U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos valgte at gå af den 8. januar 2020, og begrundede det med den indflydelse som præsident Trumps retorik havde haft på oprøret ved og i Capitol i Washington D. C. Det havde været mere end hun kunne stå inde for.
Nedenfor har jeg fremhævet de vigtigste pointer i en ny artikel hvor fire amerikanske ”scholars” formuler, hvad de anser for at være arven efter hendes 4 år som minister.
“Interestingly, DeVos has a history of using some rather caustic and divisive language herself. Although she never encouraged or condoned the use of force to achieve political ends, her insulting characterizations of public educators as “sycophant[s] of the ‘system’” and “Chicken Littles” will leave a troubled legacy of their own.”
“When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, there was little doubt that he would appoint a secretary of education who would support private school vouchers, oppose teacher unions and be reluctant to enforce civil rights statutes. That agenda is consistent with every Republican administrationgoing back to Ronald Reagan. Why, then, did Betsy DeVos become “the most unpopular person in our government”?” What set her tenure apart was not what she did – it’s that she personified those policies.”
“For her,all that’s required for schooling to be considered “public education”is public funding and use by the public, meaning that private schools can provide “public” education.DeVos, from the moment of her appointment, became a powerful symbol. That, more than any action she took while in office, set her apart.”
“In her four-year tenure as secretary of education, it could be said that her biggest achievement was making the role of the U.S. Department of Education less prominent, and, similar to Donald Trump, undoing that which was done during Barack Obama’s tenure”
“While many of these actions have noticeably impacted educational policy, almost all of them can be overturned quickly in a new administration through direct administrative action. Few, if any, of DeVos’ school choice plans were codified and passed into law, making her legacy one of controversy and little action.”
“One of the great questions at the start of Betsy Devos’ tenure was whether she would enforce the federal education law signed by President Barack Obama at the end of his second term. Four years later, we know the answer: She did not try to undermine the federal testing regime instituted by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.”
(Min kommentar til sidste pointe: Dette testing regime har længe været meget kritiseret og er nu til stor diskussion)
Læs hele artiklen her:
Hlavacik, Mark (January 2021):Through her divisive rhetoric, Education Secretary DeVos leaves a troubled legacy of her own. https://theconversation.com/through-her-divisive-rhetoric-education-secretary-devos-leaves-a-troubled-legacy-of-her-own-152914
- Her er link til 28 emneartikler om Betsy DeVos´politik og hanlinger 2016-2020 https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/betsy-devos-33829
- Denne artikel giver et rids over udviklingen af den federale uddannelsespolitiks rolle I forhold til delstaternes rolle.
Hornbeck, Dustin (2017): Federal role in educationhas a long history. https://theconversation.com/federal-role-in-education-has-a-long-history-74807
- Citater fra denne artikel:”The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution states … leaves the power to create schools and a system for education in the hands of individual states, rather than the central national government. Today, all 50 states provide public schooling to their young people – with 50 approaches to education within the borders of one nation.
… As for the federal government’s role, education is not specifically addressed in the Constitution, but a historical precedent of central government involvement does exist.
… The role of the federal government in general grew much larger after the Great Depression and World War II, but this growth largely excluded K-12 education until the 1960s. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson included education policy in his vision of a “Great Society.””
En grundigere baggrundsforståelse for politiske spændinger i almindelighed og uddannelsespolitik i særdeleshed kan tilegnes ved læsningen af denne bog:
Woodard, Colin (2011): American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. Penguin Books, New York
En kort redegørelse af bogens pointer fremstilles i denne artikel:
Woodard, Colin (2017):Balkanized America. Welcome (Back) to the Divided States of America. The U.S. is cracking along centuries-old cultural fault lines.We need quick action to mend its wounds.https://medium.com/s/balkanized-america/welcome-back-to-the-divided-states-of-america-ff3522597689
Her er en dansk artikel som formidler de vitigste pointer i bogen “American Nations”:
Moll, Jakob (2020): USA har været splittet lige fra begyndelsen. Det amerikanske folk består nemlig af 11 (vidt forskellige) stammer, Zetland
Uddybning: Se Blogindlæg fra 2017: Skolepolitik i USA klik
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