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Educators4Excellence.org

The Honorable Lamar Alexander

Chairman
United States Senate, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The Honorable Patty Murray
Ranking Member
United States Senate, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:
The United States Secretary of Education has the tremendous responsibility to ensure that all
children in this country have the opportunity to receive an education that will prepare them to
succeed in college, career, and life. As you prepare to determine whether nominee Betsy
DeVos can fulfill the responsibilities of this important role, we hope you will consider the perspectives of people who will be greatly impacted by the Secretarys leadership and decisions -current classroom teachers and students.
We at Educators for Excellence, a teacher-led organization of nearly 25,000 members, have
gathered the following questions from teachers across the country so that their unique and
compelling points of view can be represented during Ms. DeVos's hearing. We hope that you
will use these questions to inform your investigation of her skills, experiences, and values.
A few themes emerged from the educator-submitted questions:

Teachers have questions about the nominees background, qualifications, and what
inspires her;
Wanting to ensure that all students have access to high-quality public schools, teachers have many questions about how the nominee would uphold the historic role of the
federal department to ensure all students, and in particular traditionally underserved
students, are well served by our education system;
Knowing that all our students deserve the supports necessary to succeed, teachers also asked about the nominees beliefs about wrap-around services, how to serve
unique student populations such as English language learners and students with special needs, and how to expand the arts and innovation;
Teachers have questions about the future of their profession, the degree to which the
nominee supports meaningful teacher evaluation and support systems, and how to
reduce teacher turnover; and
Lastly, many teachers have critical questions about how the nominee would enact
school choice and what kind of oversight she might employ to ensure quality.

Our organizations mission is to ensure that the voices of active classroom teachers are included in the creation of policies that shape their classrooms and careers. Our members work every day to serve their students and their community. It is critical that the Secretary of Education supports educators, works to engage them in their decisions, and shares the vision that all
students deserve the opportunity to receive a high-quality education.
Please ensure that teachers voices are heard during the Senate confirmation hearings by sharing the questions that follow.
Respectfully,
Sydney Morris and Evan Stone
Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers
Educators for Excellence

Questions for
Betsy DeVos
Overview
The following contains a sampling of questions received from our 24,000 members,
as well as members of the general public. All opinions expressed are those of individual questioners. Questioners with an @ symbol denote questions received via
Twitter.

Contents
DeVos qualifications......................................................................................

Teaching profession.......................................................................................

Teacher engagement.....................................................................................

School autonomy ..........................................................................................

Accountability ..............................................................................................

School choice ...............................................................................................

Innovation ....................................................................................................

Equity in education ......................................................................................

School climate..............................................................................................

Students wih special needs ............................................................................

Wraparound services.....................................................................................

Pre-K ...........................................................................................................

Post-secondary education..............................................................................

Arts ..............................................................................................................

Libraries .......................................................................................................

DeVos qualifications
Alexandra Woo (NY): Why are you passionate
about leading our nations public education system?

Vicki Russo (NJ): Are you committed to improving

public education or is your intent to destroy public
education?

Amanda Prouty (BOS): How can you expect to

help Americas educational system when the schools
you set up are failing?

Robert Meehan (IN): Who will you be working

with who has had actual public school teaching experiences? Ive had over 30 years in both public and
private schools. I would be happy to assist.

Terry Ruddy (CA): Knowing your long-standing

contempt for public education and the secular basis
for our Constitution, how can you possibly be considered qualified to guide Americas educational system?

Chris Baker (PA): What qualifies you to lead Americas public schools when you have no teaching background and your children did not even attend public
schools? How can you possibly fathom leading us?

Stephanie McCutcheon (KS): What credentials and

practical experiences qualify you for the position of
Secretary of Education? Given that many advocates of
public school oppose your support for vouchers and
the privatization of education, how do you plan to
bridge this gap in order to work with educators and
other key constituents in education, not to mention
many within DoED, who vehemently oppose your
appointment?

Taj Jensen (N/A): How can one lead a nation with

public schools at its heart when one doesnt believe in
public education and comes from a state with some of
the worst charters in the nation?

Carol Johnson (NY): Based on your record of the

past fifteen years, how can you honestly say you will
be the education secretary for all students?

