Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer | Excesses in Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable

Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer | Excellence in Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable:

Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer

For years now, she has been at the forefront of the educational-reform movement.
Interview from Spring 2013 issue of Philanthropy magazine



Betsy DeVos is a reformer. At Calvin College, the young Elisabeth Prince undertook her vocation, becoming involved with campus politics and remaining politically active ever since. For more than 30 years, Mrs. DeVos has led a variety of campaigns, party organizations, and political action committees, including six years as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. The reforming tendency runs in her family—in 2006 her husband, Dick DeVos, was the Republican nominee for Governor of Michigan.
In business as in politics, the DeVoses look for innovative solutions to social problems. Betsy serves as chairman of the Windquest Group, a privately held, multi-company operating group that invests in technology, manufacturing, and clean energy. She founded the firm with her husband in 1989. Dick DeVos is also the former president of Amway, and former president of the Orlando Magic NBA franchise.
Perhaps most importantly, Mrs. DeVos pursues reform through a variety of nonprofit roles. She is chairman of the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, and her charitable interests range widely. She is a member of several national and local boards, including the DeVos Institute for Arts Management at the Kennedy Center, Mars Hill Bible Church, Kids Hope USA, and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. She is perhaps best known as a leading advocate for the educational-choice movement. To that end, she serves as chairman of the American Federation for Children (AFC) and the Alliance for School Choice.
Philanthropy recently spoke with Mrs. DeVos about her work in educational reform generally, and school choice specifically.
PHILANTHROPY: It’s been more than 50 years since Milton Friedman wrote “The Role of Government in Education,” which made the first principled case for school choice. It’s coming up on 25 years since Wisconsin instituted the nation’s first private-school voucher program in Milwaukee. So, how do you feel about progress to date?
MRS. DEVOS: Well, I’ve never been more optimistic. Today there are about 250,000 students in 33 publicly funded, private-choice programs in 17 states and the District of Columbia. The movement’s growth is accelerating. Within the last year, the number of students in educational-choice programs grew by about 40,000. In 2012, we saw new programs in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, and New Hampshire, and expanded programs in Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In 2011, Indiana passed a major new statewide voucher program, which is only in its second academic year and is already enrolling nearly 10,000 children. We conducted polling in five states, and found educational choice enjoyed enormous popularity, especially among Latinos.
This confluence of events is forcing people to take note, particularly because of the public’s awareness that traditional public schools are not succeeding. In fact, let’s be clear, in many cases, they are failing. That’s helped people become more open to what were once considered really radical reforms—reforms like vouchers, tax credits, and education savings accounts.
PHILANTHROPY: You’ve been a part of the movement since it was considered radical. What got you interested in the first place?
MRS. DEVOS: Well, it’s not like there was a single incident that drew me in. It was more gradual than that. When Dick and I had school-age children ourselves, we visited the Potter’s House Christian School, which for more than 30 years has been serving a part of Grand Rapids with many low-income families. While we were at the school, we met parents who were doing everything in their power to have their kids in an environment that was safe, where they were learning, and where the atmosphere was just electric with curiosity, with love for one another.


