THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
SU N DAY, F E B RUA RY 1 2 , 2 0 17
102
DeVos speaks out on policies but also lets money talk
Number of entities Betsy DeVos will need to divest from to avoid conflicts of interest Here are a few highlights of the education-related financial interests DeVos will need to divest from now that she is secretary of education.
Valerie Strauss The Washington Post
The new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, well known as a strong advocate for charter schools and vouchers, has a long histor y a s a politica l donor and partisan activist as well. Here are some of the things you may not know about the new education secretary, who won the job in the Senate only after Mike Pence became the first vice president to ever break a tie to confirm a Cabinet nominee. › She did not support Donald Trump for most of the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. DeVos has long been a close ally of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and she donated to his GOP presidential campaign. › FollowTheMoney.org says DeVos and her husba nd made campaign contributions totaling $47,559,870 between 2000 and 2015. In 1997, she wrote in Roll Call, a publication covering Congress: “‘My family is the biggest contributor of soft money to the Republican National Committee. I have decided to stop taking offense,’ she wrote, ‘at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect something in return. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment.’” › DeVos agreed to divest from more than 100 entities to avoid potential conflicts of interest, but one company in which she ma inta ined her investment is Neurocore, though she stepped down from its board. The New York Times wrote: “Ms. DeVos and her husband, Richard DeVos Jr., are major financial backers of Neurocore, a Michigan company that operates drug-free ‘brain per for ma nce center s’ that claim to have worked with 10,000 children and adults to overcome problems with attention deficit disorder, autism, sleeplessness and stress. “Not all experts are convinced of the effectiveness of Neurocore’s methods. A 2013 article in The Detroit News questioned the efficacy of diagnostic testing for ADHD through electroencephalography, citing an article in the American Academy of Pediatrics News that suggested more research was needed.” › She gave a speech at the SXSWedu convention in Austin in 2015 in which she slammed the public education system and teachers. Here’s what she said: “‘I couldn’t agree with you more that an excellent teacher should be a very highly valued individual. And I think that teaching has become very deprofessionalized over the years, as it’s been part of an industry that has been very closed to itself and, I would argue, very self-serving. I believe that opening up the system will go a long way toward placing a renewed value on the quality of a good teacher. And I believe that more young people will be encouraged to enter the field of teaching if we have the kind of innovation and creativity in education in general that I think would be unleashed by the notion of full, open educational choice.’”
D7
In this video image, Vice President Mike Pence presides over the Senate on Tuesday during the vote on Betsy DeVos for education secretary. The Senate confirmed DeVos, with Pence breaking a 50-50 tie. Senate Television via AP
TRUMP TAKES CHARGE
DeVos gets in by bumpy road Education nominee faced organized opposition but also generated controversies. MLive.com
F
or more t ha n t wo months, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been at the center of a tumultuous debate over school policy, pitting the Michigan native and her Republican supporters against Democrats, teachers unions and public education advocates. In a final move, Democratic senators held the floor for 24 hours Monday “to do everything we can to persuade just one more Republican to join us” and scrap her nomination. Instead, she won confirmation Tuesday on a tie-breaker by Vice President Mike Pence. INITIAL REACTION
Trump nominated DeVos on Nov. 23, calling the billionaire philanthropist “a brilliant and passionate education advocate” who can “break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver worldclass education and school choice to all families.” Reactions were strong and immediate. Supporters praised DeVos as a “champion for schoolchildren” who has strived to provide all with access to a quality education. “As an educator myself for over 20 years, I have full confidence that the character traits of Betsy DeVos are just the recipe that our children need,” U.S. Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a Hope College graduate, was quoted as saying by The Daily Signal. Opponents quickly made their positions known. M ich iga n Democrat ic Party Chair Brandon Dillon said DeVos was a “dangerous and ill-advised pick.” Teachers unions were equally harsh. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said by
picking DeVos, Trump made it “loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America.”
A lifetime of giving
MOST CONTROVERSIAL?
$11,017,000
If she was not Trump’s most controversial Cabinet pick, DeVos appeared to draw the most organized opposition. In part, it’s because that opposition arose from so many places. The New York Times reported it included “well-funded progressive groups, teachers’ unions and the Democratic Party itself,” as well as “grass-roots local parents’ and teachers’ organizations.” I n one in st a nce, t he Times said, “calls opposing Ms. DeVos so overwhelmed the Senate phone system that by the afternoon, offices were having trouble gaining access to their voice mail messages.” However, the newspaper reported that DeVos also was “imperiled by a lack of support from constituencies that a Republican nominee might normally count on.” IMPACT ON MICHIGAN
In the wake of her nomination, the conversation quickly shifted to how DeVos — and her family — has shaped education policy in Michigan. Sig n i f ic a nt at tent ion focused on the family’s legacy of philanthropic and political donations, and how the policies championed by the DeVos family — which have largely focused on school choice — have affected student achievement. The family’s role in the $617 million Detroit Public Schools rescue package was also widely discussed. A big part of that discussion: How the Great Lakes Education Project, a school choice advo c ac y g roup founded by DeVos, worked to defeat a provision in the legislation that would have created a commission with powers to oversee charter schools. The commission would have had powers to decide whether and where to open and close schools, but it eventually was stricken from the legislation.
