Reason #49: Dick DeVos Ditched the Michigan Board of Education

Reason #49 not to vote for Dick DeVos:

After missing many meetings, Dick DeVos left his position on the Michigan Board of Education. He was two years into an eight-year term. In his two years, he advocated using public money to help fund private schools.

Via the Detroit News article, "Who Is Dick DeVos?"

DeVos' only elected public office was a two-year stint on the State Board of Education. He missed a quarter of the meetings while he was on the board, piling up more absences than any other member. He quit in January 1993 with six years still left on his term, saying his new responsibilities at Alticor didn't allow him to devote enough time to board duties.

"He abandoned the children of the state of Michigan and left six years to be served by someone else not elected by the public at large," said Barbara Roberts Mason, a Democrat who served on the state board with DeVos.

Further Reading

David's Tangled Thoughts: "He has been elected to office only once-- The Michigan State Board of Education but quit after two years. He was given an appointment by then Gov. Engler to the Grand Valley University Board of Control and once again quit. How does this make me think that he will be committed to the office?"

ICDP Dispatch: "Furthermore, DeVos, while serving on the State Board of Education (before abruptly quitting after two years of an 8-year term), advocated handing over public education resources to private corporations, thereby undermining Michigan's public schools. He personally financed the Education Freedom Fund, an organization of anti-public school advocates, by lavishing hundreds of thousands of dollars on it in the 1990s. Undoubtedly DeVos' investments in K12 Inc., an educational corporation that provides materials for private schools, would see solid returns if he could successfully undermine Michigan's public schools. (Booth Newspapers, Center for Media and Democracy, AP)"

MDP: "Dick DeVos has no plan for improving education in Michigan. There are no policy initiatives listed on his website. While on the board of education, he was a proponent of plans to undermine Michigan’s public schools, by taking millions of dollars away from your neighborhood public schools, giving them away to expensive private schools, and then raising your taxes to pay for it."

See an explanation of this series here. Please note that the Michigan Democratic Party has continued their list, as well.