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Trump’s nominee for education secretary wants more school choice

Education secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Education secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
By Maureen Downey
Jan 18, 2017

In a contentious Senate hearing Tuesday, Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary signaled she would represent a major change in direction for federal policy, a change that may lead more children out of traditional public schools into private and charter schools.

Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos has never attended or worked in a public school and has devoted a lot of her time and family fortune from the Amway business into creating escape routes from traditional public schools. She and her family have bankrolled dozens of school choice candidates and opposed efforts to build more accountability into charter school laws in her home state of Michigan.

DeVos shares Trump’s vision of vouchers as a critical solution to under-performing schools.

To read more about DeVos, to the AJC Get Schooled blog.

About the Author

Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.

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