Betsy DeVos was confirmed as education secretary today by Vice President Mike Pence as a result of a 50-50 tie in the senate.
The nomination, and now confirmation, of Ms. DeVos has been extremely controversial.
Critics of Ms. DeVos have pointed out that she is unaware of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the expansive federal law governing the rights of students with disabilities; that she has no experience with public school education and does not understand how the public education system works; and that her efforts relating to charter schools and voucher systems have not been effective.
Supporters of Ms. DeVos believe that an emphasis on charters and vouchers will give low-income families more choices as to where to send their children to school and force public schools to become more competitive.
Some other questions and concerns to note about DeVos's educational agenda:
Where will the funding for charter schools/voucher programs come from?
What level of oversight/accountability will be imposed?
Will vouchers be available to all or means-based?
Can vouchers work with programs that follow a for-profit model?
My personal thoughts will follow in a separate or updated post soon.
In the meantime here are some recent articles on the subject: