Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Has Already Affected Public Education

A 40-second scene on Saturday Night Live this past weekend featuring Kate McKinnon as the beleaguered Betsy DeVos, now the nation’s education secretary, blew up almost instantly on social media. The scene could’ve easily been just a blip, buried within the remarkable skit that had the affable Melissa McCarthy playing the role of Sean Spicer, the White House’s pugnacious press secretary. But McKinnon’s cameo as DeVos made its own headlines.

Perhaps it was because the SNL comedian so flawlessly, and efficiently, embodied the most glaring criticismsof the Michigan billionaire-turned-Cabinet member. McKinnon’s DeVos failed to answer a reporter’s question about growth versus proficiency, as DeVos did during her confirmation hearing; McKinnon responded that she doesn’t “know anything about school.” She alluded to her desire to funnel public-education money into private schools, namely Christian ones. And she finished off with DeVos’s now-infamous comment about the need for guns on campus to protect students from grizzly bears.

But perhaps another reason