We kept going back. We would visit, and think about what we saw, and we’d want to visit again. We knew we had the resources to send our kids to whatever school was best for them. For these parents, however, paying tuition was a real sacrifice. We started supporting individual students at the school, and that grew into a larger commitment. To this day, we support the Potter’s House at a significant level.
PHILANTHROPY: And how did supporting that one school lead you to think more broadly about education?
MRS. DEVOS: Like I mentioned, at the time, we had children who were school-age themselves. Well, that touched home. Dick and I became increasingly committed to helping other parents—parents from low-income families in particular. If we could choose the right school for our kids, it only seemed fair that they could do the same for theirs.
Dick expressed his commitment by running for the State Board of Education in Michigan; he was elected in 1990. I got involved by starting a foundation that gave scholarships to low-income families so that parents could decide where their kids would go to school. We realized very quickly that, while it was wonderful to help some families through the scholarship fund, it was never going to fundamentally address the real problem. Most parents were not going to get the scholarship they wanted, and that meant most kids would not have the opportunities they deserved.
PHILANTHROPY: So that’s how you became more involved in the educational-choice movement?
MRS. DEVOS: Exactly. During the 1990s, I served on the boards of two national 501(c)(3) charities, Children First America and the American Education Reform Council, both of which worked to expand educational choice through vouchers and tax credits. Both Dick and I were politically involved in passing Michigan’s first charter-school bill in 1993. And in 2000, we tried—unsuccessfully—to change the state constitution to allow tax-credit scholarships or vouchers. It was really tragic, because Michigan has so many families, particularly in our state’s large, urban school districts, who are desperate for better educational options, and because our state constitution has some of the most restrictive language limiting educational choice in the country.
I’ve been in politics for some time, and I had been chair of the Michigan Republican Party for a few years. In response to the defeat of the proposed constitutional amendment I started a political action committee in Michigan called the Great Lakes Education Project, which was devoted to promoting education reform through the expansion of charter schools in the state. Over the course of two years—from 2001 through 2002—our work in Michigan was so successful that some of our friends in the movement began to say, “We really need to do this nationally.” And I said, “Yes, I think we do.”
PHILANTHROPY: I take it that was the beginning of what’s now called the American Federation for Children, which you chair?
MRS. DEVOS: Well, it’s the beginning of my involvement with AFC. The late John Walton and Dick started up what was then called All Children Matter, a 527 political organization, which I chaired. A number of other school-choice supporters also worked very closely with the Alliance for School Choice, a 501(c)(3), to educate the public about the need for greater educational choice. But it didn’t feel like a cohesive enough effort. Successful advocacy requires coordinating a lot of moving parts: identifying potential legislators, educating them about the issue, getting them elected, helping them craft and pass legislation, and then, once the laws are passed, helping them with implementing the programs to ensure they work for children.
We took a long, hard look at ourselves and determined that we could do this in a much smoother manner. It was clear that we needed a more cohesive effort. So a few years ago, we reorganized a number of the key players. We formed the American Federation for Children as a 501(c)(4). It is the umbrella organization that is affiliated with the Alliance for School Choice—still a (c)(3)—and AFC’s political action committee, the American Federation for Children Action Fund. Now that our efforts are better organized, it’s been working really, really well.
PHILANTHROPY: So what have been your biggest successes?
MRS. DEVOS: Florida. Through its tax-credit scholarship program, Florida has enjoyed the nation’s longest period of widespread educational choice, and through the expansion of the program, it has an ever-growing number of students—currently over 50,000—attending the school of their family’s choice.
Florida is also probably the best case study of how all of the pieces work together. John Kirtley led a brilliant effort integrating 501(c)(3), (c)(4), and 527 capabilities. More importantly, John led a very intentional effort to cultivate broad support for the program among both policymakers and the public, and to ensure a strong focus on offering high-quality options as a fundamental part of the choice program. That broad base of support has prevented efforts to overturn or undermine educational choice. Florida is the state we point to and say, “If you do this well, you won’t have to spend a lot of energy protecting the programs you passed. As your programs gain popularity, you can build and enhance them in a major way.”
PHILANTHROPY: Anywhere else?
MRS. DEVOS: We’ve seen major advances recently in Louisiana and Indiana. Those two states passed programs that, between the two of them, have the potential to serve nearly one million students every year. Now, we know not all of those million eligible students are going to take advantage of the programs, but the chances for widespread adoption of educational choice are very high.
We were involved in both those states for several election cycles. Those reforms came about as the result, I believe, of an increasing focus on helping get the right people elected, helping to craft good legislation, helping to get it implemented once it’s passed, and then helping students find schools once the legislation is in place. At the American Federation for Children, we work at every stage of that continu-um, which makes us unique among the national reform efforts.
That said, we believe that the only way that real education choice is going to be successfully implemented is by making it a bipartisan or a non-partisan issue. Until very recently, of course, that hasn’t been the case. Most of the Democrats have been supported by the teachers’ unions and, not surprisingly, have taken the side of the teachers’ unions. What we’ve tried to do is engage with Democrats, to make it politically safe for them to do what they know in their heart of hearts is the right thing. Education should be non-partisan.
PHILANTHROPY: Interesting that you mention the need for a bipartisan consensus in education. But when I look at the three states that you’ve mentioned by name—Florida, Louisiana, and Indiana—I immediately think of three reform-minded Republican governors.
MRS. DEVOS: I wouldn’t underestimate the growing interest in educational choice among Democratic leaders. I think we’re going to see increasing numbers of Democrats embracing educational-choice programs at a gubernatorial level. We are certainly seeing it happen at the state-legislator level. In Florida, for example, what started as a measure supported only by Republicans has now become a movement with significant Democratic support. The same thing is happening in Louisiana. In both legislative chambers, the sponsors of the latest educational-choice bill were Democrats. And we enjoyed that broad bipartisan support precisely because of the long, steady grassroots efforts, spanning several election cycles, from 2003 onward.
PHILANTHROPY: Speaking of grassroots, let me ask you: What works? Are there a few concrete examples of really effective practices?
MRS. DEVOS: Oh, yes. I don’t want to get too deep into the weeds, but here’s an episode that may be revealing. Back in 2008, in Louisiana, the state’s Department of Education was clearly opposed to implementing the new pilot voucher program that Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer | Excellence in Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/6/16


