president-elect donald trump and betsy devos. | ap photo/carolyn kaster by jessica bakeman 11/23/16 03:15 pm est tallahassee <u+2014> the next u.s. education secretary has ties to the fight over vouchers in florida. president-elect donald trump on wednesday announced his nomination of betsy devos, chair of the national pro-school choice advocacy group american federation for children, for the nation<u+2019>s top schools post. the organization has fought to preserve florida<u+2019>s voucher policies, including a 15-year-old tax-credit scholarship program that lets low-income children attend private schools. story continued below for example, the group bankrolled a massive $1 million rally in tallahassee in january. during the event, martin luther king iii, religious leaders and thousands of parents and students who benefit from the scholarships pressured florida<u+2019>s teachers<u+2019> union to drop its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the policy. american federation for children<u+2019>s vice chair is john kirtley, a tampa venture capitalist who worked with former gov. jeb bush<u+2019>s administration to create the tax-credit scholarship program in 2001. he also founded and chairs step up for students, the main organization that administers the scholarships, which are funded by donations from corporations that get a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit. kirtley chairs the affiliated florida federation for children, an electioneering communications organization, as well as a related super pac, both of which have supported pro-school choice candidates in state-level races. together, the groups and kirtley personally gave more than $1 million to state legislative candidates, mostly republicans, during the 2016 elections and were largely successful in electing them. both kirtley and bush celebrated devos<u+2019> appointment in statements on wednesday. "for more than 20 years, betsy has fought relentlessly for the right of every child <u+2014> especially disadvantaged children <u+2014> to receive a quality education of their parents<u+2019> choice,<u+201d> kirtley said. <u+201c>we are confident betsy will take the same passion, commitment and leadership she's shown in the school choice movement to the helm of the u.s. department of education." bush, who ran for president in part on his education reform record in florida and lost to trump during the brutal gop primary, called devos <u+201c>an outstanding pick.<u+201d> bush founded and chairs another pro-school choice advocacy group, the foundation for excellence in education, as well as its florida affiliate, and is the architect of the state<u+2019>s voucher programs. <u+201c>i cannot think of a more effective and passionate change agent to press for a new education vision,<u+201d> bush said. others lambasted the choice, citing her involvement in bush<u+2019>s foundation, which has championed the common core standards. <u+201c>president-elect trump rightly slammed governor jeb bush for his support of common core on the campaign trail,<u+201d> said frank cannon, president of american principles project, which opposes common core. <u+201c>betsy devos would be a very jeb-like pick. it is puzzling, then, to see reports that the trump transition team is considering an establishment, pro-common core secretary of education <u+2014> this would not qualify as <u+2018>draining the swamp<u+2019> <u+2014> and it seems to fly in the face of what trump has stated on education policy up to this point,<u+201d> cannon said. florida education officials adopted the common core standards in 2010. although tweaked and renamed under gov. rick scott, the state's academic standards are still based on and similar to the common core. the devos family also has business interests in florida. devos<u+2019> father-in-law, richard, has owned the orlando magic nba team since 1991, and her husband, dick, at one point served as the team<u+2019>s president and c.e.o. trump's nomination of devos means other candidates who had florida connections are out of the running. former education commissioners gerard robinson and tony bennett had been floated for the job . robinson serves as an education expert on trump's transition team. politico reporters caitlin emma and michael stratford contributed to this report. marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
new u.s. education secretary has ties to florida voucher fight
jessica bakeman