U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos – one of President Donald J. Trump’s most loyal cabinet members – resigned her position on Thursday, following transportation secretary Elaine Chao. In a letter to the president, DeVos condemned Trump supporters’ breach of the U.S. Capitol the day prior.
“We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people,” she wrote. “Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.”
Reactions from the education world were swift, and some were celebratory. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued a two-word statement:
“Good Riddance.”
That sentiment echoed across the higher education sector.
“Betsy Devos’s resignation should be a time for a sigh of relief for students, teachers, student loan borrowers,” said Dr. Kyle Southern, policy and advocacy director for higher education and workforce at the non-profit Young Invincibles. “It’s the end of the tenure of the worst secretary of education in the department’s history.”
Dr. Donna Y. Ford, a distinguished professor of education at The Ohio State University, described DeVos’s legacy as one of “benign neglect” and “educational malpractice.”
