It appears that Betsy DeVos’ controversial position as President Trump’s Education Secretary, has stumped the residents of western Michigan. They know her in a different light through her associations with their state. She was known as being generous and pragmatic, even by those who disagreed with her political views and her dedication to charter schools. However, in her present position she is viewed as insulated, unprepared and tone deaf, as described in interviews held by those who know her and her family, and are familiar with her work in that region of their state.
Betsy DeVos was born into the wealthy Prince family in 1958, in a community that was largely Dutch and located near the shores of Lake Michigan. In Holland Michigan, DeVos was raised in the Christian Reformed Church, and attended a Christian school, Calvin College, near Grand Rapids. Ms. DeVos married Dick DeVos after college, who ran for governor ten years ago, and whose family were co-founders of Amway.
The couple now have four grown children and recently celebrated their anniversary. Returning to Grand Rapids, they had a private celebration with friends. Throughout the years, the billionaire DeVos couple has generously contributed to a variety of political and religious concerns. Betsy DeVos alone, has encouraged the expansion of charter schools and allowed the use of vouchers for for public funds to be used by students to pay for private, and on occasion, religious education.
The educational convictions of Ms. DeVos come as no surprise to her hometown and their religious, cultural and ethnic affiliations to the Netherlands. In the late 1800s, a debate was sparked concerning public education in the Netherlands, as liberal politicians back then were encouraging an increase in secular public schools. It was argued that schools of religion did not deserve the same funding as public schools. While this angered both Catholic and Reformed groups, it prompted a long and debatable campaign concerning school choice.
A book written by several scholars of Calvin and Pepperdine Unuversities, “The Challenge of Pluralism”, conceptualized the issue this way: “religiously based schools of various types and public schools espousing a ‘neutral,’ consensual philosophy all sharing fully and equally in public funding.” A theologian who influenced Calvin College significantly, Abraham Kuyper, held this belief and it still stands in modern day Dutch society.
Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration, it appears, endorses this idea. While critics view this issue as violating a commitment to separate church and state, there are others who see the book’s point-of-view that states, “It is on the basis of equal treatment—of making funds available neutrally for all types of religious and secular schools alike—that funding of religious schools and church-state separation are seen as being compatible.”
With its version of school choice, the Netherlands is following up with regulation. Teacher training requirements, and a national curriculum framework are included in this regulation. As far as Ms. DeVos, critics have taken note of her opposition to the regulation and felt as though her view actually contributed to the discimation of the process of public education. By opposing regulation and being widely supportive of vouchers, Ms. DeVos was placed at odds with supporters of school choice. They include chartered co-founder John King and the former education Secretary. They condone some choice, but with strict monitoring.