Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was probed in a “60 Minutes” interview last month about at-risk schools throughout the United States that are desperately trying to help as many children as possible despite adequate funding. She was specifically confronted about the fact that she has not yet bothered to visit a failing public school in her home state of Michigan, to perhaps better understand the issues faced.
“Maybe I should,” she confessed in the interview.
Yet, when given the opportunity, she still didn’t.
DeVos was in Detroit, Michigan to attend the national championships for high school robotics, while promoting students seeking jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, ClickonDetroit reported.
She reportedly spoke on the importance of access to education, but when asked if she planned to visit any Detroit public schools, she said no visits were scheduled. Some of those at-risk schools were even within walking distance of the robotics contest. When reporters asked follow up questions about struggling Michigan schools, DeVos’ staff quickly ended the conversations and ushered her away.
“You got a lot struggling school, they’re closing schools, they’re tearing down schools,” said Detroit parent Lamar Stinson. “We don’t need that right now. Our kids need to be educated.”