Joe Biden still has a few open Cabinet positions left, including education secretary. While no one has been named for that position yet, it’s clear that whoever is selected will be a downgrade compared to Betsy DeVos.
DeVos has been a favorite target of the Left, whether it’s Democratic senators like Amy Klobuchar or groups like the Chicago Teachers Union, which recently said that it is racist to give children a proper education. But their irrational hatred of DeVos stems from her willingness to buck the union-dominated education establishment and the fact that she has fought for students across the country.
DeVos has fought to protect free speech and due process rights on college campuses, the latter being a position Biden has openly opposed. As DeVos herself noted, Biden would be expelled from a university under the Title IX rules he wants his education secretary to impose on college students.
DeVos has fought on behalf of transgender students, securing anti-bullying protections for LGBT kids, while also protecting the integrity of women’s high school sports. And, of course, DeVos has pushed hard in favor of school choice. School choice is great for students, as even a large majority of Democratic voters agree, but flip-flopping by politicians like Elizabeth Warren show the power teachers unions hold over the Democratic Party.
Those same unions will hold sway over Biden at a time when it’s clear that students need to get back into America’s classrooms. In fact, Biden might just pick a current or former education-union leader.
Even with virtual learning not resulting in much learning and data showing that in-person schooling is not spreading COVID-19, Biden’s education secretary surely will be beholden to groups such as the Chicago Teachers Union, which says reopening schools is racist and sexist, or the Los Angeles Teachers Union, which argued that schools can’t be reopened until the police departments are defunded.
Barack Obama’s education secretary got invited to the NBA’s celebrity basketball game, but DeVos has been vilified, despite being far better at her job. The celebrity treatment will return for whomever Biden selects, as that person will be praised for depriving students of due process and bending to the whims of teachers’ unions that don’t want to see any real teaching.
DeVos has been one of President Trump’s best Cabinet picks, and she’s done it all in the face of blind hatred from the Democratic Party and its media allies. Biden’s pick will be an undeniable downgrade for students across the country.
