Recently, I have been looking a lot into the field of education, examining the ins and outs. I’ve concluded that we really did not learn a lot before we came to college. So, with the recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education, it seems as if America’s youth will be learning even less over the next four years.

My mother was a public school teacher for over 35 years, and we often discussed the idea of Common Core and how it is affecting the youth of America.

While we both thought this was the worst thing that could happen to students, we were not prepared for a secretary of education that actually believed in defunding the public school system.

While I have been a fan of President Trump’s choices lately, including his decision to go through with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the appointment of Neil Gorsuch, I cannot support Secretary DeVos or anything she stands for. Public school systems are already at the disadvantage of not receiving enough federal funding due to low test scores.

Our school system may be in a state of crisis, but defunding public schools for alternative methods of schooling is by far the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. According to fairreporters.net, the United States is currently ranked 29th in the world for math and science.

So instead of trying to advance a system that supports American children who are living in less fortunate situations, DeVos would rather take that federal funding and put it towards charter and parochial schools.

Now let me make this clear, I am a God-fearing Republican who believes that this world was created by a higher power. I also condone the idea that this higher power initiated the big bang and that we are where we are today due to the evolutionary process.

DeVos finds it essential that our students learn about creationism in not only these alternative schools that she wants to create, but also in the public schools she is looking to decimate. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that’s a violation of the separation of church and state?

Now in a parochial school setting that’s fine, many parents pay the tuition for those kinds of schools because they want their children to learn more about religion. Yet, I think that our public school students who are trying to obtain scholarships, grants, GED’s and diplomas would rather learn about financial literacy, or the proper way to study.

DeVos has no idea what the public school system is like, nor will she ever.

DeVos never attended a public school or public university, and neither have any of her children. How can you argue to fix a broken system that you have never been a part of?

From the perspective of a teacher’s son, I can honestly say that I am scared for the future of education.

What kind of country do we live in where someone who is directing the future of American education, has barely been involved with the system?