Betsy DeVos and the Blunt connection

After watching the confirmation hearing of President Trump's Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, it was painfully obvious that she knew little or nothing about education.

For decades, the DeVos family has contributed millions to candidates in her efforts to push vouchers and unregulated charter schools, and it should come as no surprise that some of that money has made its way to our own Sen. Roy Blunt, who undoubtedly will vote to confirm DeVos.

Federal Election Commission records show Blunt received $29,300 from the DeVos family for his successful re-election campaign last year. The family contributed $8,800 to Blunt six years earlier.

But Roy Blunt's financial connection to Betsy DeVos runs far deeper than the $38,100 he received during his two campaigns.

In 2004, Betsy DeVos provided the money that enabled Blunt's son, then Secretary of State Matt Blunt, to barely defeat former State Auditor Claire McCaskill for governor.

At the time, DeVos headed the pro-voucher group All Children Matter, which was started by the DeVos family and billionaire John Walton, a member of the family that owns the Wal-Mart empire.

At the time Missouri had campaign finance limits in place, but there was

no limit to the money someone could use to pay for advertising opposing a candidate. During the final weeks of that 2004 gubernatorial campaign, All Children Matter spent $196,252.33 on attack ads against McCaskill, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records.

Blunt defeated McCaskill, who had defeated incumbent Gov. Bob Holden in the Democratic primary, by a margin of 51 to 49 percent.

When openings occurred on the State Board of Education, the new governor appointed people who were clearly not friends of public education.

Blunt's first appointment in March 2006 was Debi Demien, Wentzville. Though Demien had spent a short time as a public school teacher, that was in her rear view mirror for years by the time of her appointment to the state board.

Demien was director of marketing for Building God's Way, which built churches and Christian schools.

In 1999,, she wrote a book entitled Stealing America, the National Takeover of the Economy, Education and State Governments, which primarily criticized the school-to-work programs being used in public schools. She was an outspoken critic of Missouri's A+ program, which allows students involved in the program to receive free schooling at Missouri community colleges.

Demien headed a group called Restoring America's Way which fought against the separation of church and state. Restoring America's website at that time prominently featured an article on "the sin of sending kids to public schools."

On October 26, 2006, Blunt appointed Donayle Whitmore-Smith, 38, St. Louis to the board. Whitmore-Smith was head of the pro-voucher group Coalition for School Choice, a fact that Blunt failed to mention in his news release announcing her appointment.

Whitmore-Smith, the news release noted, was the founder of Ptah Academy of Arts and Science. That and her position with Coalition for School Choice were the only connections she had with education, but as impressive as her academy credential sounded, the reality was not quite as convincing.

An October 5, 2001 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article described a day at the academy:

"The ribbons of incense and the children who meditate beneath them at the start of each school day leave no doubt that the Ptah Academy of Arts and Sciences isn't your typical school."

The academy is named after an ancient Egyptian god and "includes of elements of ancient spiritualism in its instruction," according to the Post-Dispatch article, which continues, "The school is not religious, Whitmore said, but it does encourage children to tap in to their 'spiritual energy.' 

"The article indicated the school featured "yoga, organic meals, tai chi and daily 'inner studies' or sessions of meditation" in its curriculum.

In a February 2005 article in the pro-voucher publication School Reform News, Ms. Whitmore-Smith said that she had attended private schools until high school and her experience at a public school was "hell." Ms. Whitmore-Smith said, "Academically, it just couldn't match what I'd been getting (in private schools)."

Nevertheless, Blunt pushed Whitmore-Smith for the position, claiming she was a supporter of public schools.

Governor Blunt's chief of staff Ed Martin told the Post-Dispatch that any thought that Ms. Whitmore-Smith would be anti-public education was ridiculous:

"If we thought that, she wouldn't be on the state board of education, because the governor is committed to public education," Martin said.

Before becoming Blunt's chief of staff, Martin worked for Betsy DeVos, as the attorney for All Children Matter.

Eventually, Whitmore-Smith was withdrawn from consideration, but that did not stop Blunt from attempting to stack the board with pro-voucher members.

On December 14, 2006, Blunt appointed Rev. Stan Archie, a voucher proponent and private school administrator,

If Blunt had opted to run for a second term and been elected, it was likely the entire board would have been filled with voucher supporters and it would have all been made possible by the financial support of Betsy DeVos.

Now the DeVos blueprint for destroying public education can be put into effect for the entire nation, with the complete and wholehearted support of Senator Roy Blunt.

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