By Christopher Magan

Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Moments after Betsy DeVos needed a historic tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm her as education secretary, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken called the Michigan Republican “the most incompetent Cabinet-level nominee” he’s ever seen.

“Betsy DeVos has demonstrated that she is fundamentally unqualified to lead the Education Department, and it’s a shame that Republicans voted to confirm one of their major donors instead of looking out for our children,” Franken said in a statement released shortly after Tuesday’s vote.

DeVos has been cheered on by others as a reformer who will work to expand the education opportunities for parents, especially those whose children attend struggling schools. She has a strong track record of supporting nontraditional public schools such as charters and taxpayer-funded vouchers for private school tuition.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar also voted against DeVos, joining Franken and 48 other senators including two Republicans. The opposition by two GOP senators led to a 50-50 vote and forced Vice President Mike Pence to cast the first-ever tie-breaking vote for a Cabinet nominee.

Opposition to DeVos was particularly heated among leaders of a range of education advocacy groups who rallied against her nomination. They said DeVos was unqualified to lead the U.S. Department of Education because she never attended, worked in or sent her children to a public school.

Opponents also pointed to a number of instances during DeVos’ confirmation hearing when she seemed unsure of federal education laws or how public schools are overseen. Franken and DeVos had a memorable exchange during the confirmation hearing when DeVos struggled to answer Franken’s questions about the difference between academic proficiency and growth.

DeVos’ unwavering support for school choice and charter schools likely played a big role in President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate her to the federal education agency. Trump reaffirmed his support for DeVos via Twitter on Tuesday morning, saying that she was “a reformer” and that Democrats were trying to protect “the failed status quo.”

That message was echoed locally by Kim Crockett, a vice president and senior policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, who called DeVos’ confirmation a “win for America’s school children.”

“It is a defeat for the education unions, who don’t care about failing schools or the mission of teaching, but only about protecting their power and their political turf,” Crockett said in a statement.

—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.