December 11, 2016: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letter to the Editor * Education Secretary: School choice advocate

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Letter to the Editor,

Education Secretary: School choice advocate

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen education advocate Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary.

“Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate,” said Trump in a statement. “Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families".

DeVos said, “I am honored to accept this responsibility to work with the President-elect on his vision to make American education great again. The status quo in education is not acceptable. Together, we can work to make transformational change that ensures every student in America has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential.”

The Trump statement notes that DeVos is chairwoman of the American Federation for Children, whose mission is to “improve our nation’s K-12 education by advancing systemic and sustainable public policy that empowers parents to choose the education they determine is best for their children.”

DeVos is a staunch supporter of homeschooling, "another perfectly valid educational option. To the extent that home-schooling puts parents back in charge of their kids’ education, more power to them”. She thinks of the educational choice movement as involving many parts: “vouchers and tax credits, certainly, but also virtual schools, magnet schools, homeschooling, and charter schools."

DeVos first became involved in politics at age 18, handing out campaign literature and appearing at rallies in support of Gerald Ford’s 1976 presidential bid.

DeVos and her husband started a charter high school at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, The West Michigan Aviation Academy which opened in 2010.

The choice of Betsy DeVos reinforces Trump’s campaign pledge to make school choice an education priority.

DeVos is subject to confirmation by the Republican controlled U.S. Senate.

As Education Secretary DeVos will oversee implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal law passed last year to replace No Child Left Behind.

“True education enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life”. – Pope Francis

Marian Casillas, Ed.D.
Del Río