Betsy DeVos Could Spell Trouble for Students, Educators Nation Wide

By SERIAH SARGENTON Staff Writer

Education is the key to the future. However, there have been concerns about how education will be treated under the newly elected president, Donald Trump.

“Education is important to me because I believe that it’s a necessity to all and it makes our society a better and more productive place,” said David Meister, a freshman.

The senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee held a hearing for the secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos on Jan. 17.

The hearing started with a point made by Senator Patty Murray that workers and families should be prioritized over big corporations and millionaires. For Murray, the Department of Education owes it to every student to make sure they receive an education that will help them in future careers.

“This commitment goes beyond k-12 because the federal government, in general, and the department of education specifically, has an important role to play in supporting, protecting, and investing in all of our students,” said Murray.

She questioned DeVos’s commitment to this goal by asking her about her support for privatizing public schools, her contribution to groups that oppose workers, helping stu- dents attending higher education her willingness to continue to protect TITLE IX to stop campus sexual assaults, and protecting the basic civil rights of all students regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Education impacts everyone, especially aspiring future teacher and Saint Rose sophomore Whitney Greene.

Greene was upset when she learned that someone with no experience in public education was being nominated for this position.

“Based on her interviews she does not know nor care about basic educational law, which she seems to find so funny,” said Greene. “Also, based on her interviews, what little of her interviews, I could stomach, she has no right to be in the position of secretary of education.”

As a father of children who currently are enrolled in public school, Brian Sweeney is concerned about what her nomination means for public education. He is worried about DeVos’s commitment to charter schools because they take money from the public-school system.

“The reason this nation has been so committed to public schools is because everyone benefits, whether you’re in public school or private school, you benefit,” Sweeney said.

After Murray ended her thoughts, the hearing moved from which sister marches sprang up across the world to express solidarity for the cause. The driving purpose of the marches was to promote women’s rights, as well as to address racial inequities, rights for members of the LGBTQ community, and environmental concerns. The rallies specifically were to draw attention to Donald Trump and many of his positions which are considered anti-women.

“It was a message of intersectional feminism,” said Naugle. “We were reminding the administration of our power as citizens and our commitment to equality and social justice.”

Liz Richards, an Assisstant Professor of communications attended the Women’s March in downtown Albany on Saturday in spirit of a connection to her community.

“My neighbors and I feel like something is wrong, that we are not being adequately represented, that this elected official and his representatives are NOT taking care of the people of this country, when really, that’s what his job is,” Richards said.

“It was so inspiring to see the unity around the world with the many many sister marches. I think we are witnessing the fourth wave of feminism,” she said. Over half a million marchers gathered in Washington, D.C., and between seven and ten thousand here to the opposite end as Senator Tim Scott argued that DeVos would make a great Secretary of Education because of her background, and the way she grew up. in Albany. The attendances of sister marches throughout the world and the marching community as a whole was approximately 3 million strong.

Devos comes from Michigan and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeVos is chairman of the Federation for Children. Scott said that her parents mortgaged everything they had in order to run a small auto parts business.

DeVos worked the third shift in her family business during the summers in her college years. DeVos helped her husband start a charter school in Michigan, which has done well since it started.

“That is a show of solidarity that makes my heart sing and makes people talk,” said Naugle. “I was also incredibly proud that we brought a half a million people to D.C. and it was the most pleasant crowd. Everyone was kind, helpful, welcoming, positive and excited to be there.”

This sentiment is something that is shared by a Saint Rose alum who was one of the 10,000 people that marched over a thousand miles away in Kansas City.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” said Vanessa Langdon, a graduate of the College who now works with AmeriCorps. “It was such a peaceful protest and was really inspiring at a time when I’ve been feeling a bit disappointed in my country.”

Here on campus, writers for the literary magazine Speak Out Saint Rose are organizing 100 Days of Resistance as a platform for students.

“Americans tend to not be as active as we should be in local, state and federal politics,” said Christina Romeo, editor in chief of the magazine. “We

“She understands the sacrifices that families have to make in order to build a better life for themselves and for their children,” said Scott.

He ended his speech on a high note saying that DeVos is the perfect role model for all students in public and private schools, and that she will make sure that students perform well, and that all schools will be held accountable under her.

Republican political science student Tyler Bushey agrees with DeVos’s plans for voucher programs because he believes that it will help low income students get a good