With parents across the state trying to help their children navigate the complexities of schoolwork amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, recently discussed a proposed school choice law as a means to help families during and beyond the public health crisis.
“We support the bipartisan School Choice Now Act, which would directly fund families, and allow them to choose the best educational setting for their child,” DeVos said during the Oct. 7 Zoom interview with Lance T. Izumi, J.D., senior director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute.
The bill arose out of what DeVos described as growing momentum for parental school choice across the country, with recent studies that show families with children in public schools want their education dollars to follow their children wherever they go to learn.
DeVos also stressed the importance of in-person learning options amid the pandemic.
California’s top public health official said during a Oct. 6 news briefing that state data shows no spike in the coronavirus as students have returned to classrooms, helping quell some of the debate over school reopenings.
“We know that in some places where there is a spike in cases of the virus, that there may have to be short times of working at a distance, but for those families who need and want this for their children, learning in person, there's no other substitute for it,” DeVos said. “We have continued to urge states and districts to make sure they're offering this as an option to families. Of course, these are state and local decisions, but we will continue to use the bully pulpit to urge this to happen."
During her visits to schools, DeVos said she has seen in-person instruction done safely, and students are thrilled when they’re back together.
The coronavirus crisis also has fostered growing popularity for more school choice options, including homeschooling, DeVos said.
“The reality is all families had to school at home out of necessity and many of them have found that this is actually a really good answer and a really good solution for their kids going forward.”
The state of California recently settled a lawsuit that claimed children struggling with literacy had been denied a quality education.
DeVos also responded to questions about the growing influence of teachers’ unions in COVID-19-related decisions.
“It's not focused on doing what's right for students. It's focused on adult issues and protecting adult positions, adult power, and frankly, at the core, it's all around the resources and the power,” DeVos said. “This is not focused on doing what's right for kids.”
The role of unions has repelled some exceptional teachers because they feel boxed in by the current environment, DeVos said.
“When we talk about school choice and empowering families with that choice, we also ultimately talk about empowering teachers with choices as well,” DeVos said. “A high-quality teacher is the most valuable piece of the equation when it comes to a child’s education.”
School choice would effectively put the educational resources in a child’s backpack to take to whatever educational setting works best for them, DeVos said, whether it’s their assigned geographic public school, charter school, private school, virtual school, home school, or some combination thereof.
“Families need to make those choices, and we will have a better, stronger country as a result,” DeVos said.