Betsy DeVos Says She'll Donate Her Entire Salary to Charity

In a statement to Politico on Wednesday, a Department of Education spokeswoman said that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will donate her $199,700 salary to four non-profits, one of which includes the Special Olympics. The agency’s ethics office has reportedly cleared her to make the donations in a personal, instead of professional, capacity.

The announcement came as her boss, President Donald Trump, released a budget request for 2019 that slashes federal funding for the organization by roughly $12.5 million.

DeVos does not, to put it lightly, have a stellar record supporting students with disabilities. In October, her department eliminated dozens of documents that enumerated protections for students with disabilities and walked parents and guardians through their advocacy options.

Here’s Politico with a brief history of DeVos’s record:

She fumbled a question on [special education] during her confirmation hearing in 2017 and suggested that states should handle enforcement of a federal law that protects the civil rights of children with disabilities, called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She later clarified that she’s committed to enforcing special education law.

DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist, has a long history of donating to groups that support expanding access to charter schools and private schools and religious organizations, among other causes.

The founder of Dreams Soar—another of the organizations she plans to support—wrote an essay for The Hill last year supporting DeVos’s contested nomination for Education Secretary.