{"id":86736,"date":"2017-04-20T23:30:45","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T04:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=86736"},"modified":"2017-04-24T07:19:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T12:19:37","slug":"devos-weingarten-impressed-with-van-wert-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2017\/04\/20\/devos-weingarten-impressed-with-van-wert-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"DeVos, Weingarten impressed with VWCS"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

While U.S. Education Secretary Betsy\u00a0DeVos and Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.6-million-member American Federation of Teachers, don\u2019t agree on much when it comes to education, both were pleased with the innovative educational programs and the passion and support for students displayed Thursday in the Van Wert City Schools.<\/p>\n

\"American
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (left) chats with VWECC teacher Laura Foster while U.S. Education Secretary Betsy\u00a0DeVos (kneeling) interacts with preschool students.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an inspiring and wonderful day,\u201d DeVos said during a press conference held at the end of a long day filled with\u00a0building tours, program demonstrations, and roundtable discussions. DeVos and Weingarten were joined on the visit by Ohio\u00a0Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper, Linda Haycock, District 1 representative to the State Board of Education, and State Representative Craig Riedel.<\/p>\n

\u201cVan Wert proves that support for public schools transcends politics,\u201d Weingarten said. \u201cThe more we can make the education of our children all of our responsibility, regardless of whether we\u2019re Democrat or Republican, the more we will help the future of America, and this public school district has proven that point over, and over, and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeVos also praised the local business community for its support of the Van Wert schools and their students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve observed a really important piece that isn\u2019t necessarily present in every community, and that is a real engagement by the job providers and job creators in this community to invest in the schools, invest in opportunities for their students, and that\u2019s a really great advantage that this school has,\u201d the Education Secretary said.<\/p>\n

After seeing demonstrations by the school\u2019s successful\u00a0robotics and engineering programs — with projects\u00a0from the elementary level through high school — as well as children learning in Laura Foster\u2019s preschool class, and a class project on The Depression in Nate Hoverman\u2019s fifth-grade class, both Weingarten and DeVos were complimentary of what Van Wert has done in a community where more than\u00a0half the students are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program.<\/p>\n

\"AFT
AFT President Randi Weingarten (left) and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy\u00a0DeVos (center) walk down a hallway at the VW ECC as Principal Lori Bittner explains some of the school’s programs.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The unusual visit by the high-profile education \u201ccombatants\u201d was surprisingly non-combative. Weingarten, who opposed DeVos\u2019 nomination and has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration for its proposed $9.2-billion cut in education funding, and DeVos, who has called public schools a \u201cdead end\u201d while touting private schools and school choice as the future of education, were both on their best behavior Thursday, citing the positives they saw at Van Wert. It was also clear, though, DeVos hadn\u2019t changed her mind on school choice.<\/p>\n

During a tour-ending news conference, the Education Secretary noted that approximately 20 percent of Van Wert\u2019s students opt to attend other schools under open enrollment, which she sees both as a positive for both parents and students, and proof that her pro-school choice stance is valid.<\/p>\n

“That’s a wonderful thing that they have that opportunity, and it’s an opportunity that we should continue to offer, because the goal for every child is to be in an education environment that is best for them,” DeVos said, “and that’s the overarching goal, I think:\u00a0to keep our eyes focused on what’s right for each child.”<\/p>\n

However, Van Wert Treasurer Mike Ruen, who has to deal with\u00a0numbers showing the district\u2019s loss of more than\u00a0$1 million a year in tax dollars to open enrollment, didn\u2019t agree with DeVos\u2019 assessment that school choice decisions were usually made in the best interests of students.<\/p>\n

Ruen noted his opinion that a majority\u00a0of open enrollment decisions in the district are made emotionally, with many coming from parents who live in the Van Wert district, but were former students of neighboring districts who want their kids to attend those schools.<\/p>\n

In fact, when the quality of Van Wert\u2019s project-based learning programs, its engineering, biomedical, and robotics programs, and its large overall number of Advanced Placement and other courses are taken into account, students who leave the district often limit their educational opportunities.<\/p>\n

Overall, though, local educators and administrators were pleased with the national attention given the school district by a large contingent of national and regional media.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Ken Amstutz, who spent Thursday escorting DeVos and Weingarten around the district, along with Assistant to the Superintendent Bill Clifton and Van Wert Federation of Teachers President Jeff Hood — whose efforts and conversations with Weingarten and other AFT officials led to DeVos\u2019s visit — has repeatedly stated that Van Wert does an excellent job of educating its students, especially when the community\u2019s economic and social challenges are taken into consideration. He also notes that the State Report Card has been a moving target the past few years — to which a large majority of school districts can attest — and needs to remain stable so districts can assess test results and make needed changes.<\/p>\n

\"AFT
AFT President Randi Weingarten (center) and U.S. Secretary Betsy\u00a0DeVos (left) talk with VWHS freshman Alaina Arney, who is seeking a U.S. patent for a part she designed as an engineering class project.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Weingarten stressed Thursday that public schools need adequate funding to do their jobs, while also continuing her criticism of the Trump education funding cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no secret that we\u2019re fighting some of the budget cuts,\u201d Weingarten said, adding her opinion that Van Wert and many other school districts nationwide would be harmed by the cuts.<\/p>\n

But she and DeVos did agree that, despite its challenges, the local school district has been very innovative and does a great job of supporting its students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think today\u2019s visit was much more about the proactive positive: what happens when schools work together, when they engage in the strategies that work for kids; and I think that\u2019s what we saw today,\u201d Weingarten said.<\/p>\n

DeVos said she was also pleased overall with her visit to Van Wert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for me to make visits like this, and to get to schools all across the country, as I\u2019ve already done in a variety of states, because what goes on to help students prepare themselves for their future happens outside of Washington, to the greatest extent,\u201d she noted. \u201cThat\u2019s where the rubber meets the road, and that\u2019s where we have to be addressing the needs of the students. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Both women also learned from two roundtables held Thursday, the first with preschool and kindergarten teachers in the Early Childhood Center, and the second with district special education teachers in the Green Room of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.<\/p>\n

Both DeVos and Weingarten also both agreed with one of complaints voiced by local educators: teachers spend too much time doing unneeded paperwork that could better be spent educating students.<\/p>\n

DeVos said she would work on a solution to the federal part of that problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor While U.S. Education Secretary Betsy\u00a0DeVos and Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.6-million-member American Federation of Teachers, don\u2019t agree on much when it comes to education, both were pleased with the innovative educational programs and the passion and support for students displayed Thursday in the Van Wert City Schools. \u201cIt\u2019s been an inspiring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 03:48:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}