Betsy DeVos claims philosophy of Margaret ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher as her own - The Washington Post:
Betsy DeVos claims philosophy of Margaret ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher as her own
Yes, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos went there — and a few other places, too.
Speaking at an annual conference of a powerful conservative organization, she invoked the words of Margaret Thatcher, the late prime minister of Great Britain, who instituted tough conservative policies that supporters say helped save the British economy and foes say hurt the poor and destroyed heavy industries and communities. Thatcher became known as the “Iron Lady” for her tough policies, both domestic and foreign, and is a hero to conservatives here and abroad. (You can see DeVos’s entire speech below.)
DeVos, appearing at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), framed her keynote speech around Thatcher’s philosophy of society, saying that it was hers as well. DeVos said:
What, exactly, is education if not an investment in students?
I was reminded of something another secretary of education once said. Her name was Margaret. No, not Spellings — Thatcher. Lady Thatcher regretted that too many seem to blame all their problems on “society.” But, “who is society,” she asked. “There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families” — families, she said — “and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first.”
The Iron Lady was right then and she’s still right today.
(Margaret Thatcher was secretary of education and science under British Prime Minister Edward Heath before taking control of the Conservative Party herself.)
And that is as clear a distillation of DeVos’s philosophy of government as she has given since becoming education secretary in February after Mike Pence became the first vice president in American history to have to break a tie for the Senate to confirm a Cabinet member. To DeVos, public institutions are impediments to individuals who want freedom to access opportunities, and the traditional public education system, which has been the most important civic institution in America since its creation, is a failure that can’t be fixed.
