School-choice advocate Betsy DeVos draws glowing praise and bitter criticism in her bid to become the new education secretary, even in — where a battle over whether vouchers can be used to pay for private schools has waged on for more than five years.
DeVos, who has , is the type of leader who focuses on what’s best for children and their parents rather than educational institutions, Douglas County School District board president Meghann Silverthorn said.
“She has the right ideas. She has the right focus on providing educational opportunities for all kids,” Silverthorn said. “She’s generally concerned with that if something is not working, then let’s look at doing something different and try to fix it.”
When President Donald Trump nominated DeVos, he from Michigan as “a brilliant and passionate education advocate.”
ܳ, which successfully fought Douglas County’s voucher program, calls DeVos a “disastrous choice.” And elected to school board seats in 2015 as part of a group opposing voucher initiatives called DeVos a bad omen for public schools.
Since Colorado is largely a local-control state, even if the U.S. Senate confirms DeVos’ appointment, her influence on school district policies here will be minimal, Douglas County School Board member David Ray said.
“Nominating someone who has no knowledge or firsthand experience of the public school system is incomprehensible,” said Ray. “My hope is that we will weather this storm by remaining focused on the values of our community, retaining our indispensable teachers and never losing sight of what is best for our public school learners.”
DeVos appears to believe that a free-market system of education, which includes for-profit charter schools and privatizing public schools, “cures all,” said Wendy Vogel, another Douglas County board member. “I am very much opposed to all the things I’ve read that she represents.”
Even charter school advocates in Colorado can’t agree on whether DeVos, who has never worked in public education and did not send her children to public schools, would help their cause.
“My guess is if you asked two different charter schools in Colorado about their opinion, you’d get two different responses,” said Stacy Rader, spokeswoman for the Colorado League of Charter Schools. “We just want the Trump administration to ensure that all students have access to high-quality public school options, regardless of what type of public school they choose.”
DeVos has some supporters in Colorado, including several school-choice advocates who say she will open more doors for kids who are not succeeding in traditional public schools.
“Most Americans agree we need to have more choice options and the expansion of schools of choice doesn’t make her an enemy of public education,” said Mike Miles, a former superintendent of the Dallas School District and current CEO of Third Future Schools, a new charter school management organization in Colorado Springs.
“She’s more outspoken about school-choice options than any other secretary nominee,” said Pam Benigno, director of the Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center. “Hopefully, she’ll spread the word about parental choice and will help make our schools more about the parents and kids and not the system.”
Others hesitate to throw their support behind DeVos. “I can only speak for myself and not the board,” said Ron Mitchell, president of the Jefferson County School District board. “Personally, I have reservations about her nomination.”
Colorado Education Association president Kerrie Dallman said the teachers union worries that DeVos’ support for vouchers and for-profit charter schools will “leave our most vulnerable students out in the cold. We need a practitioner of education that implements sound policy decisions that won’t leave anyone out in the cold. That is not Betsy DeVos.”
The , Education, Labor and Pensions on forwarded her nomination to a full Senate vote. All 12 Republican senators backed DeVos. While all 11 Democrats, including Colorado’s Michael Bennet, voted against, with the group calling DeVos dangerous and unqualified for the post.
Bennet, a former Denver Public Schools superintendent, during a committee hearing in January, drawing a contrast between Denver’s successful integration of charter schools into its system and how charter schools have operated in Michigan with limited oversight.
DeVos took issue with Bennet’s characterization, saying his views were based on “false news.”
Updated Feb. 1 at 9:10 a.m.: The spelling of Stacy Rader’s first name has been corrected. Also, the opinion of the 11 Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has been clarified that the group as a whole called DeVos dangerous and unqualified.