On Feb. 1, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as secretary of education in a rare tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence. Two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against DeVos.

Such an odd set of occurrences in the Senate caused heads to turn and many to wonder: Who is DeVos and why is she so controversial? After all, students at Kent State noticed there was an organized walkout and protest against DeVos this past week.

DeVos has been an advocate for charter schools and school vouchers, which help students succeed in low-income school districts. Not only would this help the poorer districts but it would benefit schools all across America.

These vouchers are a way for low-income students to attend private schools through tax funding. Through the program, students who are in failing schools have the opportunity to attend schools that are succeeding.

Additionally, to say DeVos is unqualified is ridiculous. She has been involved with school districts across the United States for years and has spent most of her career trying to fix Detroit Public Schools.

Taking note from a campaign slogan by President Donald Trump, “drain the swamp,” I firmly believe that as a pick for secretary of education, DeVos is someone who will drain the education swamp that has been created.

At a budget of $69.4 billion, there is no reason why we should have failing schools in this country. We have one of the best school systems in the world, so to have at least 10 percent of schools that are failing or have an “F” rating is terrible. We truly do need to drain the education swamp of the bad and get our schools back on track.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman turned many heads this past week as he gave his support to DeVos.

Portman was quoted saying, “I support Betsy DeVos for secretary of education because during the confirmation process she committed to strongly support public education and because of her support for local control, instead of having the federal government dictate education policy at the state and local level.”

I believe that he made the best decision to support the people of Ohio. By supporting DeVos, he has made it clear that he put the people of Ohio first, which will help us in the months and years to come.

Giving the states more power to control education will help students, especially due to the fact that each state is at a different pace and needs personal control over schooling.

As secretary of education, DeVos will be a fighter and someone who will put the needs of the students and parents before her own. She will make sure every kid will receive a quality education that will help them move forward to work in order to advance their own lives.

The best is yet to come, and I look forward to seeing what DeVos does to our education system to help every child succeed.

Jeffrey King is a member of the College Republicans, contact him at [email protected].