Where Betsy DeVos started her 2019 back-to-school tour says it all about her agenda
And she explains her view of ‘education freedom.’
Rather, Devos went to St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee and touted that city as the “birthplace of modern education freedom.” That is a reference to a program started under a 1989 law that was the first in the country to give substantial public funding for students to use for private, nonsectarian schools. It later expanded to include religious schools.
That program was part of what grew to be known as the “school choice” movement, which seeks to find alternatives to traditional public school districts so families can decide for themselves where to send their children and to serve as an escape for children who have poor educational options in their neighborhoods.
For decades, DeVos has played a key role in that movement, pushing against critics who argue that using public funds to support choice schools undermines the traditional public system, and that it aims at privatizing the nation’s most important civic institution.
DeVos and President Trump said when they took office that expanding school choice would be at the top of their education agenda. They have proposed a federally funded program called Education Freedom Scholarships. These scholarships would be funded by individuals and businesses who wanted to privately donate. But Trump’s 2020 budget plan includes $5 billion that would be used to pay for tax credits that donors would receive, on a dollar-for-dollar basis. A dollar for a scholarship gets you a $1 tax credit.
The Education Department says that because it is a tax credit, it is not using public money. But The Washington Post’s Fact Checker called out that rationale: CONTINUE READING: Where Betsy DeVos started her 2019 back-to-school tour says it all about her agenda - The Washington Post
