Charter school advocate Betsy DeVos on Tuesday won confirmation as US secretary of education by the slimmest of margins, pushed to approval only by the historic tie-breaking vote of US Vice President Mike Pence.
Two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, joined Democrats in a marathon effort to derail the nomination of the wealthy Republican donor.
The Senate historian said Pence’s vote was the first by a vice president to break a 50-50 tie on a Cabinet nomination.
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Despite the win, DeVos has emerged bruised from the highly divisive nomination fight.
Opposed by half the Senate, she faced criticism, even ridicule for lack of experience and confusion during her confirmation hearing.
At one point, she said some schools should have guns because of the threat of grizzly bears.
There has been scathing opposition from teachers’ unions and civil rights activists over her support of charter schools and her conservative religious ideology.
US President Donald Trump accused Democrats of seeking to torpedo education progress.
In a tweet before the vote, he wrote: “Betsy DeVos is a reformer, and she is going to be a great Education Sec. for our kids!”
DeVos was sworn in just hours after the Senate vote by Pence, who told the new Cabinet member: “I wasn’t just voting for you. Having seen your devotion to improving the quality of education for some of our most vulnerable children across the nation for so many years, I was also casting a vote for America’s children.”
“I can tell you, my vote for Betsy DeVos was the easiest vote I ever cast,” Pence said.
DeVos released a statement promising to be “a tireless advocate for all students.”
“Partnering with students, parents, educators, state and local leaders, Congress and all stakeholders, we will improve education options and outcomes across America,” she said.
She now takes the helm of a department charged with implementing laws affecting the nation’s public schools with no direct experience with traditional public schools.
Her opponents said she has no experience running public schools, nor has she attended one or sent her children to one
She will also have to address several hot-button issues in higher education, such as rising tuition costs, growing student debt and the troubled for-profit colleges, many of which have closed down, leaving students with huge loans and without a good education or job prospects.
Ahead of the vote, emotions ran high as constituents jammed senators’ telephone lines. Protesters gathered outside the Capitol, including one person in a grizzly bear costume to ridicule DeVos.
Democrats and labor unions vigorously fought the nomination, suggesting that DeVos would defund traditional public schools by diverting taxpayers’ money to charter and private institutions.
They cited her financial interest in organizations pushing for charter schools, though she has said she will divest those interests.
DeVos supporters saw her confirmation as an occasion to breathe new life into a troubled US school system and a chance to shift power from Washington to the local level.
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