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/6/16

Featured Post


Another Education Blog Sells Out - Big Education Ape for Sale!




It’s time to restructure the US Department of Education | Seattle Education
It’s time to restructure the US Department of Education | Seattle Education : It’s time to restructure the US Department of Education The structure of the USDOE as of 2013 and now with 5,000 employees. Two of our constitutional amendments played an important role in public education. In 1791, the 10th Amendment stated, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohib
To my Milwaukee friends and readers. | Fred Klonsky
To my Milwaukee friends and readers. | Fred Klonsky : To my Milwaukee friends and readers. To my Milwaukee friends and readers. | Fred Klonsky :
Shishi Rose: "White women do not get to speak over Black women when we discuss the divide." - SF Public School Mom
Shishi Rose: "White women do not get to speak over Black women when we discuss the divide." - SF Public School MomSF Public School Mom : Shishi Rose: “White women do not get to speak over Black women when we discuss the divide.” Each day, I see calls to normalize a Trump presidency while he attempts to stack the Executive Office with cabinet members such as white nationalist, Steve Bannon , and p
Five Questions You Should Ask about Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy Devos – Cloaking Inequity
Five Questions You Should Ask about Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy Devos – Cloaking Inequity : Five Questions You Should Ask about Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy Devos The election of Donald Trump, and his subsequent nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education, may turn the tide in favor of private control of public education. The President-elect promised during his campaign
New Legislation to Promote Media Arts Education - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education)
New Legislation to Promote Media Arts Education - Year 2016 (CA Dept of Education) : State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Supports New Legislation to Promote Media Arts Education SACRAMENTO— Legislation introduced Monday will help California showcase its role as a world leader by improving media arts education so students will be better prepared for jobs in movies, animation, video games, virtual re
What Diane Ravitch Means To Me | gadflyonthewallblog
What Diane Ravitch Means To Me | gadflyonthewallblog : What Diane Ravitch Means To Me Am I crazy? That’s what many of us had been wondering before we read Diane Ravitch. As teachers, parents and students, we noticed there was something terribly wrong with our national education policy. The Emperor has no clothes, but no one dared speak up. Until Diane Ravitch. We were told our public schools are
Mark Zuckerberg: We will not be able to Stop Fake Education News on Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg: We will not be able to Stop Fake Education News on Facebook Zuckerberg cites the following reasons:
CURMUDGUCATION: Write Your Own PISA Post
CURMUDGUCATION: Write Your Own PISA Post : Write Your Own PISA Post I actually considered a Reaction to PISA Scores post and then decided that I didn't have the heart for this annual exercise in futility, and wiser heads than mine were already on the case. So instead, I'll let you take this little quiz (in, of course, multiple choice form) and in the process create a Choose Your Own Madlibs Fake
School funding and welfare: How low can Oklahoma go? - NonDoc
School funding and welfare: How low can Oklahoma go? - NonDoc : School funding and welfare: How low can Oklahoma go? O klahoma’s growing failures in school funding and social welfare were recently showcased across two in-depth National Public Radio reports. Both are warnings to the rest of the country, revealing what happens when states take the route pioneered by Kansas, Michigan and Oklahoma, a
The Blaine Game | Blue Cereal Education
The Blaine Game | Blue Cereal Education : The Blaine Game Way back in 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant called for a Constitutional amendment that would mandate free public schools and prohibit the use of public money for “sectarian” purposes. The idea of free public schools wasn’t new, but neither was it universal. And it wasn’t unheard of for various state governments to support education provid
Audit finds 99 percent of teacher evaluations were inaccurate or incomplete
Audit finds 99 percent of teacher evaluations were inaccurate or incomplete : AUDIT FINDS 99 PERCENT OF TEACHER EVALUATIONS WERE INACCURATE OR INCOMPLETE An independent education research group found that 99 percent of Idaho teacher evaluations reviewed in an audit were completed incorrectly — and sometimes illegally. Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra’s State Department of Educat
ACLU criticizes S.D. elementary school for forcing students to plank - The San Diego Union-Tribune
