DeVos Resigns

... and educators everywhere breathe a sigh of relief.

Jan 08, 2021

Secretary Betsy DeVos speaking at a roundtable event for school choice in October, 2020. — Photo by The US Department of Education

An interesting development in the education community happened yesterday, though inconsequential, with less than two weeks until president-elect Biden is sworn in as our 46th President. Betsy DeVos resigned.

Dana Goldberg @DGComedy

Betsy DeVos has resigned leaving no one at the helm of the Department Of Education, which is a vast improvement from the last four years.

Dolores Umbridge jokes aside; Secretary DeVos seems to have resigned out of principle, citing President Trump’s rhetoric as her “inflection point.” Directly addressing the President, she writes:

"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 protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business."
"…there is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."
"Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgment and model the behavior we hope they would emulate."

You can read the full letter here.

While NPR recently highlighted some of the most notable things that happened during the four years DeVos was leading the Department of Education, for inclusionists, her stance on school choice was the one that impacted public education the most.

On no other issue has DeVos been more consistent, or more consistently outspoken, than on her desire to expand school choice via charter schools and private school vouchers. In a statement to NPR, DeVos' press secretary, Angela Morabito, says that "school choice is on the march across the country, and Secretary DeVos will be remembered for leading the charge for every student's right to seek out their best educational fit."
Lead the charge, she did. But for all her efforts, DeVos has little to show for it. The department's 2018 budget proposal, for example, would have set aside more than $400 million to expand charter schools and private school vouchers, but Congress nixed the idea. School choice advocates believed Trump's overhaul of the tax code would be the perfect opportunity to implement an ambitious voucher program, but that too never materialized.

There is certainly a history of charter schools doing innovative work with inclusion. CHIME and WISH charter schools in California are a testament to the great work that is being done. The problem lies mostly with private schools and that they are not accountable for implementing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and can reject admission of a student with a disability without any repercussion.

There are some families who have used school vouchers provided by select states and enrolled their children in private or parochial schools and have found success in an inclusive environment. But that is certainly the exception and not the rule.

According to a 2016 report by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates called "School Vouchers and Students with Disabilities: Examining Impact in the Name of Choice," seventeen states offer school voucher programs specifically for students with disabilities. Some of the key findings of the report were:

Parents will choose a voucher program regardless of the availability of civil rights protections because of the urgency of their child's need to change schools
Voucher funding is rarely enough to cover the full cost of the child's education, meaning that only parents with adequate finances actually have a choice at all
Some schools accept children with disabilities (and voucher funds) and then expel them, forcing them back into inadequate or inappropriate school situations

No doubt that those who supported DeVos and her school choice agenda would have liked to see more progress in this area. But for now, one of President Trump’s most well known but least popular cabinet members bids adieu and leaves behind a controversial legacy.

The Biden administration has nominated Miguel Cardona, an educator, to lead the Department of Education. Will inclusionists finally see some progress with special education funding and addressing the over-identification of students of color for special education services?

Let me know what you think the priorities of the new Secretary of Education should be!

Stay safe, everyone.

Tim