GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Vice President Mike Pence made history Tuesday when he broke a 50-50 tie on the Senate floor to confirm West Michigan’s Betsy DeVos as the new Secretary of Education.
Mary Bouwense, who leads the Grand Rapids Education Association, was watching the vote closely and hoping for a different outcome.
“She’s going to be heading up a department that she has no experience with,” she told 24 Hour News 8 afterward.
DeVos is a longtime supporter of school choice and charter schools. Bouwense said she’s worried about how DeVos might impact the public school system and that some kids may get left behind.
“The students that can will move or go to another school, and those that can’t will stay in the neighborhood schools that will have diminished services,” Bouwense said. “Schools are not businesses. Students are not products.”
Despite her opposition, Bouwense said there may be an unintended benefit of DeVos’ confirmation.
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