Betsy DeVos has taken the Education sector by storm as opinions of whether she should be Education Secretary divided the nation. There were several protests about the possibility that she may be leading the department.
NPR reported that Betsy DeVos was confirmed by the Senate as the Education Secretary for President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday last week. This came after the proposal got a 51-50 vote in favor of the Michigan philanthropist, with Vice-President Mike Pence having to cast a tie-breaking vote.
She was described by The New York Times as a "wealthy Republican donor with almost no experience in public education." Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has expressed her concerns about Betsy DeVos especially with the fact that she has been such a supporter of charter schools and vouchers and might be unaware of how to handle the issues in public schools.
On the higher education side, as Education Secretary, it was foreseen that there are three issues that may arise during Betsy DeVos' leadership. First, it was already troubling when DeVos stated that she would "review" the gainful employment rule when she was asked by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
This is particularly worrying particularly on the side of for-profit colleges. Moreover, when Donald Trump won, the stock prices of companies running for-profit colleges saw a sharp increase and may continue to rise during his presidency.
Second, Betsy DeVos was also dismissive of the "free tuition" proposal that helped the Democrats. The third issue is about Title IX.
According to Huffington Post, one of the "most urgent priorities" for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos should be about sexual assault on college campuses. While Title IX was well-intentioned, its policies need more work since it appears to be ineffective.
Michigan Daily noted that DeVos poses a threat to Title IX since her response, when asked whether she would preserve the program, seemed ambiguous. She said that she wants to make sure that both the victim and the accused are recognized in the law but that it would be "premature" to confirm whether she will be preserving the guidance.
