For a number of years now, Betsy DeVos has been one of the leading figures in the education-reform movement. Although her pursuits are just coming into the light of the mainstream, Betsy DeVos has actually been a part of the reform movement since her days at Calvin College. There, DeVos would get involved with campus politics and would remain around the political circle for many years to come. To date, Betsy DeVos has been a part of a variety of political organizations, campaigns and was even assigned as the chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party. We recently sat down with Mrs. DeVos for an in-depth interview regarding the education-reform movement.

It has been over five decades since the publication of “The Role of Government in Education.” How do you feel about the progress that has been made since?

Betsy Devos states that she is incredibly pleased with the progress made throughout the years. She continues by saying that today over 250,000 students are being taught within publicly funded programs across 17 states, including the District of Columbia. In 2012, the program would expand to states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Louisiana, and New Hampshire, to name a few. In 2011, Indiana would become only the second state to introduce a state-wide voucher program. The program would quickly enroll over 10,000 children. She concludes by saying that these events, along with the negative record of public schools, is the type of thing that is making people aware.

What made you get involved in this movement?

It’s not like there was one event that made us purist education reform, says Betsy DeVos. However, there was one situation while visiting the Potter’s House Christian School with her husband, Dick DeVos, which accelerated the passion for education reform. She saw how many of the parents there were working hard to ensure that their children were getting a proper education. They would work hard because, for them, paying for private school would not be possible due to their low-income. At that moment, DeVos made it a focus of her life to ensure that all children, including those from lower-income families, would be able to have the same opportunities as those from wealthier families.

How was helping that one school help you to think larger about education reform?

Betsy DeVos says that both she and her husband began to get involved in bigger ways that would help children from all over the state and not just for one school. Her husband would go on to run for the State Board of Education in Michigan, and She would create a foundation that sought to collect funds that would then provide students with scholarship money.

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