DeLusional DeVos DeVoid of DeSmarts.

Well, I guess we can finally put the last nail in the coffin when it comes to the myth of “fiscal conservatism.” That’s just so much bullshit.

Trump’s education pick of Betsy DeVos proved that point beyond words. Oddly, it was Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska that said it best last week when she announced her opposition:

“I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of education who has been so involved in one side of the equation, so immersed in the push for vouchers, that she may be unaware of what actually is successful within the public schools, and also what is broken and how to fix them.”

Ya think? What sane person, or even Trump voter, would back putting someone in a position this important, with absolutely no experience whatsoever? For all the years DeVos opposed public schools, you'd think she would have researched the topic:

She has never run, taught in, attended or sent a child to an American public school, and her confirmation hearings laid bare her ignorance of education policy and scorn for public education itself. 

In her Senate hearing, Ms. DeVos appeared largely ignorant of challenges facing college students, as well. She indicated that she was skeptical of Education Department policies to prevent fraud by for-profit colleges — a position favored, no doubt, by Mr. Trump, who just settled a fraud case against his so-called Trump University for $25 million. It was not clear that she understood how various student loan and aid programs worked, or could distinguish between them.

(DeVos) lobbied to shut down the troubled Detroit public school system and channel the money to charter, private or religious schools, regardless of their performance. She also favors online private schools, an alternative that most leading educators reject as destructive to younger children’s need to develop peer relationships, and an industry prone to scams.

Trump voters have exposed their own scam; it's not government they hate, they hate not having power. So now they're suddenly okay with taxpayers funding religious schools and throwing money into unaccountable private black holes because anecdotal stories affirm their agenda. I remember one survey that showed parental satisfaction wasn't based on grades, which were lower, but on the feeling they did something, their kids were safer, and their child happier. Their kids didn't feel that way in the survey at all, just the opposite.  

"Choice" is just another manipulation, to appeal to every parents insecurity over doing the right thing for their kid:

"Why School Vouchers Don't Matter" by Kevin Carey in the Chronicle Review laid out what I consider one of the best arguments against voucher schools:“The D.C. voucher program does none of these things. No new schools have been built as a result, no groundbreaking programs created, competition spurred, or innovators attracted…
 …there remains the point that some parents among the lower classes do not understand educational opportunities when they are presented to them. Nor would they be able to make informed choices on their children’s behalf. For instance, just tonight I had a heated discussion with my working class mother about my nephew being admitted into a program for gifted youngsters at his public elementary school. She thought it would be a waste of time.

 Some studies suggest that a similar attitude becomes more common the lower down the economic ladder we look. To ignore this obstacle, and pretend every parent has the capacity to make the same informed decision a college- or law school-educated person can make, remains one abiding problem with the voucher system. Choice does not automatically level the playing field if the choosers have different backgrounds informing those choices.— Cassandra