Union-run schools 'totally out of touch' with needs of American children: DeVos
Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says teachers' unions are prioritizing 'adult issues' and political agendas without any regard for young students struggling to re-start school in a post-COVID era.
Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday accused teachers' unions of prioritizing their political agenda at the expense of millions of children who are now struggling to catch up after more than two years of COVID-induced lockdowns.
Children across the country returned to their classrooms Monday eager to turn a new leaf after years of instability and extended school closures. But DeVos told Fox News she's not surprised that some schools in states like California, New York and Pennsylvania are still imposing mask mandates and other COVID restrictions on students,
"These are in places where they are most heavily union controlled and more heavily influenced by the whims and wishes of those intent on adult issues, not in doing what's right for kids," DeVos said on "The Story." "More than two million kids leaving the public school system. These are just other examples of their totally being out of touch with the needs of American families."
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School districts have re-implemented mandates for children for the 2022-2023 academic year. ((Photo by: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))
DeVos said more American families are choosing to take their kids out of the U.S. public school system because the pandemic exposed just "how out of touch" union-controlled government-run schools are with the needs of students.
"They’re focused not on what kids need to learn and to thrive, but on what they want and their political agenda and their political issues," DeVos said,"…not on the harm and on the impact on kids. We know that those numbers and that data about learning was from before the pandemic. Imagine what those numbers are now today with millions and millions of kids out of school for months on end. Not to mention the learning loss but also the mental and emotional toll that it’s taken on kids."
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School closures in the U.S. have had a devastating impact on children’s mental health, development and future earnings potential. DeVos said summer school and extended learning initiatives implemented to make up for learning losses were largely unsuccessful because there were "attempts to control things from the top, to run them according to adult wishes and not according to what families need.
Winnetka, CA - March 11: Students in Isabel Reyes kindergarten class at Stanley Mosk Elementary school wear masks while indoors Friday, March 11, 2022. Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still wearing masks while in school. (Photo by David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images) (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
"In the places where governors tried to give monies directly to families for tutoring for specifically addressing learning losses, in most cases those were shut down by the very people that say they want to help these kids," she said.
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"It goes right back to this monopolistic government-run top-down system that has failed millions and millions of kids," DeVos added. "Parents are finally rising up and insisting that they have other options and other ways to make sure that their kids continue to learn [because] they’re falling further and further behind."