By Gabriella Garcia
Betsy Devos has served as the Secretary of Education since her appointment by President Donald Trump in 2017. Now, as the Trump administration reaches its end following the 2020 presidential election (which resulted in a win for Joe Biden), citizens are curious who will take her place.
Originally, many questioned her qualifications for the job not only because of her financially privileged background but also because of her performance during her confirmation hearing. Devos was unfamiliar with some of the most important federal laws made to protect disabled and disadvantaged students and hinted at schools potentially carrying guns to protect themselves from bears.
As her term continued, Devos’ time in office was nothing short of a controversy, creating a discrepancy between her and the public as well as having many question her decisions.
For the last three years, she has been extremely critical of public education and very adamant about privatizing schools through vouchers. It seemed as though her main focus was to increase the amount of school choice programs throughout the nation and attack the public school system.
Although supporters of the voucher system claim the competition it creates among public and private schools is beneficial in the long-run, it was problematic because it emphasized the role of private schools in academia — more often than not at the expense of public schools. Its implementation would likely result in the reduction of public school funding as the vouchers are government funded.
The problem with prioritizing private schools is that they have a history of discriminating against potential students from lower and diverse socioeconomic 
backgrounds while favoring those from white and affluent ones.
The COVID-19 outbreak has also shown to have been more of an opportunity for Devos than a tragedy, as she continued to cut funding and deny students the financial support needed during desperate times.
At the height of the pandemic, she relayed federal funds initially set for COVID-19 relief to create a $180-million voucher program for private and religious schools and has ordered states to redistribute CARES Act funds to private schools. Just as schools were set to begin in the fall, Devos threatened to cut funding to public schools who did not open its doors to students. She also specifically excluded immigrant college students from receiving financial grants as part of the CARES Act.
Previous education secretaries have criticized Devos’ performance in office and she was ranked the most unpopular secretary in the Trump administration.
Although president elect Joe Biden has hinted at potential contenders for his cabinet, he has yet to formally announce who will take up these seats.
After officially winning the election earlier this week, he extended his support to educators throughout the nation and comforted them with the fact that the next person making decisions on their behalf will be an educator as well, stating, “For American educators, this is a great day for you all. You’re going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great first lady.”
Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, is a member of the National Education Association as well as an English professor.
He also has expressed his determination to overturn various policies and regulations Devos set in place, specifically her controversial decision to modify how universities process and report sexual assault cases. Early September, Biden posted to facebook a statement regarding his stance on Devos’ actions, which stated, “Sexual assault is the ultimate abuse of power, and its pernicious presence in our schools is unacceptable. Policies that do not treat this epidemic with the utmost seriousness are an insult to the lives it has damaged and the survivors who have worked so hard to make positive change.”
The next Chief of Education, along with the rest of the Cabinet, will be announced next year after Biden takes the Oval Office in January.
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And failing to provide needed services to students with disabilities.
The headline of this article made me cheer. “Betsy DeVos is out!” I called down the hall to my better half. We were both very thankful and very excited. Unfortunately, when we read the article, we realized that the headline was fake news (false advertising) and we will have to wait until 2021 to see the door hit Betsy DeVos in the can as she departs.
BTW, it’s DeVos. I was wondering if Devo had done something wrong when I read the headline…