WASHINGTON — Although Betsy DeVos narrowly clinched the confirmation she needed Tuesday to head the U.S. Department of Education, questions about what direction she will take the agency — as well as her higher education agenda — are likely to remain unsettled until key agency posts are filled.
That is the take of several higher education stakeholders and observers who commented on her controversial ascendancy to the cabinet post Tuesday amid widespread vocal opposition and skepticism that is not likely to abate anytime soon.
“I think we’re going to be entering a period of uncertainty and change with respect to federal regulation of colleges and universities,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of governmental and public affairs at the American Council on Education.
“What I don’t know is how quickly we will see those changes simply because the political appointees are not all in place at the Department of Education.”
Hartle said he thought that the rocky rollout of the Trump administration’s travel ban on refugees would make the Education Department more circumspect about implementing any changes. In addition to sparking massive protests, the travel ban ran into legal trouble from the start and its fate is currently pending in federal court.
“One of the results of the controversial executive order on refugees and visa holders is broad appreciation of the challenges that result when implementation is mishandled, and so I think that all agencies will be looking for ways to streamline federal regulations. But I suspect they’re going to do it in a careful and thoughtful fashion so they don’t take steps that haven’t been all the way thought through,” Hartle said.
DeVos’ predecessor — former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. — said in a statement Tuesday that “concerns remain” about DeVos’ commitment to “fully embracing public education and to using the full range of tools at the Secretary’s disposal to protect and advance opportunity and achievement for low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities.”
