The Memphis Commercial Appeal: Dwight Montgomery: Betsy DeVos has shown dedication to education, children
As a pastor and community servant, I try to be not only an ear but also a voice for families across my city.
When it comes to the education of our children across Memphis, I try to represent children and parents who don’t have an association or lobbying group pushing their agenda in legislative chambers.
However, there has been a person and an organization that dedicate their efforts to giving children the best education possible. That person is Betsy DeVos, and her organization is the American Federation for Children.
I met Betsy DeVos a few years ago, and I am so pleased that President Donald Trump has nominated her to be the next Secretary of Education. She’s a wonderful woman who has the utmost concern for our children. I thank God that He has opened the door for a woman with integrity and the commitment to make sure our children have the best environment to receive the education suitable for each student.
I’ve always been a supporter of public education and still am. I was educated at public schools. But no system is perfect for every student, and thus I’ve always supported whatever education model is best for that particular child. This is why I support educational choice. It’s needed here in Memphis and in many other communities across the country.
Whether chronically poor-performing schools are a result of bureaucratic mismanagement, corruption, or wrongheaded laws and policies, the so-called “solutions” from the education establishment aren’t working. The status quo has had plenty of time and chances to make a difference, but thousands of children have been shuffled through too many bad schools.
Our public tax dollars should go to help all of those in our community. School choice gives our children a chance to get the best education possible at a traditional public school, charter school, magnet school, virtual school, private school or religious school that’s of their choice.
Betsy DeVos has been advocating for better schools across the board, putting children’s interests ahead of all else. We need leaders who want good education, regardless of how the children receive it.
Some have criticized DeVos for being a woman of Christian faith as she described how she finds God’s purpose in her daily work. I see every single day how one’s Christianity can compel him or her to do great things for a community and our country.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s faith served as the foundation for his revolutionary work across America and compelled him as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where I am humbled to serve as the president of the Memphis Chapter.
I think DeVos should be praised for listening to God’s wisdom which brought her to help children in black communities across the country in desperate need of school reform.
She is personally responsible for getting tens of thousands of students across numerous states into better schools. They’re receiving an education that’s best for them because of DeVos’ hard work, and if that hard work is driven by her faith then I thank the Lord for giving her such purpose.
We need men and women with that exact kind of purpose and character who put the interests of our children first.
During her confirmation hearing with the U.S. Senate, she dedicated herself to being a champion for great schools. I fully agree with her when she said, “It’s simple: I trust parents, and I believe in our children.”
I have heard too often from local leaders that parents are not “capable” of deciding what is in the best interest of their children. This bigotry of low expectations has hurt Memphis families from having opportunities economically and educationally.
The needs of our communities has to take priority over ideology and political grips on power. Simply because an old coalition continues to retain power does not give them the right to dictate the outcomes of our children and our schools. Quite frankly, school choice is an idea whose time has come. Betsy DeVos is the reform-minded Education Secretary our country needs.
For the sake of our children, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Memphis Chapter and I look forward to working with DeVos once she is confirmed by the Senate as the next Secretary of the Department of Education.
Pastor Dwight Montgomery is the president of the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC was founded in 1957 and Martin Luther King Jr. served as its first president.
