Introducing Betsy DeVos, the New Secretary of Education

Tuesday, February 7th, turned out to be yet another polarizing day in Washington, as Trump’s personal cabinet pick Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education.

After a nail-biting 50/50 tie in the senate, Vice President Mike Pence was summoned to the Capitol to settle the matter.

This was the first time in history that a Vice President broke a tie vote for a cabinet member. Pence said voting for DeVos was “the easiest vote [he] ever cast.”

Betsy DeVos, a billionaire from Michigan, was raised in an affluent auto-parts family. She married wealthy as well, to Dick DeVos, son of Richard DeVos. DeVos senior is co-founder of Amway, a multi-level marketing company, and has a net worth of over $5 billion.

Betsy and her family have donated over $200 million to conservative officials and objectives over the years, with $14 million in 2016 alone.

DeVos was a controversial pick for Secretary of Education mainly because of her non-involvement with public schools. She has never worked in one, and she and her children have all received a privatized education. With the public school system accounting for 90% of K-12 education in the country, her opposition strongly criticized her lack of experience.

DeVos has been a long-time supporter of charter school programs, religious schools, and homeschooling. She opposes common-core, and believes that all parents should have a say where they send their child to school. School choice is the foundation for her platform, and hopes to expand alternative school programs across the nation.

She supports legislation to legalize school vouchers, which provide the chance for low-income families to receive federal funding to attend private schools. However, detractors of school vouchers suggest that they mainly serve as a step in bringing down teachers’ unions and the public school system.

DeVos is a reformer, and during her time as a public official in Michigan, she has made leaps and bounds in privatizing education. According to Stephen Henderson of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit now has the “largest urban network of charter schools” in the nation.

Betsy DeVos, like most education advocates on both sides of the political spectrum, seems to really care about the kids. Nevertheless, whether or not she makes for a decent Secretary of Education remains to be seen.