Barely months in office, new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos can’t get a break.  Today’s attack comes from the vaunted New York Times. 

Seen by some as another hit piece, the article describes an insider fight over regulatory enforcement of a law that President Obama signed.  However this latest bureaucratic squabble turns out, one has to wonder how much misogyny plays a role in these incessant and narrow criticisms as Secretary DeVos works to improve student learning.

I have followed federal and state education policy closely for years, and there is obviously a double standard at work.  The previous education secretary, Arne Duncan, received much gentler treatment from the media.

What is clear is that smart women on the Right are covered differently by the New York Times.  Certain people on the Left are uncomfortable with the idea of strong independent women in positions of power, especially one who is working to support parents and families in a traditional liberal-dominated public school system.

Betsy DeVos has bold new ideas for helping families and children, which people in the reactionary education system don’t like (they say “No!” to every constructive change), but we should not refuse to listen to her just because she’s a woman.