BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she’s troubled by the record of Donald Trump’s choice for education secretary.
In a letter sent to Betsy DeVos on Monday, the Massachusetts Democrat said DeVos’ advocacy for school choice, charter schools and school voucher programs should raise alarm bells for supporters of public education.
Warren pointed to what she called DeVos’ “deep record of activism, bankrolling and lobbying for policies that would privatize public education” without meaningful accountability.
“Your history of support for policies that would drain valuable taxpayer resources from our public schools and funnel those funds to unaccountable private and for-profit education operators may well disqualify you from such a central role in public education,” Warren wrote.
Warren also criticized what she said was DeVos’ “paper-thin record on higher education and student debt.”
Warren said the next education secretary much continue to help those struggling with student debt and protect them from for-profit colleges offering worthless degrees.
“You have no record or stated position on these higher education issues,” Warren wrote. “In fact the very policies you have spent decades advocating for in elementary and secondary education – more free taxpayer money for private and for-profit education operators with virtually no strings attached – are the exact policies that have caused so many problems and harmed so many students in higher education.”
