Betsy DeVos is my latest guest on Q&A (a podcast). To hear her, go here. She has worked in education for some 35 years: as a reformer, as a policy expert — a sometime crusader. She has been an incredibly generous philanthropist as well. I interviewed and wrote about her in 2018. For that piece, go here.
Two weeks after Election Day 2016, President-elect Trump tabbed her to be education secretary. She never expected to serve in that role. How did it come about?
As Mrs. DeVos relates in the podcast, Jeb Bush sent her an e-mail the morning after the election — planting the idea that she ought to be secretary. Mrs. DeVos had worked with Jeb Bush, and George W. Bush, for a long time. They were notable education reformers in their states — Florida and Texas — and the Texan continued to be one in Washington.
Anyway, Betsy DeVos went to Washington herself. And she has written a book about that experience — and her life, and education policy: Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child.
In our podcast, I ask her about some of the words in that title, and subtitle: “hostages,” “education freedom.” Further questions: Should there be public schools, or “government schools,” as Milton Friedman called them? Does the K–12 model need to be destroyed? Can the health of our schools be better than the health of our society in general? What about “common core”? Should all education be local — meaning that schools in San Francisco will be very different from schools in Murfreesboro?
We also discuss some specific episodes of her tenure in Washington: the controversy over Special Olympic funding; a segment — a number — that 60 Minutes did on her; and her resignation from the administration after January 6.
She has led a remarkable life, Betsy DeVos. Her father, a brilliant engineer, made a fortune. Betsy could have done almost anything. But she threw herself into the cause of education, and in particular “education freedom,” as she says — not for the sake of her own children, who were going to be fine, regardless, but for the sake of children without advantages. She has her critics, and defamers. She also has a nationful of fans by this point.
Again, to hear her in her own words — as they say in courtroom dramas — go here.