Who Is Betsy DeVos?
“Any career staffer at the Department of Education, for example, could have protected her from what was arguably her biggest gaffe: In February, she called the nation’s historically black colleges and universities exemplars of ‘school choice’ — as if she didn’t know that HBCUs owe their existence to the fact that when it came to higher education, the Americans whose ancestors had been slaves didn’t have any choices at all. ‘Any career employee who saw that statement beforehand would have raised their hand and said, ‘Madam Secretary, no,’’ says David Bergeron, a fellow at the Center for American Progress, who worked at the department for 35 years. ‘Either they didn’t see it before she gave it or they weren’t listened to. My assumption is that they didn’t see it.’ (A ED spokesperson says, ‘More often than not press statements are being written by career staff.’)”