DEVOS URGES REJECTION OF BIDEN’S POLICIES
In farewell letter to Congress, secretary discusses pandemic
In a farewell letter to Congress on Monday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged lawmakers to reject President-elect Joe Biden’s education agenda, while imploring them to shield Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate.
DeVos does not explicitly acknowledge President Donald Trump’s election defeat nor does she refer to Biden by name. Instead, her letter offers lawmakers “some encouragement and closing thoughts.” As DeVos prepares to exit the Education Department, she says the coronavirus pandemic has exposed much that is “not encouraging ” about U.S. education.
“While my time as Secretary is finite, my time as an advocate for children and students knows no limits,” she said in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. It was sent to leaders in the House and Senate and to committees that oversee the Education Department.
DeVos offered her farewell to a Congress that had a chilly relationship with her from the start. Her 2017 Sen
ate confirmation required a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, and she remained a persistent target for Democrats in both chambers.
DeVos made no mention of those disputes but offered “sincere gratitude for your partnership” on a range of education issues. Most of her major policies, however, were enacted through federal rule-making and not through legislation passed by Congress. She pledged to continue working with Congress “doing what’s right for America’s students.”
Much of the letter serves as a final appeal for school choice legislation that DeVos pushed for nearly two years while failing to gain support from Democrats and many
Republicans. The proposal would provide tax breaks for donations to organizations that sponsor students attending private schools or other alternatives to traditional public education.
Critics have said the idea amounts to a federal voucher program, but DeVos said it would empower families to choose the best options for their children — an issue that she said has become increasingly important amid the pandemic.
While her letter condemns schools’ response to the pandemic, DeVos does not outline how to reopen. She has previously denied that it’s her job to orchestrate a reopening, saying decisions are best left to local leaders.
For months, Trump and DeVos have pressed schools to reopen for in-person classes even as many school leaders say they lack the resources to do so safely. Biden has made it a priority to reopen schools within his first 100 days and says federal agencies will guide districts in their decisions.
More broadly, DeVos urged Congress to direct federal education funding directly to families rather than to schools. She argued that teachers unions and interest groups are more concerned with supporting “the system” than students. She said funding for elementary and high schools should be treated more like federal grants for college, which go directly to students to attend schools of their choice.
Throughout his campaign, Biden characterized DeVos as an enemy of public schools, unqualified to lead the Education Department. He drew support from teachers unions after he vowed to nominate an education chief who, unlike DeVos, had experience working in public education.
Biden’s nominee, Miguel Cardona, is the state education chief in Connecticut and a former teacher and assistant superintendent in a public district.