Judie Stork (MI): How will you be an advocate for

public education - both for students and educators?
Barbara Richards (CA): How can you defend a private school voucher system that would still not allow
lower and middle income families to be able to afford private schools, but would just weaken the public
school system?

Ben Borenstein (NY): Given that you have never

attended or worked with any public school, how can
you possibly be objective regarding your opinions or
policies that will likely take away funding from any
and all public schools? Public schools are typically
underfunded and we happily accept any students regardless of their needs, particularly many at-risk students (put into that position through no-fault of their
own).

Meghan Morrison (MN): What will you do to support public schools? I am not against a parents right
to choose a school for their child, but as public schools
are the reality, what steps will you take to help all the
children in our country achieve success?

Keri Goldman (NY): What experience do you have

with homeless or special needs children that makes
you qualified to make informed decisions about all
students in America?

Winnie Stevenson (IL): What will you do to address the startling disparities between public schools
in affluent and poor districts? Do students in affluent
districts deserve more educational opportunities than
students in poor districts?

Jose Maldonado (NY): Given you hold antiscientific and medieval views about the origins and age
of the earth and our biological history, doesnt this
intellectually disqualify you from being an educational leader?
Alyssa Prussing (MI): What experience do you have
in public education?
Naomi Campbell (MN): How will you encourage
cooperation between public school districts and public charter schools?

Daniel Gannon (NY): Will you, without a doubt,

pledge your allegiance to helping public schools in all
districts succeed?

@Madelynbb32: @Ed4Excellence what is your childrens first hand experience with public school?
@Madelynbb32: @Ed4Excellence What is your
first- hand experience with public schools?
@Madelynbb32: @Ed4Excellence What experience
do you have that makes you the best candidate for
this job?

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Teaching profession
Sarah Boyd (MN): Im sure there are numerous reasons why teacher turnover, teacher burnout, and a
lack of qualified teachers exist in the United States.
However, I think a common answer would be because teachers do not feel supported in what we doonce creative, energetic, knowledgeable, and passionate educators are leaving the profession in areas across
the country where they are needed the most. I want
to know how Mrs. DeVos will address this issue, so
that our under-performing schools are getting the
best and brightest teachers, and then keeping them
around. Thank you.
Emmanuel Andre (MD): What is the value of the
public school teacher and how do you plan to support
his or her efforts?
Robbyn Williams (MI): What types of initiatives
and/or strategies are planned to recruit and maintain quality teachers in large Urban areas like Detroit,
Michigan to avoid a national teaching shortage?
Byron McCauley (OH): What strategies can be
implemented to ensure that teacher evaluations are
linked to student performance?
@Madelynbb32: @Ed4Excellence What do you
think of public school teachers and how will you provide them with more support?

Teacher engagement
Jennie Herriot-Hatfield (CA): How will you engage with practitioners and others at the grassroots
level (i.e., teachers, school leaders, parents, students)?
Patrice Dawkins-Jackson (GA): What are you planning to do to reassure public school educators, stakeholders and advocates that you support the innovation
of public schools without diminishing them?

School autonomy
Joe Telles (CA): Charter schools are not burdened
by the same regulations as public schools. How can
we get public schools to enjoy the same freedoms and
success?

schools are held accountable for preparing students

for further education and employment in society?
Barbara Swenson (CA): How do you plan to hold
charter schools accountable for student and teacher performance, as public schools are required to do
now?
Amanda Phillips (CA): What will you do to make
sure all charter schools are following regulations, so all
students are being taught at high standards and what
are you going to do about those who arent?
Meghann Seril (CA): How will you equitably support all schools to meet high standards for both students and teachers?
Nicole Romanak (CA): How will you ensure all
students have access to a quality education?
Ana Grajeda (CA): How will you ensure our kids
get the best education when our economy is bad?
Kerry Elson (NY): How will you ensure that charter
schools have enough oversight? How will you ensure
that public schools have enough funding?
Angela Oleszko (MN): How do you plan to keep
charter schools and administrations accountable for
doing whats best for kids?
Nick Lawrence (NJ): How will federal education
policy in the next four years support an education for
ALL students that prepares them for life as productive,
active citizens?
Christian Geller (NY): With many teachers jobs
being tied to ratings and students performance levels, how will you hold parents more accountable for
work that needs to be done at home; i.e. homework,
projects, studying?
Talin Darkjian (CA): I would like to know what
stance Ms. DeVos is going to take on school report
cards. She has stated in the past that she supports giving each school a letter grade, and I would like to
know what criteria she wants this to be based on and
whether she plans to push for implementation of this
at a national level.

