Betsy DeVos will personally fund scholarship Trump awarded to fourth-grader at the State of the Union

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will personally pay for a school choice scholarship that President Donald Trump awarded to a fourth-grader during his State of the Union address Tuesday.

During his speech, the President called on Congress to act on his school choice tax credit proposal and pointed to the Philadelphia student, Janiyah Davis, and her mom, Stephanie, who he had invited to sit in the gallery. He suggested they were on a waitlist for a state scholarship so that Davis could attend a better school outside her district.

“Janiyah’s mom Stephanie is a single parent. She would do anything to give her daughter a better future. But last year, that future was put further out of reach when Pennsylvania’s governor vetoed legislation to expand school choice for 50,000 children,” Trump said.

“Janiyah, I am pleased to inform you that your long wait is over,” he continued. “I can proudly announce tonight that an Opportunity Scholarship has become available. It is going to you, and you will soon be heading to the school of your choice.”

It wasn’t immediately clear on Tuesday where the funding was coming from. Trump has proposed a federal tax credit program that could make more scholarship money available to students, but Republican-backed legislation to create it has stalled in Congress.

On Thursday, a Department of Education spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that DeVos would pay for a year of tuition at the school of Davis’ choice as part of DeVos’ regular donation of her federal salary to charitable causes. The department did not answer further questions about the mechanics of the payment.

“The White House and the Department worked together to find a very deserving family who had applied for a scholarship and wanted to send their child to a school that best fit their needs,” the spokeswoman said.

The donation was first reported by other outlets on Wednesday.

The Trump administration’s school choice plan — called Education Freedom Scholarships — would create a federal tax credit for people who donate to state-based scholarship funds. Several states, including Pennsylvania, already have state tax credit programs in place for funding scholarship programs.

Under the Trump plan, recipients could use the scholarship money to send their child to an out-of-district, public or private school — including religious schools. States would have the option of participating.

“The next step forward in building an inclusive society is making sure that every young American gets a great education and the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. Yet, for too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools,” Trump said during his State of the Union address.

Companion bills sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama, both Republicans, don’t have bipartisan support and haven’t been moved out of committee.

Pennsylvania has its own Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program for eligible students who want to attend public or private schools outside their district, for which Davis had applied.

The Trump administration’s plan has been widely criticized by Democrats and the teachers’ unions, who argue that it would pull money away from public schools.

“Instead of peddling another tax giveaway for rich people that’s been soundly rejected by Congress, the President should listen to the 90% of parents who proudly send their kids to public schools and who have been betrayed by this administration at each and every turn,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement following the President’s annual address.

DeVos, whose family’s net worth has been estimated at $2 billion, has long been a proponent of school choice policies. She and her husband opened a charter school of their own and spent millions of dollars over the years to lobby for big changes to Michigan schools, among other issues.

“This administration wants every American, no matter their age, income, zip code, or stage in life, to have access to K-12 and higher education options that work for them, unlock their individual potential, and help them pursue successful careers in our booming economy,” she said in a statement Tuesday.

During her tenure as secretary of education, DeVos has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats for failing to effectively implement an Obama-era rule that grants student loan forgiveness to those who attended for-profit schools that misled or deceived them. More than 200,000 applications are pending, and some borrowers have been waiting years to hear whether they’ll be granted debt relief.

DeVos has rewritten the rule with a new way of calculating the amount of debt relief due. The government will offer partial relief, instead of canceling the full amount of debt for eligible borrowers, based on how much those former students are earning compared with those who attended similar programs at different schools. She has said it will better ensure that taxpayers are on the hook only for those students who actually suffered harm.