from our international peers (when it comes to education policy) clearly outpacing us in many human development indicators for children? (Answer: American exceptionalism on the part of both parties)
Why did Democrats support standards-based reform without accompanying capacity-building for teachers and schools?
Why did Democrats embrace competitive grant programs (with Orwellian names like “Race to the Top” and “I3: Investing in Innovation”) that emphasized unproven, neoliberal reform strategies and pitted cash-strapped states against each other as a way to fund education at the federal level?
Why aren’t the Democrats calling a full-stop on the DeVos confirmation hearings by calling in expert witnesses (better nominees for the role, Michigan students impacted by DeVos’ agenda there, etc.), staging protests by joining with activists on the ground, and generally fighting in unique, new ways for our kids?
It’s like the freakin’ Twilight Zone. No one bats an eyelash as Democrats essentially agree with Republicans on what school reform should look like. In this case, they get to call their mere agreement “compromise” or “progress” as all indicatiors point to heightened child poverty, lagging skills among our students, and continued school segregation at record levels.
Our real education woes are so much bigger than clueless Betsy DeVos. But we shouldn’t have such short memories and pretend that she isn’t the logical product of the past few decades of radical and wanting education policy moves on both sides of the aisle.
The Democrats scored some memorable zingers and sound bites during the confirmation hearing. They made their first hints at resistance look tough and admirable. But without a more serious consideration of what a truly progressive agenda in education might be, it’s all sound and fury…signifying nothing.
Paul Perry is a writer, nomad, and consultant with a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. This post is also available on Medium alongside Paul's other work.