Betsy DeVos – In the News

By Nicole Jackson
Over the past few weeks, I have been writing about news coverage of Betsy DeVos, president-elect Trump’s nomination for secretary of education, in an effort to provide a well-balanced view of DeVos and what her future election will mean for students across the country.
Below, I have spotlighted recent coverage that will once again give more insight into what can be expected.
Time: “Donald Trump’s Schoolyard Rebel”

• While it’s unclear what DeVos will accomplish, there is no doubt about her direction. Just months before Trump appointed her, she promised never to give up on her life’s work. If the Senate gives her the expected nod in January, it will be a significant victory for DeVos and the revolution she helps lead.

Lansing State Journal: “Barrett: Betsy DeVos and education reform in Michigan”

• Most of mis-information being distributed is about DeVos and the role she and GLEP played in the recent legislation to rescue the Detroit Public Schools. What we did support, and it was included in the final bill, was tough accountability for all schools, and for the first time any district or charter school in Detroit on the bottom 5% list for 3 consecutive years will be closed, as well as all failing charters throughout the state.

The Hill: “Juan Williams: Big questions over Trump’s pick for schools”

• With Trump, DeVos, Alexander and Foxx soon to be in charge of setting federal education policy, this is the best chance for education reform in a generation.

The Post and Courier: “DeVos is a fighter and a winner”

• It’s not that Betsy DeVos is opposed to public education. On the contrary, she just aims to make it accountable by giving it freedom of choice — instead of arbitrarily assigning kids to pre-designated schools, as if they were pegs to be fitted into holes. Even if those are failing schools and should have been shut down long ago like any other tried-and-failed enterprise.