By Ava Sasani, news correspondent
Students and teachers gathered outside the Harvard Institute of Politics Thursday to protest U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
DeVos, who has been widely criticized for her lack of public education experience prior to serving as education secretary, addressed the Harvard University audience on the merits of school choice and the expansion of charter schools. DeVos briefly discussed her goal to expand charter schools and school vouchers, then answered questions from the crowd of mostly Harvard students.
Protesters chanted “Hey Betsy, you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side!” and waved signs saying “Dump DeVos!”
“I don’t even know if she’s set foot in a public school,” said Cliff Gallant, a 20-year veteran teacher in Belmont, Massachusetts, who attended the event with several other educators from the Belmont Public Schools.
Isabelle Doerre Torres, a senior at Boston Latin School, took the protest organizers’ microphone halfway through the event. Addressing a swelling crowd, she said, “People like Betsy cut public school funding, then say public schools don’t work.”
DeVos has drawn the ire of educators, students and education advocates for her lack of experience in public education. Besides lobbying for school choice in Michigan, DeVos was primarily a conservative political fundraiser, serving as the chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party between 1996 and 2000.
Derek Niño, who recently completed his doctorate in education leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, works as an advocate for English language learning students and families. Niño attended the first portion of the speech, but left early during the question-and-answer period to watch the protesters outside.
“I don’t think they should expect much,” Niño said of underprivileged students. “I’ve worked in these communities, and the charter school system she’s advocating for is extremely confusing and difficult to navigate.”
Niño said he attended DeVos’ speech to attempt to understand her point of view.
“I came here hoping to maintain an open mind, but she reaffirmed a lot of stereotypes,” Niño said. “She gave vacuous answers, and it was clear she hadn’t done a lot of research. She just generally advocated for more power to the states.”
Before her nomination last November, DeVos was a principal architect of the Detroit Public Schools overhaul, creating a new system of charter schools. Many school choice advocates, including Nikolai Vitti, the Detroit Public Schools superintendent, say Michigan’s unregulated expansion of charter schools over the past two decades was a poor implementation.
“Students are not for sale,” chanted the crowd, as Cara Goodman, a volunteer with People Govern, Not Money weaved through the protesters with a petition.
People Govern, Not Money is a nonpartisan organization opposing Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case which lifted restrictions on corporations’ campaign spending. Goodman, a critic of the Citizens United decision, said she sees DeVos’ ascension to secretary as evidence of the corrosive effect of money in politics.
“I think money in politics is a big reason why Betsy is in her position,” Goodman said, as several protesters signed her petition. “She wouldn’t have the job without it.”
