美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Pick For Education: A Free Market Approach To School Choice

Trump¹'s Pick For Education: A Free Market Approach To School Choice

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

Now we're going to take a look at another one of Donald Trump's Cabinet picks. The president-elect wants Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education. DeVos is a billionaire philanthropist and Republican fundraiser. She's also been a big champion of the school choice movement both in her home state of Michigan and nationally. That includes efforts to expand charter schools and vouchers³ which help parents send their children to private schools using public money.

Now, we'll hear more about the issue of vouchers in just a moment. But first, NPR's Eric Westervelt has this report on DeVos' track record in Michigan.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE⁴: The unofficial motto of the Grand Rapids area charter high school founded by Betsy DeVos and her husband, Dick, could be no pilot left behind.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLANE ENGINE)

WESTERVELT: One of West Michigan Aviation Academy's two Cessna 172 airplanes chugs down the tarmac at the airport just outside Grand Rapids adjacent to the charter school.

MADELYNN BENEDICT: When I came here, it just opened a whole new world for me, and I've learned so much.

WESTERVELT: In a small maintenance hangar, 18-year-old senior Madelynn Benedict waits her turn to take flight. She switched from an uninspiring public high school, she says, to this aviation and STEM-themed charter during her sophomore⁵ year.

BENEDICT: My parents actually thought it was crazy when I was like, I want to transfer. And they were like, but you're halfway⁶ through your high school career; don't you want to stay in, like, your safe area? And I'm like, no, I want to go fly.

WESTERVELT: Today, Benedict and hundreds of others here want to fly and are aiming for a career in aviation. Patrick Cywayna, the Aviation Academy's CEO, says Betsy and Dick DeVos helped build the charter and got it off the ground literally⁷. They donated the first Cessna. Delta⁸ Airlines donated the second. Today, Cywayna says there's a long waiting list to attend this tuition-free charter.

PATRICK CYWAYNA: I think the word choice says it all. The philosophy of our school from Dick and Betsy obviously is to provide opportunities for all kids. So the word opportunity and choice to me go hand in hand.

WESTERVELT: That mantra of opportunity, choice and competition has been the guiding principle for Betsy DeVos in Michigan and nationally. Initiatives she supported have included efforts to expand the number of charters in the public school system, limit oversight⁹ and regulation of charters as well as tuition tax credits and voucher² programs that use public money to help students attend private schools.

Unions have long warned that charter and voucher plans take badly needed funds from traditional public schools and can push profit over learning. Some 80 percent of Michigan's charter schools today are for-profit, a far higher percentage than other states. And many charters are not doing as well academically as this well-funded aviation academy.

Tulane University's Doug Harris points to Detroit where many charters have underperformed. He's an economist¹⁰ and generally thinks choice and free markets are good things. But he says DeVos promotes an unbridled approach to choice with limited or no oversight. He calls it a triumph of ideology¹¹ over evidence.

DOUG HARRIS: There's a common pattern. And the best-case scenario¹² is that they don't work. And the worst-case scenario is they - they're actually worse than the alternatives.

WESTERVELT: Harris points to the data. A large study his research center did shows that students who got vouchers in Louisiana's statewide program saw their test scores drop. Michigan doesn't have vouchers despite efforts by DeVos to create them.

But Harris says add in what he calls Detroit's bungled¹³ experiment with unregulated charter schools, and the evidence is overwhelming that an unrestrained approach to choice is a recipe for failure.

HARRIS: It has not worked in Michigan, and it hasn't worked in the other places where she's worked. In research, we almost never see a negative effect of things, but we're actually seeing it in the policies that she's espousing¹⁴.

WESTERVELT: DeVos backers point out that charters have boosted student achievement in cities including Boston, New York and New Orleans. Harris points out those cities have robust¹⁵ oversight and regulation unlike Michigan. DeVos may now get a chance to push her favored approach to choice nationally under President Trump. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

3 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

12 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

13 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 espousing   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。