Vice President Mike Pence yesterday cast a history-making, tie-breaking vote that confirmed as secretary of education Betsy DeVos, one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. Pence’s vote came after two Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joined a unanimous Democratic vote against DeVos, a prominent philanthropist who twice served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
DeVos admitted at her contentious nomination hearing that she has no experience in education policy or administration. But Trump has said Vos’s vision for a revamped education system is where her strength lies.
Thomas C. Pedroni, an associate professor of curriculum studies and policy sociology, and director of the Detroit Data and Democracy Project; M. Denise Baldwin, the lead voice against school closures and lead defender of public education in the State of Michigan; and Russ Bellant, an expert on the DeVos family and the religious far right, explain the looming consequences of DeVos’s appointment as secretary of education.