For those who have never heard of Betsy DeVos, she has become a figure of education reform in the past five years. However, she started out much earlier than that. In fact, her work in education dates back to the 1980s when she was working on Republican campaigns with her husband Dick DeVos.
Betsy DeVos is now the 11th US Education Secretary. She was appointed to the position in 2017 under President Donald Trump. Her work within education reform has always centered around offering more opportunities to underprivileged children, but there have been criticisms of her work. Most recently, educators do not believe that public funding isn’t being used for private education. Still, DeVos has refuted this belief and pointed out that philanthropy has paved the way for students to choose where they want to go to school.
How has educational choice changed in the past few years? Throughout the 1990s, charter schools began to pop up. These were private schools that taught specific programs to high school students and lower grades. DeVos founded a charter school with her husband that would help students who wanted to become pilots. The school has been noted for its excellence in Michigan, but it’s one of the only charter schools in the state.
Other programs were proposed by Betsy DeVos in Michigan, such as the “Kids First! Coalition” bill in 2001. However, this didn’t make it into legislature. DeVos continues to fight for education reforms in all states, but she has publicly noted that there are only two states with real educational choice options that work.
Louisiana and Florida are the only states with full educational choice programs. Betsy DeVos has pointed out how successful these programs have been. Florida is the most successful because of how many programs are available, including a K thru 12 virtual school that anyone can attend.
Many students and parents love the idea of educational choice, but how does it work? Educational choice allows students to apply for another school. If accepted, they do not have to attend their zoned school. They can instantly transfer to a private school, virtual school, magnet school, or charter school. They can also choose to go into a homeschooling program.
While many students do not want to go to a violent school or failing school, educational choice is there to help students who also want to go into specific programs, such as a magnet program for pre-medical interests or a school for international studies. DeVos is currently working on expanding these programs.
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