Is Trump Education Secretary Pick Betsy DeVos good or bad for edtech?

School choice, support of teachers unions, and her record in Michigan have been the leading controversial talking points in education when it comes to Donald Trump’s pick for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. But with a background in technology investment, could DeVos be a leader in the support of successfully-implemented edtech?

According to Philanthropy magazine in spring 2013, DeVos serves as chairman of the Windquest Group—a privately held, multi-company operating group that invests in technology, manufacturing, and clean energy—which she founded with her husband in 1989. In 2013, DeVos said when it comes to education reform strategies, she is most focused on educational choice. “But, thinking more broadly, what we are trying to do is tear down the mindset that assigns students to a school based solely on the zip code of their family’s home. We advocate instead for as much freedom as possible,” she said. “One long-term trend that’s working in our favor is technology. It seems to me that, in the internet age, the tendency to equate ‘education’ with ‘specific school buildings’ is going to be greatly diminished. Within the right framework of legislation, that freedom will ultimately be healthy for the education of our kids.”