We have many well-rounded teachers at our school, all of them with different styles of teaching and thinking. To get a feel for what some of our staff feels about education, I chose to talk to teacher Peter Goldkorn because he cares deeply for the future of each class at our school. He wants to make every single student know that they can be successful. Goldkorn advises the AVID program. I interviewed Goldkorn to get his opinion on the United States Secretary of Education, Besty DeVos and her fellow members of the Department of Education.

What are your thoughts on Betsy DeVos, the 11th and current United States Secretary of Education?

“I don’t agree with her outlook on the state of public education,” Goldkorn stated.

What are her and fellow members pros and cons, if any?

“She comes from a charter school background, and pretty much every school she’s been involved with has performed poorly. The Charter system as a whole has not performed to expectations, and it’s just meant to provide schools for people who can afford it like what happens in Arizona. The public schools are the worst schools and the only good schools that exist are the private schools which are above the charter schools, and those cost a lot of money, and teachers don’t get paid well.”

As a teacher, what do you hope to see happening in education soon?

“I’m hoping that we can continue to improve what’s going on right now, gaining access to new textbooks and new technology, and having opportunities for our kids like the SAT Prep program which we are making available to all our students.”

Do you see any problems with current education?

“I think we have to remember that teachers will still need to teach regardless of what the standards are.”

Do you prefer education when you were in school or now?

“I think there is pluses and minuses for both, in my day students were all taught at the same level, we didn’t separate students into AP/Honors and regular classes, but we’re recognizing that some students learn differently than others therefore they might need some extra help. And back when I was in school, there was some kids that were basically ignored, and now we have programs that help those kids be successful. I think there is good and bad in both.”

Betsy DeVos claims she’s an active advocate for Children, do you agree with this?

“No she is not. I totally disagree with that. She’s an advocate for her own pocketbook, in my opinion.”