On Tuesday, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold hearings on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as secretary of education. It is imperative, for the future of public education in this country, that Sen. Susan Collins and other HELP Committee members reject her candidacy.

DeVos has absolutely no relevant experience for this Cabinet-level post. She has never worked in education (either public or private), and has never attended public schools. Her only “qualification” appears to be having a lot of money and an anti-public school ideology.

Michigan-born DeVos has used her family’s financial muscle to push Detroit schools to try most of her reform ideas, and the result has been a disaster, educational researchers across the ideological spectrum have concluded.

Betsy DeVos’ strong support of vouchers and school choice alone should not necessarily disqualify her for this position. What should disqualify her is her utter contempt for public schools and their mission, and by extension, her contempt for public school teachers. I am one of them.

Imagine a defense secretary who distrusted the military, did not support the mission and had no respect for the men and women who served. Imagine if he had no experience working with the military but spent all his time and money proposing alternate, private fighting forces that funneled money and support away from the very institution he was supposed to lead.

Such a candidate would never make it out of the vetting stage. Why should it be any different for the person who will lead the Department of Education?

Ninety percent of all children in the U.S. attend public schools. Numerous studies demonstrate that when poverty is controlled for, American schools top the list in performance worldwide. Aren’t our tax dollars better spent supporting public schools and working to improve them?

Jane Seidenberg

special education teacher

Portland