To the Editor,

As a retired public school teacher, I have concerns about Secretary of Education nominee, Betsy DeVos. About 90 percent of America’s children learn in public schools, equating to 50.4 million students registered in the fall of 2016. In 2013, the number of homeless public school children was 2.5 million.

Studies show that overall, public schools outperform private schools since most private schools aren’t held to the same rigorous standards as required of public education. Many charter school teachers have less experience and lack the certification of most typical public school teachers.

In a New Yorker article entitled, “Betsy DeVos and the Plan to Break Public Schools,” it was noted in a Detroit Free Press yearlong investigation of DeVos’s 20-year charter school initiative in Michigan that these schools are the least regulated in America with a history of lack of transparency. Taxpayer money is siphoned from public schools to private.

We can protect our public school systems by not allowing a person who knows little about public education to serve as Secretary of Education. Charter schools have few, if any, programs for special needs students while a public education motto is, “All Children Can Learn.” It will take years for the impact of DeVos’s negative influence to be realized. Like Nancy Reagan’s famous campaign, I’m just saying, “No” to Betsy DeVos.

If you are concerned about the future of public education, contact U.S. Sen. Richard Burr at 202-224-3154 or U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis at 202-224-6342.

Wanda Stephens

Lumberton