Betsy DeVos: US Secretary of Education

President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos as the secretary of the US Department of Education in 2017. DeVos strongly supports school choice. That is, providing parents with state or federally-funded vouchers which they could use to send their children to schools of their choice, including private or charter ones. She has previously donated a lot of her own money to Christian schools.

Many Democrats and teachers’ unions opposed her nomination, claiming that school vouchers would take money from the government schools. It took the casting vote of Vice President Mike Pence to confirm her nomination. Critics also opposed her policies about sexual assault claims at universities.