Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

U.S. Secretary of Education

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Education

High school

Holland Christian High School

Bachelor's

Calvin College

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

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Betsy DeVos served as the 11th secretary of education. She was a member of President Donald Trump's (R) administration. On January 7, 2021, DeVos announced that she would be resigning as secretary of education effective January 8, 2021. In her resignation letter to President Trump, she said, "We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business. That behavior is unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."

The secretary of education is responsible for promoting "student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access," according to the department's website.

Biography

Devos was born on January 8, 1958, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from Holland Christian High School in Holland, Michigan. In 1979, she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Calvin College.

Prior to serving as secretary of education, DeVos served as chairwoman of the Windquest Group, an enterprise and investment management firm. DeVos served as chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005. DeVos also served on the boards of charitable and civic organizations, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kids Hope USA, ArtPrize, Mars Hill Bible Church, and the Kendall College of Art and Design.

Secretary of Education

Nomination tracker
Candidate: Betsy DeVos
Position: Secretary of Education
Confirmation progress
a	Announced:	November 23, 2016
a	Hearing:	January 17, 2017
a	Committee:	Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
a	Reported:	January 31, 2017 (12-11)
a	Confirmed:	February 7, 2017
a	Vote:	51-50

On November 23, 2016, the Trump transition team announced that President Donald Trump intended to nominate DeVos for secretary of education. On February 7, 2017, the Senate voted 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote, to confirm DeVos as secretary of education. She was sworn into office the same day.

Senate confirmation vote

On February 7, 2017, the Senate voted 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote, to confirm DeVos as secretary of education. It was the first time in history a vice president had been called upon to break a tie in a vote on a Cabinet nomination. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were the only Republicans who voted against Devos' nomination.

Betsy DeVos confirmation vote, February 7, 2017
Party	Votes for a	Votes against d	Total votes
Democrats	0	46	46
Republicans	50	2	52
Independents	0	2	2
Total Votes	50	50	100

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee hearing

DeVos appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on January 17, 2017. During the hearing, DeVos discussed a number of different topics, including college debt, school vouchers, and guns in school.

• On college debt and post-secondary opportunity: DeVos addressed the rising costs of college and post-secondary opportunity in her opening statement. She said, "Escalating tuition is pricing aspiring and talented students out of college. Others are burdened with debts that will take years — or even decades — to pay off. There is no magic wand to make the debt go away, but we do need to take action. It would be a mistake to shift that burden to struggling taxpayers without first addressing why tuition has gotten so high. For starters, we need to embrace new pathways of learning. For too long a college degree has been pushed as the only avenue for a better life. The old and expensive brick-mortar-and-ivy model is not the only one that will lead to a prosperous future. Craftsmanship is not a fallback - but a noble pursuit."

• When questioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on making public colleges and universities tuition-free, DeVos said, "I think that's a really interesting idea. It's really great to consider and think about. But I think we also have to consider the fact that there's nothing in life that is truly free. Somebody's going to pay for it. ... I think we can work together and we can work hard on making sure that college or higher education in some form is affordable for all young people that want to pursue it."

• On school vouchers: DeVos has been a proponent of school choice, broadly defined as educational alternatives for parents who do not wish to send their children to the local district public school to which they have been assigned. She is a supporter of school vouchers, which redirect the state per-pupil education funding, giving it directly to individual families instead of school districts. Families can then select the public or private schools of their choice and have all or part of the tuition paid by the government. Of vouchers, DeVos said, "I would hope I could convince you all of the merit of that in maybe some future legislation."

• On guns in school: When asked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) about whether she thought "guns have any place in or around schools," DeVos answered that the issue was "best left for locales and states to decide." In January 2016, Trump pledged to end gun-free zones in schools and military bases, telling a crowd, "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools — you have to — and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed my first day. ... You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait." When asked whether she supported Trump’s proposal to end gun-free zones, DeVos replied, "I will support what the president-elect does."

The committee approved DeVos' nomination for secretary of education on January 31, 2017, by a vote of 12-11, along party lines.

Issues

See also: Federal policy on education, 2017-2020

School choice

• In an address at a summit hosted by the American Federation for Children on May 22, 2017, DeVos outlined the Trump administration's approach to school choice, stating that the administration would propose "the most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation's history." DeVos also indicated that states would retain authority over education decisions. She said, "When it comes to education, no solution, not even ones we like, should be dictated or run from Washington, D.C."

• In a 2013 interview with Philanthropy Roundtable, DeVos discussed her commitment to the issue of school choice. She said, "I’m most focused on educational choice. But, thinking more broadly, what we are trying to do is tear down the mindset that assigns students to a school based solely on the zip code of their family’s home. We advocate instead for as much freedom as possible. ... We think of the educational choice movement as involving many parts: vouchers and tax credits, certainly, but also virtual schools, magnet schools, homeschooling, and charter schools."

• DeVos has supported charter schools and school voucher programs. Along with her husband Dick, DeVos worked to pass school voucher legislation in Michigan in 2000. School vouchers are programs that provide taxpayer money for private school tuition for children in failing districts. In 2000, The Wall Street Journal reported that "the DeVoses signed on to the school-voucher movement -- not just endorsing it, but leading it, financing it, working the crowds on its behalf."

Students with disabilities

• During a congressional hearing on March 20, 2018, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) asked DeVos if states or the federal government were required to provide parents with information about the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). DeVos said, “IDEA is a federal law, and where federal funds are involved in states, the federal government has a role. But this is a matter for states.”

2016 presidential election

DeVos donated to the Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina campaigns during the Republican primary election. She did not donate to Donald Trump.

Speaking about Trump's candidacy at the 2016 Republican National Convention, DeVos said, "I cannot see a Hillary Clinton presidency and be in any way comfortable with that or supportive of that or happy with that...[But] I haven’t got there on the other side of the equation."

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
DeVos and her husband, Dick DeVos, have four children.

See also

• Federal policy on education, 2017-2020
• U.S. Department of Education
• American Federation for Children
• Richard DeVos Jr.
• The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation
• DeVos Family

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by John King	U.S. Department of Education 2017-2021	Succeeded by Mick Zais