Teachers fire back at DeVos for using stock photo in claim about classrooms’ structure

Teachers hit back at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos after she used stock photos to make a claim about how classrooms in public schools are currently structured.

DeVos tweeted an image of an older classroom next to what appears to be a stock photo of a current classroom, with the caption, “Does this look familiar?”

“Students lined up in rows. A teacher in front of a blackboard. Sit down; don’t talk; eyes up front. Wait for the bell. Walk to the next class,” she tweeted. “Everything about our lives has moved beyond the industrial era. But American education largely hasn’t.”

Does this look familiar? Students lined up in rows. A teacher in front of a blackboard. Sit down; don’t talk; eyes up front. Wait for the bell. Walk to the next class. Everything about our lives has moved beyond the industrial era. But American education largely hasn’t. #SXSWEDU pic.twitter.com/kyy2r7bTud

— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) March 6, 2018

But teachers quickly fired back at DeVos, sharing photos of their own students to show that their classrooms weren’t structured in the way she claimed they were.

“Don’t you know that stock photos aren’t real? How many classrooms have you visited in the past year? Classrooms don’t look like that anymore. Students don’t work like that anymore,” one teacher tweeted at DeVos.

“Rows and lectures are NOT the norm in public school,” another user replied to the secretary.

The United States’ two major teachers unions have repeatedly criticized DeVos since her confirmation.

The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association were among groups that attempted to deliver report cards with “failing” grades to DeVos last month to mark her first year as secretary, but were blocked from entering the building.

No. It doesn’t look familiar. THIS is what public school looks like. pic.twitter.com/OYYrXvIRq2

— LPG (@puckettgarcia) March 7, 2018 

Don’t you know that stock photos aren’t real? How many classrooms have you visited in the past year? Classrooms don’t look like that anymore. Students don’t work like that anymore. I would think that as Sec of Edu you would be celebrating us, not putting us down. #Bye pic.twitter.com/GPDr1aS7vp

— Teresa Hurtado (@MissHurtad0KISD) March 6, 2018 

It doesn’t look familiar at all. Have YOU even looked in a public school classroom in the last 10 years? pic.twitter.com/fLz7RZenYt

— Rae Malenda (@iteachgifted2) March 7, 2018 

Let’s try this. Here’s a classroom in 2018 pic.twitter.com/hFOz15y8Op

— Amanda Edwards (@pirateteacher82) March 6, 2018

Nope, this doesn’t look familiar to me at all. And I spend every day in a public school.

You’re welcome to visit anytime. pic.twitter.com/VJmTlgVqw9

— Jenny Garwood (@luckeyfrog) March 7, 2018

Come visit our school and classroom! We spend 75% of our day in small-groups, independent reading, researching our interests, learning about the world, and engaged in play. We love learning in hands-on ways and would welcome you any day! pic.twitter.com/iN9plwTbJ5

— Ms. Wintuska (@MsWsClassroom) March 6, 2018

Actually, your stock photos looks unfamiliar. In my classroom, and many others (that you probably don’t know about) students are the agents of their own learning and often are the ones up in front of the class teaching and learning with each other. pic.twitter.com/M02YzBBMmJ

— Alex Brown (@AlexBrown15) March 7, 2018