Education secretary, no experience necessary: Letter to the editor

Let me get this straight.  An attorney general must have a law background in order to be an effective law enforcer. Surgeon generals must be medical professionals.  It goes without saying that anyone heading up the Department of Defense has...

Education secretary, no experience necessary: Letter to the editor

Let me get this straight.  An attorney general must have a law background in order to be an effective law enforcer. Surgeon generals must be medical professionals.  It goes without saying that anyone heading up the Department of Defense has a military background. Funny, how experience seems to matter in those cabinet positions. But education is one of the "feminized" professions, historically underpaid, under-empowered and, largely, without respect. Easy low-hanging fruit.

President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos, a non-educator, to the position of secretary of education. Republicans colluded (with the exception of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska) in this mockery of public education and this disservice to American citizens.

Public education is our commons. DeVos has staked her career on destroying that commons via vouchers and other defunding mechanisms. At her confirmation hearings she revealed her abysmal ignorance of both pedagogy and education statutes. In confirming DeVos, her supporters have revealed not only their ignorance of the education profession, but their contempt for it as well.

Laura Paxson Kluthe, Northwest Portland

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.

NEXT NEWS