The Senate has confirmed school choice activist Betsy DeVos as Education secretary, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.

The Senate historian says it was the first time a vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nomination.

Two Republicans joined Democrats Tuesday to vote to derail DeVos’ nomination. Democrats cited her lack of public school experience and financial interests in organizations pushing charter schools. DeVos has said she would divest herself from those organizations. </s> The Senate has confirmed Betsy DeVos as Donald Trump’s secretary of education, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.

Lawmakers were split right down the middle to confirm DeVos, which forced Pence to step in.

This was the first time a vice president has had to break a tie on a Cabinet nomination, according to the Senate historian.

Democrats pushed hard against DeVos, citing her lack of public school experience and her involvement with charter schools.

Two Republicans voted against DeVos; Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Read more on the confirmation vote here. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed school choice activist Betsy DeVos as Education secretary, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.

The Senate historian says it was the first time a vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nomination.

Two Republicans joined Democrats Tuesday to vote to derail DeVos’ nomination. Democrats cited her lack of public school experience and financial interests in organizations pushing charter schools. DeVos has said she would divest herself from those organizations.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fear that DeVos’ focus on charter schools will undermine remote public schools in their states.

In an earlier tweet, President Donald Trump wrote “Betsy DeVos is a reformer, and she is going to be a great Education Sec. for our kids!” </s> The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Betsy DeVos as Education secretary, needing an unprecedented tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence to push through the divisive nomination.

The Senate vote on President Donald Trump's choice ended in a 50-50 tie. Pence then became the first vice president to break a Senate stalemate in a Cabinet confirmation vote. Republicans hold 52 seats in the chamber, but two moderate GOP senators voted against DeVos amid a flurry of constituent complaints, forcing the move.

Democrats protested DeVos on the Senate floor through the night in a last-minute bid to block confirmation, following demonstrations from teachers around the country. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only Senate Republicans to oppose DeVos. Democrats needed one more defector to block the nomination.



DeVos is the wife of, Richard Marvin DeVos Jr., whose billionaire father co-founded Amway.

While the vote was largely along party lines, school choice, which DeVos backs, enjoys support in red and blue states. Critics have raised concerns that she could undermine public schools, which many senators said she did not understand after her confirmation hearing. </s> On Tuesday, Betsy DeVos was officially confirmed as Secretary of Education after Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking Senate vote. It was a historic vote, as it was the first time a cabinet approval needed the vice president to break a tie, and two Republicans crossed party lines to vote against her.

DeVos’ eventual confirmation had a rocky road, as many questioned her credentials heading into the Senate vote. She didn’t instill much confidence in her qualifications, as she had trouble addressing standard education policies during her confirmation hearing and is an infamous proponent of charter schools. And let us not forget her support of guns in schools, which she illustrated by using the example of a school being attacked by bears. In addition, she also may have plagiarized some answers to a Senate questionnaire, so her tenure is not off to a solid start.

Despite half of the Senate’s reservations and an all-night filibuster, the final vote came down to a 50-50 vote tie. It should be noted Republicans held a 52-48 majority in the Senate, but two Republicans (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski) crossed party lines to vote against DeVos. Per the constitution, Pence was brought in to break the tie and voted in her favor. DeVos’ confirmation brings up more questions regarding Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments, as qualifications of some are still being challenged. </s> In this Jan. 17, 201 photo, Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Devos by the narrowest possible margin, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie, despite a last-ditch effort by Democrats to sink the nomination. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) </s> U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped wealthy Republican donor and school choice advocate Betsy DeVos to lead the U.S. Education Department, a post she has accepted, according to media reports on Wednesday.

DeVos, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, met with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Saturday and discussed "the Common Core mission, and setting higher national standards and promoting the growth of school choice across the nation," according to a Trump transition team statement. </s> By the narrowest of margins, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Betsy DeVos to be the nation’s new education secretary.

A 50-50 deadlock over her confirmation was broken by Vice President Mike Pence, who became the first vice president ever to cast a tie-breaking vote for a Cabinet nominee.

The vote to confirm DeVos came after Senate Democrats staged an all-night Senate talkathon Monday evening, a tactic to draw attention to their opposition to the Michigan billionaire who has no experience working, attending or volunteering at a public school.

DeVos becomes the sixth Cabinet appointment of President Donald Trump’s to be confirmed.

Pence was needed to break the tie after two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, announced their opposition to DeVos last week. The rural state Republicans said DeVos lacked the experience to understand “the challenges” facing public schools.

