American education has been going to sh*t because corporate welfare are put over citizen's and we are all paying for it.

Why spend more than half of our budget on military complex, when we can invest in American minds to better our future?

I'm really concerned about her ideas for defunding public schools in order to force people into private schools. That might be well and good in cities, I really don't know, but what about rural areas?

There is exactly one private school within a reasonable distance of where I live. It's a Christian school that my cousin used to attend--at least, until her mother pulled her out because the "teachers" (they just gave out work-books) turned a blind eye to bullying. Turns out that my cousin was AT LEAST a year behind the curriculum of the public school she transferred into. Keep in mind that we're talking about a poor public school system that is well behind the rich school systems in other parts of the state.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Temporary-Location-Announced-for-DC-Elementary-School-Infested-With-Bed-Bugs-Pests-412832883.html

Temporary Location Announced for DC Elementary School Infested With Bed Bugs, Pests

Best country in the world. Sure...

Do they still try to push creationism as science?

LMAO

she doesnt believe in public education... I can go further than that, but honestly, im to depressed right now.

I'm sure Trump's devoted cult will find a way to defend this pick

Public schools are absolutely garbage in most low income cities in America. The religious schools (and Charter schools in some states) perform better than Public school. How can you posibly be against giving more oportunity for children to get better education? I grew up in Detroit and it became so apparent why it is so hard for people to escape poverty. The biggest problem were the public schools I attended. Kids in every classroom were out of control and the teachers didn't care at all.  This isn't the case for charter schools in inner cities (she advocated for charter schools too). Charter school demand has been on the rise yet their has been fight back against creating more of them.

Democrat leaders seem to be adamently against allowing young kids a chance to escape the broken public school system as of late. They are fighting against DeVos plan for school choice and public education officials have shot down the creation of more charter schools in New York in the past claiming "it doesn't meet our education standards" despite them out perfoming public schools in the same area. We need more charter schools in inner cities! Nothing wrong with religuous schools either since they have proven they know how to teach kids. If the parents are okay with sending kids to a Catholic school then help them do so. If we want to help poor comunities then it starts at education. how many more decades of failing public schools do we need before we try something new?

From the National Center for Education Statistics:

US spent $11,700 per student on elementary/secondary education. 31% higher OECD average $9,000
US spent $26,600 per student on post-secondary eduction. 79% higher than OECD average of $14,800

That is, the US spends a hell of a lot more on education than the average of all the other developed countries. Maybe money isn't the problem?

My understanding of both Trump's and DeVos' position, is that of school vouchers. Look at the numbers I posted above. The national average cost of private schools is around $10,000 per year - somewhat cheaper than the cost per child at public schools. The idea of school vouchers is that parents who are stuck in low-income areas can still send their kids to a good private school through this voucher.

It ultimately saves the taxpayer money (because $10,000 is lower than the average cost), and gives parents in poor areas a chance of a proper education for their child. Let's not shit ourselves here - public schools in urban areas can be highly atrocious. There could not be more of a divide.

Pokoko brings up a good point, vis-a-vis urban/rural. Such a program can be very successful in an urbanized area, where a good private school is only a subway ride away, or whatever. Becomes a whole lot more burdensome in rural areas. The easiest way to handle this is through common sense - vouchers where there's density, and move a portion of the savings to public schools in rural areas.

"Unqualified" is a word we are gonna hear a lot to describe this administration, and rightly so.