Betsy DeVos played a key role in encouraging her husband to set up a Western Michigan charter school, an education philosophy likely to continue if she's confirmed by the Senate as education secretary.
DeVos faces a Senate panel considering her nomination on Wednesday.
West Michigan Aviation Academy is a unique, nonprofit public high school started in 2010 by Dick DeVos. It has has grown from 80 students in rundown office space at Gerald R. Ford International Airport to its own building with 600 students. Like traditional public schools, it operates with a per-student allowance from the state, roughly $7,500 this year.
Family foundation tax records show Betsy and Dick DeVos gave more than $7 million through 2014, including a $3 million no-interest loan to expand and equip the building.
