It seems that the more money Betsy DeVos pours into the United States education system, the lower children’s National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test scores become. As David Badash reported for RawStory, DeVos’s answer to getting better test scores out of students is the same solution she’s been advocating since she was appointed Secretary of Education in February 2017—investing more money in vouchers, charter and private schools, and reallocating federal, state, and local taxes “ into the hands of her friends who run those programs.”
As Politico reported, the latest NAEP results showed declines in average scores for fourth- and eighth-graders, compared with the 2017 results.
“This must be America’s wake-up call,” DeVos stated. “We cannot abide these poor results any longer. We can neither excuse them away nor simply throw more money at the problem.”
However, as Badash reported, “DeVos’ plan is to privatize as much of the education system and infrastructure as possible,” under the guise of what she refers to as “education freedom.”
Corporate news coverage of the NAEP test results and DeVos’s response followed predictable patterns. The Washington Post, for example, analyzed DeVos’s claim that he country is experiencing “an achievement crisis,” but stopped short of critically assessing DeVos’s ongoing advocacy of charter schools and voucher programs .
Sources:
David Badash, “DeVos Admits Latest Nationwide Education Scores Are So Bad They’re ‘Devastating.,’” RawStory, October 30, 2019, https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/devos-admits-latest-nationwide-education-scores-are-so-bad-theyre-devastating/.
Nicole Gaudiano, “Test Scores Slump in ‘Nation’s Report Card,’” Politico, October 30, 2019, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2019/10/30/test-scores-slump-in-nations-report-card-781819.
Student Researchers: Aidan Savoy, Asia Spain-Dixon (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
Faculty Evaluator: Allison Butler (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
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