ACLU criticizes S.D. elementary school for forcing students to plank - The San Diego Union-Tribune : ACLU criticizes S.D. elementary school for forcing students to plank Horton Elementary School in southeastern San Diego has come under fire for disciplining students for misbehavior by forcing them to hold a plank position on a hot blacktop surface, which the ACLU said amounts to corporal punishme
These San Francisco High School Students Are Recruiting Teachers To Resist Trump | Fast Company
These San Francisco High School Students Are Recruiting Teachers To Resist Trump | Fast Company | Business + Innovation : These San Francisco High School Students Are Recruiting Teachers To Resist Trump Alarmed by Trump's win, students at one predominantly black and Latino school are teaching adults a few things about social-media activism. Sixteen-year-old Brianna Carreno dreams of being a nurse
Boston Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Trump | NECN
Boston Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Trump | NECN : Boston Students Walk Out of Class to Protest Trump Nearly 300 Boston students walked out of their classes Monday afternoon to march to the Massachusetts State House and Boston's City Hall in their protest against Donald Trump's election. The walk-out started just after 1 p.m. on the Boston Common, where students gathered. Student organiz
Pussy Riot member warns: ‘When Putin came to power, everybody was thinking that it will be OK’
Pussy Riot member warns: ‘When Putin came to power, everybody was thinking that it will be OK’ : Pussy Riot member warns: ‘When Putin came to power, everybody was thinking that it will be OK’ Nadya Tolokonnikova — the Russian artist, activist and Pussy Riot member — warned Americans not to grow complacent after the election of Donald Trump, who she said has the power to reshape political norms to
Youth aren’t props — they need an actual seat at the policy table - The Hechinger Report
Youth aren’t props — they need an actual seat at the policy table - The Hechinger Report : Youth aren’t props — they need an actual seat at the policy table School discipline ranks high among concerns Just one-third of students rate their school culture positively, according to data released this week by the San Francisco-based nonprofit YouthTruth Student. The stat wouldn’t make for a good consu
Colleges face a new reality, as the number of high schools graduates will decline - The Hechinger Report
Colleges face a new reality, as the number of high schools graduates will decline - The Hechinger Report : Colleges face a new reality, as the number of high schools graduates will decline An increase in low-income and minority-group students will challenge colleges to serve them better The nation’s colleges and universities will soon face a demographic reckoning: A new report projects that the t
DeVos Would Be First Ed. Sec. Who Hasn't Been a Public School Parent or Student - Politics K-12 - Education Week
DeVos Would Be First Ed. Sec. Who Hasn't Been a Public School Parent or Student - Politics K-12 - Education Week : DeVos Would Be First Ed. Sec. Who Hasn't Been a Public School Parent or Student President-elect Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, would be the first person to head the department in its more than 35-year history who hasn't either attended public schools or sen
Why it's important to talk about successful black and Latino boys - LA Times
Why it's important to talk about successful black and Latino boys - LA Times : Why it's important to talk about successful black and Latino boys While Chukwuagoziem Uzoegwu was growing up, his mother often would throw what he and his brothers called “educational tantrums.” On those weekends or on random days in the long stretch of summer vacation, the Uzoegwu boys would be barred from TV “from su
Meditation Instead of Detention: Misbehavior As Learning Opportunity Rather Than a Punishment Trigger - Education Law Prof Blog
Education Law Prof Blog : Meditation Instead of Detention: Misbehavior As Learning Opportunity Rather Than a Punishment Trigger Robert Coleman Elementary School's shift from detention to meditation has been creating a lot of buzz since the media covered the story early this fall. In late September, the school reported that it had yet to suspend a single student, attributing the fact to the increa
Resisting Fatalism in Post-Truth Trumplandia: Charter Schools and the End of Accountability | the becoming radical
Resisting Fatalism in Post-Truth Trumplandia: Charter Schools and the End of Accountability | the becoming radical : Resisting Fatalism in Post-Truth Trumplandia: Charter Schools and the End of Accountability Bill asks Mike Campbell how Mike goes bankrupt, and Mike answers: “‘Two ways….Gradually and then suddenly.'” This conversation in Ernest Hemingway’s sparse dramatization of the Lost Generati
America's Math Scores Are Getting Worse | The Huffington Post
