Not so fast, will DeVos be confirmed?
Published 2.2.2017; updated to correct the name of Maine's Senator who will vote noContinuing the series on education essays each Thursday, begun last week with a look at Betsy DeVos, Trump's choice for Secretary of Eduction, the topic this week was to be learning via screen. However, recent developments in DeVos's confirmation have intervened, leading me to focus again on that process.
My assumption last week was that DeVos was likely to be confirmed because Democrats have no power. However, on Wednesday, two Republican senators, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins, announced that they would not vote to confirm DeVos— even though both women voted for DeVos in committee.
If no other Republican defects, DeVos would be confirmed, with Vice President Pence breaking the 50-50 tie. There remain Republican senators who have not yet said whether they would vote for DeVos, so there is suddenly a lot more uncertainty than I anticipated last week.
Murkowski's announcement makes some sense, as she clearly indicated here discomfort with the idea of giving public schools less support. Alaska has immense land area, but a sparse and widely distributed population. Remote locations with few students aren't enticing to for profit educators, unless they are online.
Online education requires fast and reliable internet connection, something else that is difficult in remote locations. However, Murkowski then voted for DeVos's confirmation to go to a full Senate vote, and I figured that was that. Collins's ultimate no vote (after voting yes in committee) stemmed from DeVos's focus on alternate education as well as her unfamiliarity with current laws relating to kids with disabilities.
Snow's reversal might have something to do with DeVos's answers to questions submitted to her after the first hearing, but surely Collins had read them before casting her vote? DeVos’s answers to questions that followed her rocky confirmation hearing were supposedly plagiarized, but frankly the examples cited were weak tea in my view. I mean, how many ways are there to say that “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow?” This particular charge reeks of rank politics, and there is plenty of that on display here. Teachers’ unions are pulling out all the stops against DeVos. Campaigns of phone calls appear to be working, at least in two cases.
Eli Broad is also a billionaire charter advocate, and yesterday he released a letter saying that he opposes DeVos, believing her to be unprepared and unqualified for the position. It appears to have been her answers to Senator Tim Kaine about accountability that bothered Broad mostly. DeVos refused to say that she wants all schools that receive tax dollars to face the same accountability standards and regulations. In fact, given her history in Michigan (included in last week’s entry) DeVos would be more likely to add to the burden of public schools while exempting privately run charters or private schools receiving publicly funded vouchers.
Could it be that DeVos was a little too obvious about her (albeit publicly unstated) aim to eliminate public schools?
Speaking of vouchers though, how might a voucher system set up under DeVos look? Florida's voucher program (which followed a DeVose drafted plan) might provide clues. The Florida model is to make donations to the eduction fund tax deductible (like any other charity) and then use those funds to award vouchers to poor kids.
If vouchers are funded by "charitable" (i.e. private, non-profit) organizations, then they aren't funded by state funds. In Florida, the model was to create entities that can be donated to as a way to offset taxes— just like donations to charities are used. The donated founds are then used to award vouchers to poor kids. No the schools don't follow public school regs, but technically they aren't getting public funds. This makes it harder to argue that state dollars are being used. If tax dollars aren't being used, that the argument about accountability to federal rules and guidelines are moot.
DeVos's available record relates only to schooling through high school. Very little light was shed on her opinions regarding higher education, or her stance of federally funded financial aid. That uncertainty though is not focus of opposition to her, as the assumption seems to be that she'll focus on public school policy and leave higher education alone.
To re-iterate for clarity, at the time of publication the odds still favor DeVos getting confirmed by the Senate. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania seems to be a focus of pressure at the moment, but there are several other Republican senators in the crosshairs of activists as well.
Disclaimer Note: This piece was updated to correct the name of Maine's senator voting no on DeVos. It's Senator Susan Collins, not Olympia Snow.
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