Betsy DeVos.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Former Education SecretaryBetsy DeVosnow says the department she once headed “should not exist,” making the comment during an event in Tampa, Fla., over the weekend.
The outlet further reports that DeVos, who was one of thewealthiest members of Trump’s cabinet, told the audience at the event that education decisions should be left to state and local school boards.
During her time in the Trump administration, DeVos continued to face criticism, including for herapproach to reopening schoolsamid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent Florida Department of Education review led to the banning of more than 40% of the state’s math books due to so-called “prohibited topics.” Gov. Ron DeSantis has accused the books of “indoctrination.”
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Speaking at the same event as DeVos during a separate appearance, DeSantis spoke about the significance of school board elections.
“We have drawn a very clear line in the sand that says our school system is for educating kids, not indoctrinating them,” DeSantis said,WFSU reports. “We have drawn a clear line in the sand that says parents have a fundamental role in the education of their kids.”
DeSantis has used similar rhetoric to endorse a controversial piece legislation that opponents have denounced as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill,which he signed into law in March.
TheParental Rights in Education lawbans Florida teachers from talking to students in kindergarten through third grade about “about sexual orientation or gender identity.” While sexual orientation and gender identityare not currently taughtin kindergarten through third grades in Florida, DeSantis has argued that it is needed so that people cannot “inject transgenderism into kindergarten,” or have “a woke gender ideology imposed in their curriculums.”
source: people.com
