By Ruth Conniff
Mike Pence, Betsy DeVos and the destruction of Wisconsin
There was something fishy about the whole spectacle at the Capitol on Tuesday, as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos parachuted in to praise Wisconsin as “the birthplace of education freedom.”
Surrounded by cute kids in bright-yellow School Choice Week scarves who sang hymns, drummed, danced and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, Pence, DeVos and Wisconsin’s GOP leaders expounded on the many ways the state’s controversial, first-in-the-nation private school voucher program has improved the lives of low-income black and brown children.
“Whether or not you receive a quality education should not depend on your zip code,” intoned Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, sounding like Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who, along with Gov. Tony Evers, skipped the whole affair.