Dive Brief:

• U.S. Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, used her power as an influential Republican donor to help kill legislation that would have provided oversight of Detroit’s troubled charter sector.
• The New York Times reports a bipartisan group of Detroit leaders agreed on a bill that would set standards for opening and closing schools, not unlike those that are common in other states, but DeVos opposed the regulation, arguing it would limit school choice.
• DeVos has argued for the closure of Detroit Public Schools and its replacement with charters or a citywide voucher program, and while her supporters say she is an advocate of quality and accountability, her threat of withholding monetary support for Republican candidates who were in favor of the bill ultimately contributed to killing it.

Dive Insight:

As DeVos heads toward the confirmation process in Congress, educators and policymakers across the country are looking for clues about what she might do as the nation's top education official. She is known as an education reformer, but she has never been a teacher or run a school. Her advocacy has largely been in the form of substantial financial contributions.

DeVos’ support for charter expansion and school choice seems to align with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign trail promises to support both efforts. That could be difficult from the federal level. Existing federal dollars are limited when it comes to funding voucher programs and state charter school laws are decided by states. Still, the Obama administration was able to spur adoption of the Common Core State Standards by giving states that had done so priority in a competitive grant program so there are ways to impact state policy from Washington.