DETROIT — Betsy DeVos, the West Michigan political force who rose to secretary of education, resigned Thursday night, saying President Donald Trump incited a mob that invaded the Capitol Wednesday.
"We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people," DeVos wrote in a letter to the president. "Instead we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters 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 [sic] and model the behavior they would emulate. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday."
For decades DeVos and her husband were a dominant force in Michigan politics. DeVos had a long track record of funding education related policies in Michigan, especially around school choice.
During her tenure as Education secretary she came under fire regularly for her decisions on a variety of issues.
In her resignation letter, DeVos recapped what she saw as her accomplishments over her four years in office.
"Leading the U.S. Department of Education has given me an exceptional opportunity to advocate on behalf of the forgotten students the traditional system leaves behind," she wrote.
She said she expanded school choice and "restored the proper federal role by returning to power to states, communities, educators and parents."
DeVos also trumpeted her advocating for schools to reopen during COVID-19 shutdowns.
"I know with certainty that history will show we were correct in our repeated urging of and support for schools reopening this year and getting all of America's students back to learning. Millions are being denied meaningful access to education right now, in no small part because of the union bosses who control so much of the traditional system."