America's Math Scores Are Getting Worse | The Huffington Post : America’s Math Scores Are Getting Worse New international test results show that American scores have either stagnated or slipped. When it comes to literacy in math, science and reading, American teens are far from top performers, according to new results from an international exam released Tuesday. American teens posted uninspiring
Russ on Reading: The Mis-measure of Schools and School Children
Russ on Reading: The Mis-measure of Schools and School Children : The Mis-measure of Schools and School Children Currently, at least 14 states grade their public schools on an A-F scale. Educators are correct to point out that this is a stupid way to hold schools accountable. Three reasons pop out right away when we think about the idiocy of giving schools a letter grade and then publicizing this
ECOT Tries to Hold On to Over $60 Million in Tax Dollars It Collected for Phantom Students | janresseger
ECOT Tries to Hold On to Over $60 Million in Tax Dollars It Collected for Phantom Students | janresseger : ECOT Tries to Hold On to Over $60 Million in Tax Dollars It Collected for Phantom Students The Ohio legislature is in the midst of its lame duck session—the opportunity for lawmakers to do something about the outrageous scam at the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT). And today, accordin
NAACP moves ahead with its call for moratorium on charter schools - The Washington Post
NAACP moves ahead with its call for moratorium on charter schools - The Washington Post : NAACP moves ahead with its call for moratorium on charter schools Attendees listen to Hillary Clinton speak at the NAACP annual convention at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati on Monday, July 18, 2016. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Leaders of the NAACP, the oldest civil rights orga
SKrashen: "Failing" schools, poverty and libraries
SKrashen: "Failing" schools, poverty and libraries : "Failing" schools, poverty and libraries S.Krashen: www. sdkrashen.com; twitter = skrashen; skrashen.blogspot.com Presentation at Budget, Facilities and Audit Committee, Board of Education, LAUSD December 6, 2016 "Failing" schools, poverty, and libraries: "We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding th
Nevada Vouchers and More: Making Public Funds Private | deutsch29
Nevada Vouchers and More: Making Public Funds Private | deutsch29 : Nevada Vouchers and More: Making Public Funds Private On September 29, 2016, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a permanent injunction against the state’s voucher, program, called the Education Savings Account (ESA) Program, also known as SB 302 . What is interesting about the ruling is that the Court did not find that the ESA Progr
Christmas spirit at a Newark charter school–the children will “suffer” |
Christmas spirit at a Newark charter school–the children will “suffer” | : Christmas spirit at a Newark charter school–the children will “suffer” The Gray Charter School in Newark has warned its students they face punishment, including reductions in their academic grades, if they do not attend and participate in a school-sponsored holiday program scheduled off-campus at night and bring at least o
CURMUDGUCATION: Kindergrinder Toxicity
CURMUDGUCATION: Kindergrinder Toxicity : Kindergrinder Toxicity The LA Times last week ran this story aimed directly at the feels. It's the tragic cautionary tale of a poor little five year old who arrived at kindergarten only to discover that she was already behind. At a kindergarten screening two months before her first day, she happily chattered about her dog Toodles, her favorite color pink,
Rural America in the Crosshairs: A New Frontier for Profiteers - The Crucial Voice of the People
Rural America in the Crosshairs: A New Frontier for Profiteers - The Crucial Voice of the PeopleThe Crucial Voice of the People : Rural America in the Crosshairs: A New Frontier for Profiteers This is my plea to rural America and to all the people who carried Mr. Trump into the White House. Please remember your power and use it well. Don’t let corporate interests ruin our American small-town way
“Schools Matter” on Democrats’ Public School Betrayal | GFBrandenburg's Blog
“Schools Matter” on Democrats’ Public School Betrayal | GFBrandenburg's Blog : “Schools Matter” on Democrats’ Public School Betrayal Jim Horn (I think) here excoriates the heads of the AFT, NEA and Diane Ravitch for helping sell out public school students, their families and their teachers to the corporate and financial oligarchs. Is he going to far? I know for a fact that Randi Weingarten is pla

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/5/16
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 12/5/16 Featured Post Teach For America in Charlotte: Making segregated schools work | The Charlotte Observer Blaming teachers. I am a “negative demographic change.” I ain’t dead yet. | Fred 

Top Posts This Week