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The Daily Tar Heel

Column: We need to talk about Betsy DeVos

If you have read my previous columns, it will likely come as no surprise that I am not a fan of President Trump and the people he has chosen for his cabinet. Among the rogues gallery composing the current administration, there is one individual who I feel is especially relevant to everyone who goes to UNC: Betsy DeVos, the current nominee for Secretary of Education.

Betsy DeVos was born Elisabeth "Betsy" Prince, the daughter of billionaire Edgar Prince, a former bankroller of an anti-LGBTQ hate group, the Family Research Council. The most politically prominent member of the Prince family, however, would likely be Erik Prince, DeVos' brother. Prince founded the private military company Blackwater USA (now known as Academi), which made millions off of the Iraq War. He is currently acting as an advisor to Donald Trump.

According to the organization’s tax forms, Betsy DeVos is listed as Vice President of the Prince Foundation and has been for several years. When questioned about whether she was on the board of directors for the group, which was founded by her family and has donated to anti-LGBTQ organizations, DeVos denied being on the board. When it was pointed out that she was listed on the tax forms, she claimed it was a clerical error. So, either DeVos lied to the Senate or her family’s organization has been lying on its taxes for several years.

But enough about the problems with the DeVos family’s ethics — let’s instead focus on her policies. Central to DeVos’s education policy is her fondness for charter schools as a solution to the challenges facing our public school system. The problem is that charter schools do not improve student performance. In a 2013 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes, it was found that there was a standard deviation of 0.01 for reading test scores and -0.01 for math test scores in charter schools when compared to public education. If our goal is to improve the test-taking skills of American students, charter schools are not the solution.

But the major concern I have with DeVos’s policies is her dismissiveness, or perhaps ignorance, of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires that students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education; public schools must provide special education in the least restrictive environment. This federal “matter,” DeVos said, “is best left to the states.”

And now it gets personal. You see, I was kicked out of a nice private school in kindergarten for being a troublemaker. I would run off school grounds, forcing teachers to chase me, and then I’d refuse to run in gym class. I indignantly protested when my music teacher tried to lead a singalong of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” because I wanted to listen to “God of Thunder” by KISS instead. That same year, I was diagnosed with autism. I had been “rebelling” against authority because I didn’t understand the unspoken social rules. Thus, when my parents enrolled me in the public school system, they were able to get me an Individualized Education Plan that allowed me to receive a standard education that was more specifically adapted to my atypical brain.

To the private school, I was a difficult student, but if the state had been allowed to “opt out,” I may not have made it through K-12. Because IDEA is federally enforced, I was given a chance. In time, I flourished and even earned a scholarship to attend UNC. Around 13 percent of the kids in public schools are in special education. It is imperative that they all be given a chance to learn.

Betsy DeVos is a dangerous choice for the Secretary of Education, and I urge all of you to contact Sen. Richard Burr at 202-224-3154 before Jan. 31 and tell him why he should vote against her confirmation.

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