Secretary of Education Resigns Days Before Inauguration

Tim Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com

Betsy DeVos, the often-controversial Secretary of Education, announced her resignation in a one-page letter to President Trump on January 7, 2021. She left office just 12 days before the Biden Harris administration will be sworn in.

In her letter of resignation, she commented on what “we”, obviously meaning she and President Trump, had accomplished. Much related to pre-K through 12 education but with regard to higher education, she called out:

“We have returned due process to our nation’s schools and defended the First Amendment rights of students and teachers. We have dramatically impacted the way students interact with Federal Student Aid. We have lifted up students by restoring year-round Pell, expanding Second Chance Pell, delivering unprecedented opportunities for students at HCBUs, and so much more.”

But like so many others she reacted strongly to the events that occurred on the grounds of and in the Nation’s Capitol on January 6th:

“We should be highlighting and celebrating your administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.”

“Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgement and model the behavior we hope they would emulate. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. To that end today I resign from my position, effective Friday, January 8, in support of the oath I took to our Constitution, our people and our freedoms.”