--- title: Betsy DeVos HBCUs: Says Black Schools 'Pioneers' of Choice description: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was criticized for praising HBCUs as "pioneers" of the school choice movement. canonical: https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-28T16:21:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:34:30.730Z article:section: Politics og:title: Betsy DeVos Equated Historically Black Colleges to 'School Choice' og:description: "HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice." og:url: https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd15337cec85425c5/6988bc578fd2eef969355f60/gettyimages-644398614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Betsy DeVos Equated Historically Black Colleges to 'School Choice' twitter:description: "HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd15337cec85425c5/6988bc578fd2eef969355f60/gettyimages-644398614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Secretary of Education Equated Historically Black Colleges to 'School Choice' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 28, 2017 4:21 PM UTC  U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 28, 2017 4:21 PM UTC Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was criticized Tuesday for praising the nation’s [historically black colleges and universities](https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-secretary-education-betsy-devos-following-listening-session-historically-black-college-and-university-leaders), as “pioneers” of the school choice movement. “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” DeVos said in a statement after [a White House listening session with HBCU presidents](https://medium.com/@HipHopPrez/my-statement-white-house-hbcu-event-bf51a619194a#.rwo7ebgx7). “They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.” The overwhelming majority of the schools were founded after the Civil War and provided educational opportunities to blacks during the Jim Crow Era when African Americans were shut out of institutions that catered to whites. Critics noted that the schools were necessary because of the [_Plessy v. Ferguson_](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537) decision that allowed racial segregation, which forced black students into separate schools. Democratic [Sen. Claire McCaskill ](https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/836570605730283524?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet)of Missouri called the statement “totally nuts” in a tweet. “Totally nuts. DeVos pretending that establishment of historically black colleges was about choice not racism,” she wrote. Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennslyvania, who serves as the ranking member of the committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, also denounced the statement on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SenBobCasey/status/836583599029760000). “No, Sec. DeVos- the segregation and inequality that forced the establishment of HBCUs is not a model of ‘school choice,'” he wrote. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday that announces the restructuring of an existing initiative to address the needs of black colleges. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/"},"headline":"The Secretary of Education Equated Historically Black Colleges to 'School Choice'","datePublished":"2017-02-28T16:21:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:34:30.730Z","description":"Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was criticized for praising HBCUs as \"pioneers\" of the school choice movement.","url":"https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/","keywords":["Education","Higher Education","Betsy DeVos"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd15337cec85425c5/6988bc578fd2eef969355f60/gettyimages-644398614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd15337cec85425c5/6988bc578fd2eef969355f60/gettyimages-644398614.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland.","caption":"U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland.","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4685456/betsy-devos-black-colleges-school-choice/","name":"The Secretary of Education Equated Historically Black Colleges to 'School Choice'"}}]}] ```