Betsy DeVos' Staff Denies Rumor She's Leaving Education Secretary Job [View all]

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Source: Detroit Pree Press

By Todd Spangler, 3 hrs. ago.

WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says she's not going anywhere with Democrats taking control of the U.S. House in January, despite rumors to the contrary. But if she stays, her life is almost certainly going to get a whole lot tougher.

On Monday, in response to a question about rumors circulating that DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, Republican backer and former school-choice advocate in the state, might be looking at stepping down, her press secretary, Liz Hill, knocked down the suggestions.

"The rumors are just that …rumors," Hill wrote in an email to the Free Press. "The Secretary has no plans of stepping down." There is almost universal agreement, however, that DeVos — who has made only rare appearances on Capitol Hill to testify with Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress — is going to be asked a lot more questions in the future.

It also means that departmental policies on issues such as civil rights, school choice, sexual assault investigations, transgender students' access to bathrooms and student loan repayment are all going to come under close scrutiny. - More...

Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/betsy-devos-staff-denies-rumor-shes-leaving-education-secretary-job/ar-BBPDe56?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

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Frederick Hess with the American Enterprise Institute said "the Democratic House has made clear that it will be energetic about oversight. That may mean healthy, appropriate scrutiny of department business or organized harassment intended to make it harder for DeVos and her team to do their jobs. Which it is will tell us a lot about the priorities of the Democratic majority and how Dems. hope to position themselves for 2020.”

Unions for educators expect a change: after the midterm elections the National Education Association stated that the shift "will serve as an important check on President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos." The American Federation for Teachers said yesterday it is "hopeful that in a Democratic House, (expected new chairman U.S. Rep.) Bobby Scott’s committee can now exercise oversight over Betsy DeVos’ agenda."