US Ed Sec Betsy DeVos Endorses the ALEC System
On July 20, 2017, US ed sec Betsy DeVos addressed the lunch crowd at the Denver, Colorado, meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Her presence was withheld from ALEC’s online conference speaker listing as well as its online conference agenda.
Here are excerpts from DeVos’ opening of her speech:
It’s good to be here at ALEC, with so many friends and quality leaders shaping policy across all 50 states. …I’m no stranger to state-based advocacy….You have led the way in helping states across the nation craft innovative solutions to today’s problems: in healthcare, taxes, regulations, entitlements, and importantly, education.
What DeVos refers to as “state-based advocacy” is actually advocacy for model legislation approved by ALEC.
DeVos does not want states to do what individual states want. She wants states to pass ALEC-endorsed, model legislation– which includes vouchers, tax credit scholarships, and education savings accounts.
ALEC is the DeVos-preferred system. Sure, she plays it off as being interested in the individual child and as promoting parents-know-best-for-their-children.
But there is no parent membership to ALEC.
ALEC is DeVos’ system of choice.
ALEC has been around since 1973, but it was not until 2012 that the group’s activities became public knowledge. And ALEC liked it that way.
ALEC is a sophisticated system, one that purports to promote “states’ rights” and shuns “federal overreach,” but what ALEC really wants is to supplant any federal role with its own corporate-friendly agenda and to entice legislators to promote that US Ed Sec Betsy DeVos Endorses the ALEC System | deutsch29:
