School choice advocate and billionaire GOP donor Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump鈥檚 pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, has been at the center of a social-media maelstrom and stirred more opposition than any other nominee to lead the agency in its more than three-decade-long history.
But regardless of those strong feelings, it remains to be seen whether DeVos鈥攊f confirmed, as appears likely鈥攚ould have the clout to be an effective education secretary.
The litany of prohibitions on the secretary鈥檚 role in the year-old Every Student Succeeds Act means DeVos would take office with far less executive firepower than such predecessors as Arne Duncan and Margaret Spellings, who used waivers and pilot programs to reimagine implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, the law鈥檚 previous version.
For instance, language in ESSA prohibiting the department from attempting to sway states over academic standards means DeVos would have trouble delivering on Trump鈥檚 campaign promise to scrap the Common Core State Standards, which are in place in 36 states and the District of Columbia. DeVos acknowledged as much in a , D-Wash., the ranking member of the Senate education committee.
And DeVos鈥攚ho is best known for chairing the American Federation for Children, an advocacy organization that supports school choice鈥攚ould not be assured of big new money for competitive-grant programs to push her agenda, given the president鈥檚 assertion in his inaugural address that schools are already 鈥渇lush with cash,鈥� but not getting results for students.
Even as he championed DeVos鈥� nomination, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the education committee, made it clear that the votes in Congress aren鈥檛 there for the $20 billion voucher program Trump pitched on the campaign trail鈥攁lthough Congress may have an easier time expanding school choice through the tax code.
Credibility Problem?
On top of such institutional constraints, it鈥檚 unclear how much credibility DeVos would have with educators upon taking the secretary鈥檚 post. The nominee鈥檚 apparent confusion about special education laws during her January confirmation hearing and her comment that some schools might need guns to protect against 鈥減otential grizzlies,鈥� as one example, had even some Republican teachers who voted for Trump questioning whether she could do the job effectively.
鈥淚 totally don鈥檛 support her; I think she鈥檚 the wrong pick,鈥� said Lindsey Barnes, an elementary school instructional coach in the Kansas City, Mo. district. 鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 have a basic understanding of 鈥榯itle鈥� funds [such as special education] that鈥檚 troubling to me.鈥�
Christopher T. Cross, who served in the U.S. Department of Education during President George H.W. Bush鈥檚 administration, said the controversy surrounding DeVos would 鈥渕ake it hard, no question鈥� for her to enact her agenda.
But, Cross added, 鈥渨hether it makes it impossible, I think, depends on her.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 a very smart woman,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 not immune to listening to what鈥檚 being said. She could turn the opinion of her at least to neutral"鈥攁lthough, he said, 鈥渟he鈥檚 not going to turn it around鈥� completely.
A groundswell of opposition has emerged ahead of the vote to confirm DeVos鈥� nomination, expected next week. After her rocky confirmation hearing, thousands of educators and parents called U.S. Senate offices, jamming phone lines.
And more than 200 civil rights organizations, educators, and even some big-name charter school supporters鈥攊ncluding Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee, and the philanthropist Eli Broad鈥攈ave also urged senators not to vote for DeVos.
At the same time, DeVos has won praise from high-profile Republicans, including former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. (Before being tapped to become secretary, DeVos served on the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a group founded by Bush.)
She has even gotten backing from some Democrats, including Eva Moskowitz, the founder of Success Academy Charter Schools. Success Academy has received donations from DeVos鈥� joint foundation with her husband.
Still, the vigorous pushback against the nomination has worked, at least to some extent. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have both indicated that they would vote against DeVos鈥� confirmation by the full Senate, even though both had supported her at the education committee level. The pair of GOP moderates said they have concerns about DeVos鈥� qualifications, as well as her embrace of school choice, which they argued wouldn鈥檛 help many children in rural states, such as theirs.
The Senate appears likely to deadlock at 50-50 on the nomination, with Murkowski, Collins, and all Democrats expected to vote against DeVos. In that case, Vice President Mike Pence is poised to break a tie, which would mark the first instance in history of a vice president, as the president of the Senate, casting the deciding vote in favor of a Cabinet nominee.
Clipped Wings
In a floor speech Friday as the Senate cleared a procedural hurdle for the final vote, Alexander praised DeVos鈥� record and said that DeVos 鈥渨ill be an excellent education secretary in my opinion, and an important one.鈥� But he also tried to shoot down fears about her by saying she would not impose unwanted policies on schools involving teacher evaluations and vouchers.
However, Democrats blasted the nomination. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, called DeVos 鈥渙ne of the worst nominees that has ever been brought before this body.鈥�
And Murray said DeVos was unqualified, had failed to clear up questions about her finances, and wouldn鈥檛 support public education.
As education secretary, DeVos would have a hard time pushing states and districts in significant new directions that local leaders wouldn鈥檛 want to take, in part because of the restrictions in ESSA, the latest edition of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
鈥淓xpanding the [secretary鈥檚 role] would fly directly in the face of the most recent legislation,鈥� said Elizabeth Mann, a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. And if DeVos did overreach, lawmakers who complained bitterly that Obama education secretaries overstepped their bounds would have to call her on her actions, or risk looking like 鈥渂latant hypocrites,鈥� Mann added.
At least two Republican senators鈥擭ebraska鈥檚 Deb Fischer and Kansas鈥� Jerry Moran鈥攅xtracted promises from DeVos that she would respect state authority, including no federal voucher mandates, before agreeing to vote for her, according to statements from their offices.
Some civil rights advocates worried more about what DeVos wouldn鈥檛 do than what she would, especially when it comes to enforcing civil rights laws and the parts of ESSA aimed at improving low-performing schools and boosting the performance of historically overlooked groups of students, such as English-learners and those in special education.
鈥淭he deference to states is our biggest concern at the moment,鈥� said Kati Haycock, who from the helm of the Education Trust, which advocates for poor and minority children. 鈥淭he kids we work on behalf of can鈥檛 afford a secretary who doesn鈥檛 have their back.鈥�
Congressional Backstop?
If advocates were to decide DeVos wasn鈥檛 properly enforcing ESSA and laws protecting civil rights in education, Congress perhaps would not be the right referee for concerned civil rights groups, Mann said. That鈥檚 because Republican lawmakers might not want to rebuke a GOP administration for weak enforcement of civil rights. But the courts could help.
For her part, DeVos said during her confirmation hearing that she would approach ESSA enforcement 鈥渁s Congress intended, with local communities freed from burdensome regulations from Washington.鈥�
DeVos, though, might find it tough to use of one of the few tools left to the secretary in the ESSA era: the megaphone of her office.
鈥淚n order to effectively use the bully pulpit granted to the secretary of education, she will need to both inspire and lead disparate parties with competing agendas. From where I sit, most billionaires don鈥檛 operate in that manner,鈥� said Maria Ferguson, the president of the Center on Education Policy, who worked in the Education Department during President Bill Clinton鈥檚 administration.
But Michael Petrilli, who served in the department under President George W. Bush and is now the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said DeVos, as a longtime GOP mega-donor, has a line of access to Republican state lawmakers who hold the reins of power in most states.
鈥淪he may not have educators,鈥� said Petrilli. 鈥淏ut she鈥檚 got Republican legislators and Republican governors.鈥� And many of them have faced the same criticisms DeVos is facing now and may be sympathetic to her, he said.
And on school choice? 鈥淭hey can do a lot,鈥� he said.