Betsy DeVos political contributions
Local, state and federal donations to candidates and political action committees in the 2,000,000 past five years add up to about $5.3 million, as itemized 1,500,000 for the Senate confirmation process. 1,000,000
$1,988,922
$1,364,800
$611,520 500,000
0 2012 Source: MLive research
’13
’14
’15
’16
MLive.com
Charitable donations from the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, and the areas of giving, since it started in 1990.
$21,317,000
Health & human services
$19,804,000 Arts & culture
15%
Churches
8%
14%
$26,801,000
Total: $138,766,000
Civic, Community & Other
20%
$17,134,000
Leadership & development
$7,358,000
Public policy
5%
$2,640,000
$32,695,000
2%
24%
Education reform
Education
Source: Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation
CONFIRMATION HEARING
DeVos’ Jan. 17 confirmation brought substantive policy differences into sha r per focus, but a lso heightened her opposition’s claims that she was unqualified for the position. Senators grilled DeVos on a variety of topics, from public education, college affordability and special education to campus sexual assault and the rights of LGBT students. One memorable exchange occurred when Sen. Patty Murray, D -Wash., asked DeVos whether she could “commit to us tonight that you will not work to privatize public schools or cut a single penny from public education.” DeVos sidestepped the question, telling Murray that she “looked forward” to working with her on how “to address the needs of all parents and all students, and we acknowledged today that not all schools are working for the students that are assigned to them.” Said Murray: “I take that as not being willing” to “commit to not privatizing public schools or cutting money from education.” DeVos gave similarly general responses when asked what steps she would take to safeguard students from being bilked by for-profit universities (she said she would be “vigilant”) and whether she would require “equal accountability” for all schools receiving taxpayer funds, according to The New Yorker. In an exchange with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., DeVos appeared to be unfamiliar with debate in the educational field over whether student test scores should be used to measure proficiency or growth. Critics also seized on her exchange with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who has a son with cerebral palsy and brought up the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. “So you were unaware ... that it was a federal law?” Hassan asked. “I may have confused it,”
12%
MLive.com
DeVos said. THE GRIZZLY MOMENT
One moment that created a sensation for the hearing came after Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., asked DeVos whether guns should be banned from public schools. DeVos, a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, said the decision should be decided at the local level. To explain her reasoning, she said schools in rural areas may want guns in schools to protect students from the threat of grizzly bears. She referred to an earlier remark by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., about a school that put up fences to keep out the bears. “I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said. ETHICS CONCERNS
Democrat ic senators complained DeVos’ hearing was held before her ethics agreement was finalized. They requested a second hearing to question her about it. Republicans denied the hearing, saying DeVos’ hearing was an hour and a half longer than for either of President Barack Obama’s education picks, according to news reports. Defect ions by t wo Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, led to the tie-breaker. Other Republicans in the Senate dismissed concerns that DeVos was inexperienced, arguing her qualifications will help her make change. “Yes, Mrs. DeVos is going to shake things up a little bit, ” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “But more importantly, she’s going to be a part of this effort to return power to parents and teachers and our local school districts.” — Reporter Brian McVicar and Opinion Curator Dan Hawkins contributed to this article.
1. Early childhood education: According to DeVos’ financial disclosure statement, she has invested between $500,001 and $1 million in Knowledge Universe Education LP, now known as KinderCare Education. The company supports more than 1,300 KinderCare Learning Centers for prekindergarten children nationwide, as well as before- and after-school programs and family care benefits. 2. University laundry machines: One of the private equity firms DeVos reported in the financial disclosure statement, “MCF CLO IV LLC,” invests in the company Caldwell and Gregory LLC, which specializes in commercial laundry machines and caters to universities with on-campus dorms. 3. The Discovery Channel: An account managed by Reinhart Partners Inc. connected to DeVos holds interest in Discovery Communications, Inc., the company behind the Discovery Channel. Discovery Communications also oversees the subsidiary Discovery Education, which makes curriculums for school districts. 4. Student loan recovery service: DeVos’ ethics agreement showed she would be divesting from a fund that has financial ties to Performant Recovery Inc., a company that until recently was contracted by the U.S. Department of Education to pursue defaulted student loans. The connection has been a major point of contention among Senate Democrats, according to The Washington Post. Bloomberg reports the asset is a portion of a $148 million loan made to the company in 2012. The Bloomberg report estimates the DeVos family’s portion of the loan is less than $12 million, and notes other family members would not be obligated to divest from the loan. 5. Special education: N2Y LLC provides an online, standards based special education curriculum, as well as other special education services. DeVos plans to divest from a holding company that has financial stake in N2Y. 6. College parking: One of the companies DeVos would be divesting from under the ethics agreement is T2 Systems, Inc., which “provides cloud based parking management and payment solutions” for colleges and universities, as well as municipal markets, airports, event venues and private operators. 7. School employee retirement benefits: One holding company DeVos currently has financial ties to invests in U.S. Retirement Partners Inc., which offers retirement planning and benefits services to public schools, government bodies and employers. That holding company is also on the divestment list. 8. School athletic websites: DeVos also plans to divest from “SG Fund LLC,” an “early stage venture fund” that supports Varsity News Network, Inc. The company offers website and mobile software for school athletic teams. 9. Digital textbooks: “SG Fund LLC” also has financial ties to Flip Learning LLC, a company that develops digital textbooks for universitylevel students. — Lauren Gibbons, lgibbon2@mlive.com