If you have even a rudimentary knowledge of government, you know that the only reason Betsy DeVos was given the position of Secretary of Education is because she asked for it. She is a billionaire who has given millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Trump and other Republicans.

DeVos has a goal; destroy public education. She knows nothing about our nation’s school system. The first time she ever set foot in a public school was after her mistaken Senate confirmation. DeVos wants to replace public education with vouchers for private school. Her efforts are focused on Christian schools; schools which are notorious for having the least effective teachers, and a limited perception of our nation.

She is an ignorant woman who fails to understand anything about education; she is a religious extremist.

Trump’s proposed budget suggests cuts in nearly every educational program, but adds money for vouchers. This system is unrealistic for children living in our inner cities. They don’t have the ability to travel back and forth to private schools which are all too frequently miles away from their homes. More importantly, many parents reject the idea of one religion dominating their children’s education. We are a diverse nation, and becoming more so each year. Christian schools do not allow conflicting opinions about many controversial subjects. They teach more fantasy than fact.

I attended Catholic schools for ten years. My last two years were in a public high school. It was only in those final two years that I learned how to think. No longer was my education in the hands of narrow minded individuals who had a single purpose. When I learned to have and cherish my own opinions, I rejected Catholicism. Religions are based on ‘faith,’ not facts.

I learned very quickly in two years that my questions were never answered. One of the questions which most troubled me was that ‘if there is a god, why does he or she allow the poorest and most abused people in the world to suffer, while wealthy and unscrupulous men and women live lives of luxury and privilege?’ I never got an answer other than “God works in mysterious ways.”

For me, no answers means no religion. Betsy DeVos should keep her extremist beliefs to herself.

Op-ed

by James Turnage

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Photo courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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