Happy Anniversary, Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos was sworn in a year ago this month as President Trump’s secretary of education, following Senate approval by the narrowest of margins. Alyson Klein of Education Week reflects on DeVos’ first year and discusses how the secretary’s policy priorities are evolving, along with her comfort level in her first job in public education.  Klein also shares a glimpse of how teachers and education leaders rate DeVos’ job performance in a new Education Week poll. What’s been DeVos’ impact so far on K-12 education, from advocating school choice to handling students’ civil rights protections and steering the federal Every Student Succeeds Act? Will she stick with her job for four years (or more)? And what’s ahead on the K-12 policy agenda for DeVos,as the nation prepares for a potentially bruising midterm election season?

This is the first of a two-part special episode. Part Two, focused on higher  education policy in the first year of DeVos’ tenure, will be available Feb. 21.