Humphries claims that DeVos will "help schools across the nation" and put power back into the hands of students and teachers.

MADISON - Wisconsin deserves a top education official who cares about the success of all our students, not just a select few. John Humphries doesn't feel that way, so it's no surprise he applauds the confirmation of anti-public education crusader, Betsy DeVos, as Secretary of the Department of Education.

Humphries claims that DeVos will "help schools across the nation" and put power back into the hands of students and teachers - but her record shows that she has only worked to enrich and empower herself, her family, and her friends:

• According to records available via Citizen Audit, Betsy DeVos and her organizations contributed $32,889,883.66 to nonpublic education, including private or religious schools and universities and nonprofit organizations supporting nonpublic education.
• In 2000, Betsy And Dick DeVos funded an unsuccessful statewide ballot initiative in Michigan to amend the state constitution to allow tax dollars to be used for private school tuition through education vouchers.
• Betsy And Dick DeVos contributed $550,000 to the Michigan voucher campaign and their mothers contributed $2 million each.
• In Wisconsin alone, DeVos spent over $5 million advocating for private, unaccountable voucher schools.
• DeVos opposed a Michigan Senate Bill to create a commission to oversee for-profit schools in Detroit.

So, how on earth did DeVos become confirmed as Secretary of Education? Devos and her family contributed more than $800,000 to Senators who voted on her nomination.

"We value public education a great deal here in Wisconsin. It's a part of our progressive traditions to invest in public education to create a pathway to the middle-class and beyond for all of our young citizens," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said on Tuesday. "Which is why it is deeply troubling to see state Superintendent candidate, John Humphries, celebrating the confirmation of someone like Betsy DeVos who owes her nomination to multiple campaigns destroying public education and huge donations to the very Senators who confirmed her. Wisconsin and our education system do not need another elected official that turns their back on what is right in a desperate bid for power."