Democrats’ unified opposition to DeVos came after a nomination hearing at which critics said she failed to demonstrate a deep understanding of education philosophy.

Just before 10 p.m. Monday, an exasperated Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, recalled on the Senate floor his exchange with DeVos during the hearing last month, at which he asked whether she was partial to an educational philosophy in which children are measured on growth within the academic year or on proficiency of a grade level.

“She had no idea what I was talking about,” Franken said. “I can’t overstate how central this issue is to education.”

Clips from the hearing that circulated on social media further mobilized opposition to DeVos. While she was one of the eight Cabinet nominees against whom Democrats originally said they would mount an opposition campaign, the public fury over DeVos surprised even them.

Supported by liberal groups and local Democratic parties, calls flooded into Senate offices, jamming phone lines, pressuring Democrats to fight her nomination and urging Republicans to oppose her.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, said that most of the calls she’s receiving are about DeVos and that 90 percent are in opposition. And Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, has received more than 100,000 calls opposed to DeVos, more on one topic than he’s had since he entered the Senate in 2007, according to a Democratic aide.

In addition, rallies have been organized at Senate district offices around the country. Such pressure successfully influenced Murkowksi.

Democrats have also expressed concern that DeVos is philosophically opposed to public schools — and her business ties raise questions about conflicts of interest. She has personally invested in private and charter schools and has been an outspoken advocate on both.

While they couldn’t stop her confirmation, Democrats did make it as painful as possible. And they plan to use a similar delay tactic for more nominees, including for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, to be attorney general. The Senate is expected to move to his confirmation next.

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 DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary, VP Pence Casts Historic Vote 2:00

 By the narrowest of margins, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Betsy DeVos to be the nation’s new education secretary.

A 50-50 deadlock over her confirmation was broken by Vice President Mike Pence, who became the first vice president ever to cast a tie-breaking vote for a Cabinet nominee.

The vote to confirm DeVos came after Senate Democrats staged an all-night Senate talkathon Monday evening, a tactic to draw attention to their opposition to the Michigan billionaire who has no experience working, attending or volunteering at a public school.

DeVos becomes the sixth Cabinet appointment of President Donald Trump’s to be confirmed.

Play Betsy DeVos Sworn In as Education Secretary Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed

 Betsy DeVos Sworn In as Education Secretary 1:45

 Pence was needed to break the tie after two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, announced their opposition to DeVos last week. The rural state Republicans said DeVos lacked the experience to understand “the challenges” facing public schools.

Democrats’ unified opposition to DeVos came after a nomination hearing at which critics said she failed to demonstrate a deep understanding of education philosophy.

Related: Why Betsy DeVos Is Riling Up Education Advocates

Just before 10 p.m. Monday, an exasperated Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, recalled on the Senate floor his exchange with DeVos during the hearing last month, at which he asked whether she was partial to an educational philosophy in which children are measured on growth within the academic year or on proficiency of a grade level.

“She had no idea what I was talking about,” Franken said. “I can’t overstate how central this issue is to education.”

Play VP Pence Breaks Senate Tie to Confirm Betsy DeVos Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed

 VP Pence Breaks Senate Tie to Confirm Betsy DeVos 0:58

 Clips from the hearing that circulated on social media further mobilized opposition to DeVos. While she was one of the eight Cabinet nominees against whom Democrats originally said they would mount an opposition campaign, the public fury over DeVos surprised even them.

Supported by liberal groups and local Democratic parties, calls flooded into Senate offices, jamming phone lines, pressuring Democrats to fight her nomination and urging Republicans to oppose her.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, said that most of the calls she’s receiving are about DeVos and that 90 percent are in opposition. And Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, has received more than 100,000 calls opposed to DeVos, more on one topic than he’s had since he entered the Senate in 2007, according to a Democratic aide.

In addition, rallies have been organized at Senate district offices around the country. Such pressure successfully influenced Murkowksi.

Democrats have also expressed concern that DeVos is philosophically opposed to public schools — and her business ties raise questions about conflicts of interest. She has personally invested in private and charter schools and has been an outspoken advocate on both.

Play Democrats Take to Senate Floor to Protest Betsy DeVos Nomination Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed

 Democrats Take to Senate Floor to Protest Betsy DeVos Nomination 2:15

 While they couldn’t stop her confirmation, Democrats did make it as painful as possible. And they plan to use a similar delay tactic for more nominees, including for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, to be attorney general. The Senate is expected to move to his confirmation next.

