President-elect Trump has tapped Trump tapped Betsy DeVos, a former Republican Party chairwoman in Michigan and chair of the pro-school choice advocacy group American Federation of Children, as his Education Secretary. Here’s a roundup of some initial reporting on Betsy DeVos:
The New York Times reports that DeVos has steered money from public schools:
It is hard to find anyone more passionate about the idea of steering public dollars away from traditional public schools than Betsy DeVos, Donald J Trump’s pick as the cabinet secretary overseeing the nation’s education system…
Continue reading on the New York Times website.
Mother Jones reports on the DeVos family and their connections:
Members of the DeVos family rank among the most generous benefactors of the conservative movement and the Christian right, up there with the Bradleys, the Coorses, and the Kochs. Not only has billionaire Amway cofounder Richard DeVos Sr. cut checks to anti-union and anti-tax efforts, but these days he’s also a fixture at the Koch brothers’ invite-only donor summits. Name an organization—Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, the arch-conservative Heritage Foundation—and odds are a DeVos family member has donated to it…
Continue reading on the Mother Jones website.
Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post adds:
Advocates of public education in the United States have worried that President-elect Donald Trump would tap an education secretary who would speed up the privatization of public schools, a move that many fear could destroy America’s public education system, the country’s most important civic institution. Well, they were right about the appointment — and then some…
Continue reading in the Washington Post.
And again in the Washington Post, “hat’s the worst that could happen with Betsy DeVos as education secretary? Two scenarios:”
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision last week to nominate Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and conservative activist, as his education secretary has caused great consternation in parts of the education world — those parts that are deeply concerned about the future of public education…
The last word: Future Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has never:
- attended public school
- sent her kids to public school
- worked in public schools.