Senate Democrats have decided on a policy of resistance to everything President Trump does, but the scalp they want most is that of Betsy DeVos. Her crime, from the left-wing point of view, is that she wants to press states to give students and their parents a say in how they’re taught at school.
DeVos doesn’t want to force school choice on anyone. She knows her job as secretary of education would not be to wield power, but to yield it to states and local school boards.
“As a strong proponent of local control, I believe a decision to provide vouchers, scholarships or other public support for students who choose to attend a nonpublic school should not be mandated by the federal government,” DeVos wrote to Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., in a letter that apparently convinced Fischer to vote for DeVos, possibly securing the 50 votes she needs.
Yet, just for singing the virtues of choice (which in another context Democrats think is a fine thing) DeVos is the chief enemy of powerful teachers unions. Senate Democrats, other liberal groups, and late-night comedians have joined a crusade against her.
Despite their furor, which prompted Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to bow to the union pressure and oppose DeVos, liberal alarms over of a coming public school apocalypse are unfounded. No matter what Trump does on education, even if the Education Department were abolished, public education would remain largely intact. As DeVos said in her confirmation hearing, “The vast majority of students in this country will continue to attend public schools.” It’ll be up to states and local school districts to create change.
Families increasingly want more school choice. There’s a growing bipartisan movement for choice, and plenty of people have crossed the aisle to support DeVos. Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., introduced DeVos at her confirmation hearing saying, “Everything I have seen tells me Betsy is ready to take on this assignment and do it well.” The coalition of Democrats for DeVos includes public and charter school leaders, current and former state legislators, and a former mayor of Washington, D.C.
So it’s perfectly clear why Senate Democrats oppose DeVos; they and their party are in the pocket of teachers unions.
Democrats have gone to great lengths to derail DeVos’ nomination, whining about her completely satisfactory disclosures and divestitures, and about not having time to question DeVos even though she answered more than 1,000 written questions, and trying to use a procedural technicality to delay the vote that advanced her nomination out of committee. Every second DeVos is delayed brings lupine grins to the faces of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
Compare DeVos to Ben Carson, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Neither DeVos nor Carson have traditional resumes for secretaries of their departments. But Carson is sailing through with even Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., voting in his favor.
As Michael Petrilli, head of the right-leaning Fordham Institute, said, “There’s no teachers union in the housing world. … [The opposition to DeVos] is mostly about Democratic Party politics, and that’s union politics.”
DeVos isn’t a technocrat who knows every in and out of the Education Department. Because she’s also not a polished politician, she can’t hide her minor deficiencies with talking points spun by professionals. But as secretary of education, she won’t be beholden to defenders of the lackluster educational status quo. She won’t sacrifice children’s education so teachers unions can line their pocketbooks.
DeVos will work to get the federal government out of the way. She’ll push for decisions to be made at the most local level, to the students and parents who know what is best for themselves.
After all, the point of public education is to serve students and parents. It’s raison d’etre is not to be a vested interest for teacher employment. If students and parents think a school unsatisfactory, why shouldn’t they have the right to walk out and go to one that is?