The strategy allows time to mount public opposition but also to use up valuable floor time that will backlog legislation that Republicans and the Trump administration wish to pass this year, including health care reform.

Republicans plan on votes to confirm treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin and Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, to be secretary of health and human services. The Democrats’ strategy could force a vote on Mnuchin into Saturday morning, a day of the week the Senate rarely works.

Republicans have sharply criticized the Democratic tactic. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it “juvenile,” and Collins said it’s “not really fair.”

“I don’t really understand the point of their tactics. It’s not going to have an influence on the final vote,” she said specifically of Democrats’ delay of DeVos. </s> President-elect Donald Trump calls out to the media as he and Betsy DeVos pose for photographs at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP)

Lansing — President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he intends to appoint west Michigan GOP mega donor and philanthropist Betsy DeVos to be his education secretary, putting an ardent supporter of school choice in charge of the nation’s education policy.

DeVos, 58, is seen as a national leader in the school choice movement, which she has called an attempt to “empower” parents to find good schools for their children, whether they be traditional public schools in other neighborhoods, charter schools, virtual schools or private institutions.

“Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate,” Trump said Wednesday in a statement. “Under her leadership, we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.”

Trump’s appointment of DeVos is subject to confirmation by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.

On Tuesday, former Washington, D.C., school chancellor Michelle Rhee took herself out of the running for education secretary, clearing the path for DeVos’ appointment.

In a statement, DeVos said she was honored to help Trump “make American education great again” — a play on Trump’s campaign slogan.

“The status quo in education is not acceptable,” DeVos said. “Together, we can work to make transformational change that ensures every student in America has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential.”

Trump’s decision to have DeVos run the U.S. Department of Education comes four days after she met with the president-elect and Vice President-elect Mike Pence at Trump’s golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey.

At that meeting, Trump, Pence and DeVos discussed Common Core and “setting higher national standards and promoting the growth of school choice across the nation,” according to a statement released Saturday from Trump’s transition team.

DeVos is part of multiple groups that have offered support for the controversial Common Core state curriculum standards. But her views on the subject are less than clear.

DeVos pushed back Wednesday on conclusions some conservative activists and journalists have drawn that she supports Common Core.

"Have organizations that I have been a part of supported Common Core? Of course. But that’s not my position," DeVos wrote on her personal website. "Sometimes it’s not just students who need to do their homework."

Trump has vowed to get rid of the standards, calling them a “disaster” and saying the education curriculum “has to be local.” During the GOP primaries, Trump suggested he might get rid of the Department of Education altogether.

DeVos is chair of the American Federation for Children, a Washington, D.C.-based single-issue organization devoted to expanding school of choice options across the country.

Speaking in July during a school choice forum at the Republican National Convention in Ohio, DeVos accused teachers unions of holding back innovation in education and called them “a formidable foe” at both state and national levels.

In Michigan, DeVos sits on the board of the Great Lakes Education Project, which has operated as her influential family’s school choice advocacy arm in Lansing. For the past 14 years, the group has been actively advocating its education reform agenda in both the Capitol and state House and Senate elections, particularly Republican primaries.

The Great Lakes Education Project, known as GLEP, was instrumental earlier this year in getting the Michigan Legislature to abandon a plan to create a citywide commission in Detroit to regulate the opening and closure of charter schools.

DeVos is a former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman whose husband, Dick, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006.

The DeVos family, heirs to the Amway Corp. fortune, are the most prolific donors to the Michigan Republican Party, GOP officeholders and candidates.

During the presidential campaign, Betsy and Dick DeVos never publicly supported Trump, although other members of DeVos clan donated $245,000 to a fund to help elect Trump and other Republican candidates.

In 2000, Betsy and Dick DeVos funded an unsuccessful statewide ballot initiative to amend the state Constitution to allow tax dollars to be used for private school tuition through education vouchers. They have since advocated for school vouchers in other states.

In 2012, Dick DeVos led the charge in getting the Legislature to make Michigan a right-to-work state, eliminating work rules that made financial support of unions a condition of employment for teachers in public schools.

The DeVoses founded their own charter high school, the West Michigan Aviation Academy, located on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

Gov. Rick Snyder weighed in Wednesday in a statement, saying Betsy DeVos “will mean great things for Michigan.”

“Betsy’s appointment will mean great things for Michigan and for children around the nation as she takes her no-nonsense commitment to empowering parents to the highest levels in Washington,” Snyder said. “I am also very pleased to see President-elect Trump has selected my fellow governor, Nikki Haley, to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. She has been an excellent governor, and I wish her luck in her new role.”

Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah said of the announcement: “It’s good to have someone from Michigan in this critical role. We believe she will be an advocate for high academic standards and accountability.”

Lou Glazer, president of the nonpartisan Michigan Future Inc., said when he thinks about education, he assesses leaders based on whether they care about quality education for all children and if they are in favor of high-bar standards.

“On both of those things she has been, from what I know, she has been really good. She cares about quality urban education both here and nationally, and she is in favor of high standards,” Glazer said.

However, when it comes to unions and charter schools, DeVos is viewed as partisan, Glazer said.

“People have told me nationally she has been supportive of charter school organizations that are in favor of high standards, but here in Michigan when she got involved she was viewed as the reason the Legislature did not pass the (Detroit education) commission.

“She used her economic clout to have an open marketplace rather than the commission, which would have a way to assess whether charters are quality or not,” Glazer said.

Tonya Allen, president and CEO of the Skillman Foundation, and co-chair of Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, said on Wednesday that she is extraordinarily happy for DeVos and is grateful she is a supporter of Common Core.

“We have to focus on setting consistent standards so every child in our country, whether rural or suburban, will be able to compete nationally,” Allen said.

Allen said she and DeVos may disagree on policy issues, but DeVos has a set of values to improve education.

For DeVos to improve the national education system, the focus has to be reform and education restoration, Allen said.

“We need to be investing in and supporting the systems that we’ve already built. I hope she would do both of those things and not just be a disruptor,” Allen said.

While DeVos disagreed with the commission, Allen said ideology should not trump practical solutions for education.

“My challenge to her would be now that you have this federal authority, how will you bring practical solutions that benefit all children?” Allen said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland Township, also lauded DeVos in a statement Wednesday. He said she has “been at the forefront of the effort to ensure every child in America has access to a quality education no matter their zip code,” and said DeVos will “disrupt business as usual in Washington.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also praised DeVos as an “outstanding pick for Secretary of Education.”

Bush said “she has a long and distinguished history championing the right of all parents to choose schools that best ensure their children’s success. Her allegiance is to families, particularly those struggling at the bottom of the economic ladder, not to an outdated public education model that has failed them from one generation to the next.”

The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, gave a $3 million no-interest loan to the school in tax year 2014, according to IRS records. Their Grand Rapids-based Windquest Group private investment firm also lists the school in its portfolio.

The family foundation reported a $55.7 million balance in 2014, the most recent filing available, including various investments with a fair-market value of $51.7 million.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, the state charter school association, said DeVos has been on the front lines of education policy in Michigan and nationally for almost 30 years.

“This is a great day for Michigan, and it’s an especially great day for the nation’s children,” Quisenberry said. “Betsy DeVos has been a champion for school children for decades, always putting their needs ahead of everything else.”

Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association, meanwhile, issued a statement saying DeVos has done more to undermine public education than support students.

“She has lobbied for failed schemes, like vouchers — which take away funding and local control from our public schools — to fund private schools at taxpayers’ expense. These schemes do nothing to help our most-vulnerable students while they ignore or exacerbate glaring opportunity gaps,” Garcia said.

DeVos has consistently pushed a corporate agenda to privatize, de-professionalize and impose cookie-cutter solutions to public education, Garcia said.

“By nominating Betsy DeVos, the Trump administration has demonstrated just how out of touch it is with what works best for students, parents, educators and communities,” she said.

David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers in Michigan, called the intended appointment “devastating for public education” because DeVos has devoted her career to “undercutting” public education by advocating for private charter schools.

Hecker said he feels “bad that now the remaining 49 states” will have their education policy influenced by someone intent on enriching those in the private charter school industry.

“She wants her million and billionaire friends to profit off of childhood education,” Hecker said.

The Michigan Democratic Party also criticized the intended appointment in a statement Wednesday.

The party’s chairman, Brandon Dillon, said DeVos is someone “who has made it her life’s work to channel her family’s massive wealth toward destroying Michigan’s public education system, and now she’s about to oversee the policy and direction of education for the entire United States.

“She has consistently encouraged and enabled attacks on public school teachers and our children’s right to a quality public education, to line the pockets of corporate charter school investors and make her family’s extremely conservative views part of a mainstream curriculum.”

clivengood@detroitnews.com

(517) 371-3661

Twitter: @ChadLivengood

Staff Writer Jennifer Chambers contributed.

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The U.S. Senate confirms, via Vice President Mike Pence's unprecedented tie-breaking vote, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.