Former Trump Administration Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, long a supporter of education freedom, is also founder of the nonprofit American Federation for Children (AFC), which works to promote the expansion of school choice programs across the country. Long time school choice activist Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow with the organization, which believes education dollars should “fund students, not systems.”

Recent surveys consistently show that high percentages of Americans favor school choice, with AFC reporting that 73 percent of parents support choice programs. School closures during the pandemic alerted many parents to what was actually going on in their children’s classrooms, and the result has been a groundswell of parents’ rights efforts, from vocal participation at school board meetings to the formation of new parents’ rights groups. These activists work with state legislators in many areas to curb radical leftwing curricula and enact school choice laws.

In January of this year, EdChoice Public Opinion Tracker found that “more than 70 percent of parents support school choice policies... [such as] education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, charter schools, and open enrollment, at 74 percent, 71 percent, 70 percent, and 75 percent, respectively.” Over 7 in 10 favor school vouchers, with broad approval across all demographic groups. The downside to this survey is that it also showed that many parents who support school-choice are unaware of such policies in their states.

Organizations like DeVos’ AFC are working to change this; they support school choice activities across the country and help foster awareness. AFC’s website includes state-specific details about such programs on a comprehensive, interactive map. For example, visitors learn that in Missouri, an ESA program exists which AFC helps support with financial backing and “boots on the ground” assistance. This program enables low- and middle-income families to gain “access to great schools through private school choice.”

Currently, more than 30 states and Puerto Rico have some form of school choice available. On May 2, the Oklahoma state legislature approved final passage of the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act, sending HB 1934, or what Governor Kevin Stitt called the transformative school choice bill, to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Specifically, this legislation provides tax credits as follows:

• $7,500 per student in households earning under $75,000 annually
• $7,000 per student in households earning $75,000 - $100,000 annually
• $6,500 per student in households earning $150,000 - $225,000 annually
• $6,000 per student in households earning $225,000 - $250,000 annually
• $5,000 per student in households earning more than $250,000 annually
• $1,000 per child for parents who choose to homeschool.

Oklahoma’s school choice program is part of a total education package that the state’s House and Senate debated for months and finally approved on May 15.

In Texas, an ESA program sponsored by Texas Republicans that would provide $8,000 for most K-12 students is locked in a battle for approval. The Lone Star Standard reported that, perhaps surprisingly, this legislation is facing opposition from rural Republicans, who claim their districts can’t afford to lose students. The article referenced the Wall Street Journal Education Board (WSJ Ed. Board), which contends that the real reason for the pushback has more to do with threats “from teachers unions, who don't want any competition from other schools, even though some public schools may be failing.

“The anti-choice logic also fails to consider that ESA programs could foster a better supply of schools in coming years,” the WSJ Ed. Board continued. “Why not advocate more schools in rural areas, rather than holding back choice for everyone else across the state?”

On May 15, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for an expanded school choice law, threatening to veto limited proposals that don’t measure up. He vowed to work “around the clock with the legislature to reach that goal.” Interestingly, the AFC PAC is reported to have spent $1 million in Texas during the 2022 election cycle, doubtless in support of candidates who favor education choice.

DeVos personally funds AFC

On March 30, NBC News.com published an article about AFC’s efforts, citing its influence in supporting pro-school choice candidates to the tune of “$9 million funneled into state elections last year.” The article charges that DeVos and her husband used “at least $2.5 million of their own money in AFC’s ‘pivotal role’ in getting school choice policies passed in at least three states and introduced in several more.”

Predictably, NBC was not particularly friendly to DeVos or the organization she founded; accusing it of backing nearly 200 candidates, some of whom “are pushing a wave of legislation boosting DeVos’ longtime goal: subsidizing private schools with public dollars.” But DeVos has been a target of snarky and even vicious attacks by the Left since she served in the Trump Administration, precisely for her support of education freedom as well as her role as the former president’s education secretary.

Such assaults do not appear to have dampened her resolve to continue her efforts, which failed during her Trump years but which more recently may even be characterized as wildly successful.

“We’re doing a lot of winning — I’m almost getting tired of winning so much because we’re winning all across the country,” NBC quoted Corey DeAngelis as having posted of AFC’s successes on Twitter in March of this year.

“They’ve been quite strategic,” acknowledged Patrick Wolf, an education policy professor at the University of Arkansas. “They’ve particularly targeted rural Republicans who are opposed to school choice. They just had to take out a few marginal incumbents, and thereby put the fear of God into the rest of them.”

The consensus seems to be that many of the pro-school choice laws and policies could not have been enacted without AFC. “Each state’s political landscape is unique and subject to myriad factors,” noted NBC. “But the federation’s spending preceded a marked increase in both the scale of private school subsidies on the table at the state level and the rate at which the laws have been enacted.”

AFC plans to continue full-steam ahead with these efforts. Its website states: “The vast majority of credible evidence shows that school choice programs improve academic outcomes for not only the program participants but also the students in public schools; save taxpayers money; and reduce racial segregation. The case for school choice is overwhelming.”

Want to be notified of new Education Reporter content?
Your information will NOT be sold or shared and will ONLY be used to notify you of new content.
Click Here

Return to Home PageEducation Reporter Online - May 2023