Lying with the Truth

I had a couple of public school teachers who posted the same meme about Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

So we're all on the same page here's the meme:

Along with it appear comments about how bad things are going to be for school teachers. I have no information on whether any of the points are true in regards to Ms. DeVos, but am willing for my argument's purposes to suppose they are. First the last five points are entirely political and are to be expected of a Republican appointee. And I suspect because of the dishonesty in how the other points are presented that they are probably stretched out of proportion and not how Ms. DeVos would shape them. Funneling money out of public schools could be empowering poor parents to make their own choices in regards to their children's education, it depends on what side of the political fence you are on. 

So I went over to Wikipedia to look at the bios of Obama's two Secretary of Education appointments. And guess what? In terms of personal facts they are identical to Ms. DeVos. They are John King and Arne Duncan. Below you can find my summary. 

Education Degree: John King received a master’s and PhD in education (as well as a JD). Arne Duncan does not have an education degree.
  • Personal time in public education: John King's bio does not detail all his educational experience prior to college, but it does indicate he attended Phillips Andover one of the most elite and exclusive college prep schools in the country. Arne Duncan attended U Chicago Lab Schools, while less elite, I suspect this school was an in house perk of U Chicago professors like his parents.  
  • College and beyond: John King attended Harvard, Columbia and Yale. Arne Duncan attended Harvard.
  • Teaching time: John King taught for three years, two of which were in a charter school. Arne Duncan never taught.
  • Experience in School environment: John King also started a charter school, I can’t tell from the Wikipedia bio if his teaching time was in conjunction with that or not (if so his teaching time may be inflated). He served as New York Commissioner of Education. Arne Duncan served as Chicago CEO of Education, but no direct in school experience as an adult.
  • Children’s education: John King has two children, but his bio does not indicate where they attend schools. Arne Duncan’s two children attend private schools. 

It's fine to dislike someone's political stance, but you need to be honest about that and not obfuscate your stance in personal details that turn out to be the same as every other political elite. If you want to bewail the elitism in political appointments at the high levels, I'm with you, but I suggest your strongest approach would be to those you agree with first.