ABSTRACT
This chapter merges previously published articles on Betsy DeVos’ tenure at the US Department of Education. In the wild, predators often prey on the weak, attacking the young, sick, and injured. Predators in the wild hunt and kill out of biological necessity; cruelly, for-profits go in for the kill to make a buck. In online education, Wall Street for-profit universities also go after the most vulnerable, often leaving hapless students with insupportable debt and few marketable skills. For-profits have no financial interest in nurturing students, in helping them graduate or get good jobs. The Obama-era gainful employment regulation penalizes programs whose student loan payments exceed a set percentage of graduates’ earnings. In running a kleptocracy out of the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos turned her back on Jefferson’s notion of responsible and dedicated government.
