Betsy DeVos: A ‘Disrupter’ Willing to Fight
Trump’s choice is a prominent charter-school advocate and supporter of school vouchers
Betsy DeVos, U.S. secretary of education, is a school-choice advocate and self-described “disrupter” known for a willingness to fight for her causes.
Her nomination by Donald Trump places her as a leader of the national school reform movement in a role to shape the nation’s education policy.
“I am honored to accept this responsibility to work with the president on his vision to make American education great again,” the Michigan philanthropist said, improvising on Mr. Trump’s campaign slogan. “The status quo in education is not acceptable.”
Ms. DeVos, 58 years old, is a prominent charter-school advocate and supporter of school vouchers, a funding method that allows students to use public funds to attend private schools.
She has been active in politics for more than three decades and is a former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman. Her husband, Dick DeVos, unsuccessfully ran for governor of Michigan in 2006. The DeVos family is heir to the Amway Corp. fortune.
“I think she’s going to be an aspiring champion for children,” said James Goenner,president and chief executive of the National Charter Schools Institute. “I think it’s a bold pick by President Trump. She has been an outspoken advocate for years for school choice and charter schools and challenging the status quo.”
But the National Education Association, a union with more than three million members, opposed the selection.
“She has lobbied for failed schemes, like vouchers—which take away funding and local control from our public schools—to fund private schools at taxpayers’ expense,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said.
Mr. Trump, a supporter of vouchers and school choice, called Ms. DeVos “a brilliant and passionate education advocate.”
“Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families,” Mr. Trump said.
Ms. DeVos chairs the American Federation for Children, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for school-choice legislation.
She also serves on various national and local boards, including the Foundation for Excellence in Education and the DeVos Institute for Arts Management at the University of Maryland.
Her political career has spanned 35 years, beginning with volunteer work for PresidentGerald Ford in 1976, according to her website.
Ms. DeVos is a mother and grandmother. She and her husband founded the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation in 1989, with a focus on education, community, the arts, justice and leadership.
by Ron Adler, President of the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education.
For too long, there hasn’t been accountability in public education and too many students have fallen through the cracks. Charter schools have become an important component of public education because they are accountable. But the same special interests that defend failing schools are fighting against charter schools, and they’ve taken that fight against the nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. education secretary.
DeVos is a major advocate for charter schools. In fact, she and her husband founded a school that’s become one of the top performers in Kent County, Michigan. But DeVos has spent nearly 30 years fighting teacher unions and other special interests that oppose accountability efforts that could more accurately measure students’ academic progress – their strengths and weaknesses – and improve teacher performance evaluations.
In Ohio, we saw this fight play out against charter schools with academic requirements and charter school evaluations in which standards were set ridiculously high, making it difficult for even the highest-performing schools to succeed. There’s also been a “get tough” attitude toward charters and “extreme interpretations” of law from the state Department of Education that’s been creating a hostile environment.
The Columbus Dispatch recently reported that the number of charter schools in the state is at an all-time low with an online directory listing 362 schools, down from 395 in the 2013-2014 school year.
We know from the work DeVos has done with the American Federation for Students that charter schools have become integral components of education in many states. AFC has helped pass school choice measures in 25 states and Washington, DC. DeVos has also fought to expand school vouchers, virtual schools, tuition tax credits and education savings accounts. She has become a symbol of more choice and greater parental control in education. Some find these measures threatening and have taken aim at DeVos’ nomination.
But those of us who want to encourage education innovation are willing to fight back against special interests. DeVos stands at the front lines of that fight, and we can expect she will be an excellent secretary of education. She believes in local control, not endless federal mandates. Unlike union bosses and the outgoing administration, DeVos believes in a bottom-up approach.
Despite what opponents have alleged, DeVos is pro-public education. She believes that every child has the right to the highest quality education we can provide, and that education cannot be restricted because of a zip code. Public education has always held the promise of lifting children out of poverty, opening up doors to possibilities and opportunities.