Mrs. DeVos, Betsy, Elisabeth, DeVossy, BD, girl... come on. Have you yet to realize that you are out of your league? As a teacher let me first tell you that education is not about money. SHOCKER RIGHT? Believe it or not, we teach to make a difference in the life of a child. We teach because we want to give the children of tomorrow a better future. We teach to make a small, yet significant change in the world. That's what education is all about.
OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way... let's get down and dirty. Grizzly bears... the apparent reason we need guns in schools. One of my second-grade students said that one elementary school in our district would also need guns since the surrounding neighborhood is all wooded. Congrats, even a seven-year-old thinks you're dumb. By the way, research states that a person is 250 times more likely to be killed by lightening than a bear. I'm just not sure in what world "grizzlies" would make an appropriate argument to have guns in schools? Maybe you were joking? If so, we'll need to work on that. Regardless, I'm going to need some actual evidence to support the idea that weapons should be allowed in U.S. schools.
Let's talk about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act aka IDEA aka the federal civil rights law that you didn't know. Here's a full description of the law (it's Wikipedia so it's not that hard to understand.) If you are elected that's something you should probably read up on, you know just to avoid any further "confusion." But just saying, I learned about that law freshman year in one of my introduction to education courses. I guess since you've had no true educational experience so you wouldn't understand, but good luck running the entire country's educational policies.
I'm going to leave you on your own for this one because it shouldn't be that difficult to find some definitions of growth versus proficiency when it comes to standardized testing. Again, just to avoid further confusion. While you're at it, you may want to read the No Child Left Behind Act. Just basic things you should know if you're going to be the next U.S. Secretary of Education.
I could go on for hours, but I had to limit myself to avoid excessive ranting and anger. I'll leave you with this: you are unfit, unwanted and unqualified to be the secretary of education. Spend some time in public education classrooms before you make your decisions.
Good luck! We will not be there to support you every step of the way.
