Teachers Rejoice Over Imminent End of Devos’ Tenure as DepEd Head
Educators are elated over Joe Biden’s forthcoming assumption of office as the new U.S. President, partly because it signals the end of Betsy DeVos’ tenure. Devos as the Secretary of the U.S. Education Department is considered by educators as the number one enemy of public schools.
As Biden’s win was declared by broadcaster nationwide, teachers’ unions, educators, school officials, and parents rejoiced by organizing and throwing a DeVos a retirement party by way of social media. Many of the ecstatic celebrators posted videos and photos of rejoicing by popping bottles of champagne and creating memes depicting the Education Secretary as Cruella De Vil and many other Disney movie anti-heroes. .
In his victory speech, President-elect Biden raised the hopes of many actors in the education sector by immediately proclaiming his moment of victory as a great day for the country’s educators. The former Vice-President was especially proud in saying that the soon-to-be first lady Jill Biden, is a teacher by profession and very much a part of the National Education Association.
Why is DeVos Hated by Educators ?
Betsy DeVos has been frequently ranked at the top of the list of the most disliked Cabinet members of the Trump administration. It is aggravated by the fact that she is also one of the longest serving Trump officials in an administration were turnovers of cabinet members are frequent. To stay long as a Trump cabinet member, one simply has to obey and not run aground with his presidential directives and personal wishes.
DeVos failed to make considerable progress in carrying out government during her time as Education Secretary. Her notoriety as Education Secretary is highlighted by the record-number of lawsuits filed against her. All of which are connected to her failure to supervise the Education Department in accordance with the guidelines prescribed by education-related legislative Acts.
In fact, her promotion of the school choice approach, which encourage parents to enroll their children in private or charter schools as an alternative to public school education, was a major issue raised by public school teachers during their nationwide walkout strikes. Mainly because school choice promotion also encouraged the proliferation of numerous for-profit charter schools entitled to receive federal funding, which diverted federal money that traditionally were allocated among public school districts.
Furthermore, she was a frontrunner in reversing or rewriting the guidance and regulations put in place by the Obama administration. The most controversial of which is Title IX, which aims to ensure the protection of the rights of the victims of campus sexual assault, including transgender students.
Her notoriety included ignoring the fraudulent acts of for-profit colleges that were without accreditation from Education Department. DeVos did not do anything to assist the swindled students who took out of education loans in order to pay the tuition and enrollment fees collected by the fly-by-night school operators. That is without considering that said students come mostly from cash-strapped, low-income families. .
Among Devos’ most despised decisions as Education Secretary is her cancellation of discipline guidelines that schools must observe in deciding disciplinary cases involving colored students. The eliminated guidelines were aimed at preventing cases of adverse student behaviors, from advancing toward the school-to-prison pipeline.
Educators and parents were teary-eyed in celebrating the end of Betsy Devos’ term as secretary of a critical sector. Her termination was something that a number of lawmakers have been calling for during the past three years of the Trump administration.