Betsy DeVos School Advocacy has been met with Opposition
Public schools have come under attack by Dick and Betsy DeVos. Their objective has been moving funds from the public institutions into private and charter schools. Ms. DeVos has prevailed in advocating for equal education opportunities.
Betsy DeVos has met her share of opposition in her quest. Both she and her husband, Dick, were privately educated, giving their opposers room to talk. They are accused of a disconnect from public education. The DeVos children also received great education through private schools, and this has triggered empathy in Betsy. She believes poorer families should not be limited to schools according to their zip code.
Betsy DeVos was elected as President Trump’s secretary of education. Her advocacy for school choice was given as a primary reason, even though she had no prior history with the President. Ms. DeVos came into government with no prior experience, but she is expected to learn the ropes quickly. Former state attorney general Mike Cox, says she gets a mindset, then accomplishes it. Ms. DeVos instills fear in her opposers for more reasons than her billionaire status. Her conservative agenda has prevailed by profiting allies and dismounting opposing lawmakers.
Betsy DeVos began a voucher program that was first introduced in Michigan. Unfortunately, it was rejected by voters and Ms. DeVos expressed sadness saying it would have helped so many poorer families. Later, the voucher program was used in 17 other states that included the district of Columbia. In Louisiana, the program was met with challenge. Legislation gave them a single week for registration and they had to scramble to get the word out. Between radio ads, billboards, soliciting churches, and other means, Ms. DeVos had a successful launch. Parents have expressed their overwhelming satisfaction, and between Indiana and Louisiana, the charter schools can support a million students.
In many areas, the schools are far from capacity, inviting legislators room for challenge. They recently attempted to limit charter school growth while closing some that they deemed failing. Betsy’s group successfully pushed back, winning in court. Ms. DeVos said the public school system should be shut down. She pointed out that we are behind compared to other countries and showed that Detroit under performers nationally. Detroit also has the largest concentration of charter schools nationally.
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