Accountability

Evelyn Rebollar (NY): What does equity in education look like to you and how will you ensure that
students in both public and charter schools receive a
quality education?

Ben MacKenzie (MN): How would you ensure that

Katherine Hamilton (CA): How will you ensure

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public charter schools that receive public funding are

providing a high-quality educational experience for
all children, especially high-need populations, such as
English learners, students with special needs, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds?
Valerie Thomas (NY): Education is the backbone of
every great nation; the road to social mobility. What
plans do you to have to ensure that all public schools
are successful?
Deidre Levy (NY): What would you do to ensure
that the students in public schools are receiving a
quality education?
@carlatheodorou: @Ed4Excellence Ms DeVos,
What will you do to make sure that all public schools
including charters are following the same rules?

School choice
Georgia Halliday (NY): You advocate for school
choice. How will you guarantee that all parents and
families, even those in poor communities with few
resources, have the same kind of choice that wealthy
families have about where to send their children to
school?
Henry Dominguez (CA): In its 2013 National
Charter School Study, the Center for Research on
Education Outcomes cited that there is no significant
difference in reading and math academic outcomes
among charter school students when compared to
their district public school counterparts. In fact, 19%
and 31% of charter school students performed significantly worse in reading and math, respectively. In light
of these data, how can you justify the privatization of
public education when charter schools are not providing the outcomes the education reform movement
expected?
Amy Miller (WA): How will you ensure that efforts
to promote school choice do not leave our public
schools scrambling to provide services for our neediest students with the diminished resources that are
left?
Joanna Plotz (BOS): What is your plan for public
schools in areas where charter and private school options are limited and thus vouchers would not be an
option?
Christine Montera (NY): In Louisiana and Ohio-the only two places where state-wide school voucher

systems have been studied--theyve been found to be

unstructured, under-supervised and unsuccessful at
increasing student achievement. In your home city,
where you helped birth the charter school system,
the method proved to collapse the entire states student achievement to a point where it is one of five
states with decreasing reading scores. There is evidence to prove that, in the highest-need areas, charter
and private for-profit schools do not increase student
achievement of ALL STUDENTS compared to their
public school counterparts. How do you justify taking
tax-payer money from public, not-for-profit schools
and giving it to private, for-profit, publicly funded schools when there is no real evidence that ALL
students (i.e.: special education populations, children
with lower reading levels, English Language Learners,
etc.), or any for that matter, are better off?
Bryan Christopher (N/A): Charter and private
schools offer opportunities for students to receive a
great education, but even if states add more charters
and expand voucher programs, the vast majority of
Americas students will still attend traditional public
schools. As secretary of education, how will you support traditional public schools and their millions of
students?
Leonard Madsen (MN): You have taken action in
Michigan in favor of school vouchers. If you enact
a voucher system, how will you ensure that children
in public schools are not burdened with inadequate
funding?
Mike Loeb (NY): Ms. DeVos, if vouchers move
funds away from students who do not transfer to
higher performing public or private schools, are they
still worth it?
Marissa Duric (CHI): Betsys foundation claims that
through voucher programs, scholarship tax credit
programs, Education Savings Accounts, and other education choices, students can access the school that
best meets their educational needs. However, when
choice like this is implemented in practice, public
schools ends up losing funding and the students who
chose their neighborhood school suffer drastically. For
example, my school was left with 5,000 dollars to operate for the school year, with just over 450 students
to serve. How would you ensure that these pitfalls do
not happen?
Allen Pratt (Chattanooga, TN): What experiences do you have with school choice
and/or
vouchers
in
rural
communities?

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How will you support rural school funding and federal efforts to help rural and remote schools?
Alyson Richards (CA): How can you defend a private school voucher system that deprives the public of
fair, equal , and community tax supported education?
Sally Scheib (IL): What will you do to make sure
that charter schools accept all students, just as the
public schools accept them all?
Jeff Austin (CA): How will you make sure that students without strong parental advocacy will receive
an equitable education under your proposed voucher
system?
H. Gushwa (CA): What steps can we take to guarantee that school choice does not result in creating
or maintaining racially and economically segregated
schools?
Venita Conway (IL): What will you do to sustain
neighborhood schools?
@Madelynbb32: @Ed4Excellence Where is the data
that charter schools you have led are working?

