DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at RNC
The Education secretary didn’t even get a role in a convention video montage about the role of female leaders in the Trump administration.
School choice is finally getting prime-time attention as President Donald
Trump makes the issue a focal point of his reelection bid, appealing to
parents clamoring for an alternative to neighborhood public schools during
the pandemic.
But the policy issue’s biggest cheerleader, his Education Secretary Betsy
DeVos, has been kept out of that spotlight.
DeVos isn’t so much as getting a cameo during the Republican National
Convention this week, even as the president builds his second-term ambitions
around the cause DeVos has championed for the past 30 years. The
billionaire's public image is synonymous with “education freedom” or “school
choice,” political shorthand for using government money or tax credits to
help pay for kids to attend private schools, home instruction or other
programs instead of their regular public school. It also encompasses charter
schools, public schools that are independently run.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about why DeVos was excluded
from the lineup. From the secretary's own team, Education Department
spokesperson Angela Morabito said DeVos "has never sought the spotlight" and
is instead "focused on doing what’s best for students, and making sure they
have a voice in the debate."
Among the core fan club for school choice, DeVos is still a star. In the
eyes of Democratic political strategists, she has long been seen as the
perfect villain to help drum up dissent against the president. So the
polarizing secretary is not CONTINUE READING: DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at
RNC - POLITICO