DeVos: Kids can't be held hostage by political agendas
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos weighs in on battle over reopening schools.
Teachers unions have shown themselves as being more concerned with political agendas and posturing than offering students a fulfilling learning experience, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday.
DeVos told guest host Mike Huckabee that she was glad to see Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York support reopening schools this fall, and said that it is imperative for families "not to be held captive to other people's fears or agendas."
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However, Murphy backtracked Wednesday on his initial requirement that all Garden State school districts have some form of in-person learning, instead allowing schools to begin the autumn session online if they meet certain specifications, according to NJ.com.
"We have seen all too many districts and all too many schools across the country not actually addressing the needs of students and anticipating school in the fall," DeVos said. "We all want to ensure students and teachers are safe when they are in school again, but those things can be done and can be clearly accomplished. The science is very clear on this."
The secretary added that some teachers unions have prioritized using the pandemic to push a leftist political agenda, including "defunding the police, universal health care, destroying charter schools, eliminating the D.C. Scholarship Opportunity Program, and these are what teachers unions are demanding in order for kids to go back to school."
"Kids have got to be together, they have got to be with their peers and in classrooms with their teachers, and we need to ensure that this happens," DeVos went on.
The secretary also echoed President Trump's sentiment that parents should retain some of what they pay in school taxes if their district won't let their children learn in-person.
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"Families need to have options, they need to have choices, they need to be able to find the right fit for their child or their children, and it's becoming ever more clear, in the last few months, that this is more and more necessary for families across the country," DeVos said.
"We've had an education system that's been static for decades; a one-size-fits-all approach, and if we've learned anything in the last several months, it's that children are not one-size-fits-all, and their education needs are not one-size-fits-all, and the response to this has not been a one-size-fits-all."
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