Remember Michael D. Brown, head of FEMA during hurricane Katrina
who screwed up big time during a time when expertise in disaster management was
needed? His main qualification for his job was that he had raised Arabian
horses.
Trump is following this same pattern of rewarding those who
stood by him rather than basing appointments on experience and expertise. For
example, there are many qualified people including Republicans whom he could
have picked for Secretary of Education. Instead he chose Betsy DeVos a woman who never attended public school herself,
never worked in a public school or system in any capacity, never sent her own
children to a public school, and never earned an academic degree related to
education. While it is true that she heads a foundation funded with her family
Amway money that has provided funds related to education, this foundation has
been focused on trying to further the privatization of public education, not on strengthening it. Her appointment as Secretary of Education will mean a disaster for efforts to strengthen public schools in the U.S.and will harm many more children and families than were harmed by incompetence and greed in New Orleans in 2005.
Betsy DeVos is thoroughly unqualified for
the job of Secretary of Education. Her appointment that should be strongly
challenged given the importance of public schools to a democratic society and
given her total lack of qualification for the job. If she is confirmed by the
Senate as Secretary of Education, then the Senate confirmation process is totally
meaningless. This nomination is an insult to the public. If he wants someone
who supports privatizing public schools, then he should have at least picked
someone who has even the slightest knowledge of the field of education.
I realize that there are other similarly
bad nominations by Trump that need to be challenged, but this one should be
near the top of the list. I have heard a lot since I moved to Washington State
a few years ago about how much the senior Democrat on the Senate Education
committee and my Senator, Patty Murray, cares about public education. Here is a chance for her to prove it.
