WHAT THEY ARE SAYING – DeVos Is On The Side Of Students & Parents (Vol. V)

Those familiar w/ education issues, as well as commentators and elected officials continue to make their voices heard about why Betsy DeVos is the perfect person the lead the Department of Education

January 6, 2017

As Betsy DeVos gets set to testify this coming Wednesday in front of the HELP Committee, those most familiar with education issues, as well as commentators and elected officials continue to make their voices heard about why she’s the perfect person the lead the Department of Education:

Susana Martinez, Governor of New Mexico: “As we usher in a new presidential administration, it’s more important than ever that our next Secretary of Education is a bold reformer who is focused on putting our children first. That’s why Betsy DeVos is the right person for the job.” 

• “She has extensive experience and an unquestionable commitment to our children. For nearly three decades, she has been on the front lines in dozens of state capitals, working with parents to promote school choice and accountability in the classroom. As our secretary of education, she’s going to continue that fight.”

• “She understands that when you give parents more say in their children’s education, it produces better results. After all, parents know what’s best for their kids — unlike Washington bureaucrats who craft one-size-fits-all policies that only backfire on our students.”

Ann Duplessis, President of Louisiana Federation For Children: “I enthusiastically support Betsy DeVos’ nomination as secretary of education. I have seen first-hand the positive impact of the education reforms she has promoted for well over 20 years. This is an unprecedented opportunity in our nation’s history to make good on decades of unfulfilled promises to our children.”  

• “Betsy DeVos’ commitment to school choice options has helped transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, including those in my home state of Louisiana.”

• “Betsy DeVos supported these reforms which have given Louisiana’s most vulnerable students access to life-changing school choice options. I am confident she will do the same for children and families across the country.”

Israel Ortega, Opportunity Lives: ““Betsy DeVos, the president elect’s choice for Education Secretary, has spent millions of dollars through her philanthropic and advocacy efforts fighting to expand educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, including African-American and Latinos.” 

• “Still, with many Latino students continuing to struggle to graduate on time and read at grade level, a number of Latino organizations hope DeVos will usher in new and bold ideas or build upon reforms that have managed to break through union opposition.” 

JoAnn Gama, Superintendent For IDEA Public Schools: “Since opening its doors back in 2001, Gama tells Opportunity Lives, that ‘every single student for the last nine years has been accepted into college.’ Gama added that while IDEA is not actively weighing in on the DeVos nomination, ‘it’s always nice to have folks that are friendly towards charter schools.’”

Louis M. Schucker, Former Member Schuylkill Valley School Board: “President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the pledge of providing $20 billion to promote school choice. In DeVos he seems to have picked the perfect candidate to bring those ideas to fruition.”

Amanda Price, Former MI State Rep. & Chair Of House Education Committee: “DeVos firmly believes a child’s zip code shouldn’t determine how far they can go in life, and that’s why she’s pushed so hard to expand opportunities for poor and at-risk children. I completely agree with DeVos that we should trust parents to make the best educational choices for their own children.”

• “With DeVos as education secretary, we can rest assured that she’ll not pursue the kind of federal overreaches we’ve seen in the recent past.” 

Heather Greenaway, Workforce Fairness Institute: ““DeVos is an ideal candidate to drive a national debate on how to improve the performance of our K-12 schools. For the last 28 years, she has fought in the trenches against the leadership within the teachers unions to break their monopoly on education and give parents a larger voice in where and how their children are educated.” 

• “By raising the bar on education and ensuring American businesses have a deep pool of skilled workers to hire, DeVos will help build the foundation for long-term economic growth needed to boost the quality of life of middle-class families.”