Trump taps Betsy DeVos for US Education Secretary

President-elect Donald Trump chose a MI charter school advocate and prominent Republican donor to serve as his secretary of Education, he said Wednesday, a decision that may hearten supporters of school choice but worry teacher unions – and even some of Trump’s core supporters.

The 58-year-old DeVos is a former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman.

DeVos is chairman of The Windquest Group, a Michigan-based investment management company.

Betsy’s husband, Dick DeVos, is the heir to the Amway fortune and was a 2006 candidate for MI governor.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen prominent charter school advocate Betsy DeVos as his secretary of education.

“In Michigan, we know firsthand how disastrous DeVos’ ideology is, as she has spent decades wielding her family’s money and influence to destroy public education and turn our schools and students over to for-profit corporations”, said Cook in a press release.

Reykdal says Trump’s choice seems to conflict with his pre-election statements that states should have more freedom to run their schools.

Others have said the announcement is not a good sign for public education in the U.S.

It wasn’t clear whether DeVos was Trump’s first choice as education secretary. The country’s largest teachers’ union was highly critical of Trump’s selection.

Zorc said she would remain optimistic on DeVos, however.

DeVos has never worked in the public school system, but has always been active in education and GOP causes.

Rabbi Jack Moline, president of the Interfaith Alliance, called the pick “deeply disappointing”.

DeVos’ history suggests little familiarity with traditional public schools, which educate the vast majority of US students.

Trump’s pick, Betsy DeVos, is a champion of charter schools and school vouchers that give families tax funds they can spend on private school if they’re not happy with their local public schools. She graduated from Calvin College, a top-rated Christian school in her home state of MI. Later, DeVos and her husband formed the All Children Matter PAC to support pro-voucher candidates. DeVos has no meaningful experience in the classroom or in our schools.

A week ago while meeting with other Republican governors in Orlando, Haley said she was heartened by Trump’s tone and inclusiveness after winning the election. And though Prince financially supports such conservative organizations as Action Institute, American Enterprise Institute and Council for National Policy, DeVos and her husband Dick support those and more, including Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation and Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

DeVos is a conservative figure in MI and is Trump’s first cabinet selection of someone far outside his immediate circle of loyalists.

But some Trump backers are not convinced.

“I have difficulty with someone being appointed to that position who has not served as a teacher or an administrator and has not served in public education at all”.

DeVo has said little about the Common Core curriculum, the math and reading guidelines adopted by most states. There are plenty of reasons to oppose DeVos that have nothing to do with her brother.

“Anybody joining the administration is signing on to the president-elect’s platform and vision for moving America forward”, Miller said.

The new education secretary will oversee implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal law passed past year to replace No Child Left Behind.

Dr Carson would be the first African-American member of Mr Trump’s Cabinet – and a familiar face to millions of Americans after a Republican primary campaign in which he briefly soared to the top of the polls.

But some, including Jeb Bush, backed the appointment.

Haley, 44, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was a Trump critic during the White House campaign, endorsing Florida Sen.

In March, she told the Washington Examiner, “I don’t think Donald Trump represents the Republican Party”.

The couple have campaigned for some time to privatise the education system. The president and Department of Education, however, have no formal authority to undo those state-level academic standards. But they want the Trump administration to incentivize overturning Common Core.