President Trump’s choice for Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has been confirmed by the Senate.
Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Education secretary today on a 51-50 vote. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.
A massive union-led campaign generated 1.5 million calls a day, reports NPR. Senate Democrats staged an all-night Betsy-bashing marathon. Only two Republican senators voted “no.”
I don’t foresee the end of public education. As NPR’s Anya Kamenetz points out, “less than 10 percent of funding for K-12 schools comes from the feds.”
Furthermore, any Trump nominee would have been a supporter of school choice and state control of schools.
It is likely that DeVos will rein in the Education Department’s Civil Rights Office, which has pushed for less-punitive discipline policies in schools and more punitive sexual-assault adjudication on college campuses.
Those who believe DeVos will be a force for evil should sign on to Rep. Thomas Massie’s bill to abolish the Education Department by Dec. 31, 2018. So far, the Kentucky Republican has some GOP support, but no Democratic co-signers.