Innovation
Kenneth Plumber (FL): As Secretary of predominantly public school education, how will you take
the BEST of what works so well in charter/private
schools into public schools to make those schools as
efficient, progressive, accomplished, and high achieving as the charter schools that you support and praise
so highly?

Equity in education
M. Kruger (MN): How will you ensure an equitable
education for all students no matter their zip code,
race, income, or neurological differences?
Heather Maki (NY): How will you ensure that the
economic divides in our country are not exacerbated
or widened by educational divides?
Thomas Adams (CA): In a free and fair society in
which the financial wealth of an individual can vary
widely, there are two great levelers: the judicial system
and the education system. As Secretary of Education,
how will you ensure that the economic divides in our
country are not exacerbated or widened by educational divides? In your mind, what are the surest paths

to attaining equal-quality education for all?

@BernadeiaJ: @Ed4Excellence How will you work
state dept of ed to create excellence and equity in
education for our must vulnerable youth?

School climate
Sharese Solomon (NJ): School safety is a huge concern for the adults in buildings that do not scan.What
extra funding for support can be provided to schools
without scanning (i.e., male empowerment groups,
mentoring programs)?

Students wih special needs

Rachael Goeler (NY): President Elect Trump has
made his feelings about people with disabilities abundantly clear. What will you do to make sure these
students are not forgotten about and have education
policy that works and is adapted to fit their unique
needs?
Marisa Pierucci (CA): As a special education public school teacher, I have seen how special education
students are viewed by those making educational policies. As a proponent of charter schools, you should
be aware that many of these schools do not support
students with special needs. How will you work to
support students with special needs?
Jenna Samson (MN): How do you plan to support
and improve the educations of students who receive
special education services?
Liz Lazar (NY): How can you ensure every school
district can afford to support all of their students who
have needs such as reading and math support?
Colleen Simich (NY): How do you plan to close the
literacy gap for older children unable to read? What
teacher training will you support to ensure our teachers are confident in teaching any child to read? Will
you encourage states to use evidence-based programs?
Cheryl Vincent (CA): Are you prepared to support
students with special needs and hold charter schools
equally accountable as traditional public in complying
with the federal IDEA regulations?

Wraparound services
Anush Abrahamian (CA): I am a guidance counsel-

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or with at-risk students in continuation schools and

have one-day-a-week assignments in different schools
to help students with graduation, career, college and
personal problems. My question is: Why dont we put
more counseling time with our students in Option
Schools so we can make a difference in these young
peoples lives?
Michael Cunningham (NY): How will you ensure
that students in public school get the services they
need?
Mara Dajevskis (NY): How will you ensure that
every public school has the resources it needs to support students, especially those with high needs, such as
low-income students, English Language Learners, and
Special Education students?
Julie Phelan (CA): How will you help students who
dont have the family support to reach grade level expectations?
RN Victor (CT): Family stability, education level,
income & mindset affect the education of students
especially in the urban areas. As a nation, how are we
going to change/improve successful outcomes of the
affected families & students?
Ramon Martinez (MN): With a continuous increase
of English Learners (ELs) in schools across the country, what efforts are you going to take to address the
professional development needs of schools with ELs?

Pre-K
Jennifer Stovall (CA): What direction do you see
early education going in the next four years?

Post-secondary education
Shifra Adler (CHI): What programs would you put
in place to support low-income students completing
post-secondary degrees?

Arts
Stacy Wieringa (NY): Do you have any plans to
strengthen the arts (visual art, music, performing arts)
in schools across the country? What about schools
that cant afford art supplies costumes, and props?

Libraries
Ellen Morehouse (MN): The impact of school libraries programs on student learning has been well
documented. How will you expand students access
to school library programs and help to strengthen
partnerships between schools and public libraries to
expand students access to information and promote
life-long learning?

Jhoanna Maldonado (CHI): In what ways does a

community school improve student achievement and
attainment?

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