Parkland Student Talks to Betsy DeVos About Preventing Future Shootings – Calls Her Response ‘BS’

‘Your Answer Was Unacceptable, It Was Not Informative and Honestly, BS.’ Says Parkland Student Who Directly Asked DeVos About Shootings

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos visited the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wednesday morning for about an hour, over the opposition of at least some of the student survivors of the February 14 massacre. 

Students were not pleased when informed at the last minute of DeVos’ trip. By the time she left some were furious, calling the short visit a “publicity” stunt.

Contrary to what many might expect, DeVos did not meet with the entire school body. She did not sit down with even a handful of student leaders to hear their thoughts on guns, gun violence, arming teachers Stoneman Douglas High School which DeVos supports. 

Instead, as one student tweeted, the Education Secretary “talked to three people, and pet a dog.” The dog refers to helper animals the school has brought in to support the students.

DeVos has a history of negative visits to schools, with some opponents – including teachers – publicly protesting her.

On Wednesday she banned the media from the school, instead choosing to hold an 8-minute press event after her 60-90 minute tour of the Parkland high school.

One group of reporters DeVos could not ban: the student reporters from the school’s newspaper.

“She wasn’t informative or helpful at all. It’s nice that she came to give us condolences, but we are so done with thoughts and prayers. We want action,” senior Kyra Parrow told The Eagle Eye. “She didn’t come to inform us or talk about how we are going to fix this issue; she just came to say that she came. That disappoints me.”

Parrow was one of the few students who were allowed to talk with DeVos. 

The Eagle Eye reports that Parrow “asked DeVos about her agenda to prevent further school shootings.”

DeVos “answered that her agenda was ‘to ensure that the students of our country are able to pursue their learning in a safe environment. I am going to make sure that we bring forward solutions that communities can put in place that will be appropriate for their surroundings and will ensure that they can care for their students.'”

DeVos later posted this tweet:

Parrow, who goes by Kyra on Twitter, responded:

Note the very careful word choices DeVos made in her remarks to the students quoted in The Eagle Eye.

The Secretary of Education makes clear she will not mandate any policies for any school, she will merely “bring forward solutions that communities can put in place,” and those “solutions” will be “appropriate for their surroundings.” Presumably, if the state opposes gun control, DeVos will make it easier for there to be armed teachers in the schools. 

DeVos literally offered nothing of substance, nothing practical, exactly zero solutions.

The Parkland students are far smarter than DeVos thinks.

Hat tip: The Hill