Many Americans are interested in the welfare of the United States. Most of these interested individuals are active in shaping the country in an attempt to ultimately improve the United States that is passed on to future generations.
Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Education Department’s 11th Secretary, has constantly done things over the past three years since her Feb. 2017 Senate confirmation to her current position to shape the state of education in the United States.
It’s true that Betsy had arrived in the nation’s capital with precisely zero days spent within any government agencies, even on a local or state level. Ms. DeVos also didn’t have much personal rapport built with U.S. President Donald Trump at the time he appointed her to the position just days after his Jan. 2017 swearing-in as POTUS.
Where Does Betsy DeVos Come From?
Betsy Prince, born in 1958, grew up in Southwestern Michigan, specifically the city of Holland, home to roughly 33,000 residents. Her parents, Elsa and Edgar Prince, had three other children; Betsy was the baby of the family.
Edgar Prince, although he wasn’t born into wealth, capitalized on the tremendous automobile manufacturing in the state of Michigan shortly after entering the workplace as a simple worker at an auto part manufacturing factory. A pair of co-workers, with the experience they’d garnered working for the factory, left their employer and collectively founded their own plant. Prince Corporation, also based in Holland, had given Betsy and family a substantial nest egg they’d go on to inherit.
Her husband Dick also came from a wealthy family, with his father Richard being responsible for co-founding Amway, a company that gleans billions of dollars in revenue annually.
Political Activism – Something Betsy Is No Stranger To
Although she hadn’t ever worked in a governmental capacity prior to her Feb. 2017 confirmation as the 11th Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos had, in fact, been an active participant in the Michigan Republican Party. Starting in 1986, Betsy had been elected as the single delegate from her local precinct of residence for the Michigan Republican Party. She’d end up being elected to that same post as a local precinct delegate for 16 straight terms.
Betsy’s Most Important Cause – Private School Vouchers
For over three consecutive decades, Betsy has tried to take taxpayer funding available to the state of Michigan and the United State alike on both a state and federal level, respectively, away from public schools to their charter counterparts.
Charter schools are independent of many government regulations, though they still receive government funding.
Betsy has also been a long-term advocate of private school vouchers. Rather than sending all young people to public school, fortunate families who win lotteries or who are selected based on financial need could win private school vouchers. Now, nearly half of the United States supports these private school vouchers in at least some capacity.
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