9 years ago the GRPS Superintendent was praising Betsy DeVos: What is she up to now?

Nine years ago on November 28th, I wrote about Teresa Weatherall Neal, who was  the Superintendent of Grand Rapids Public School district. Just after Donald Trump had picked Betsy DeVos to be his Secretary of Education, the GRPS Superintendent was quoted as saying:

Neal says she has worked closely with DeVos since she began her job five years ago. The relationship started with DeVos asking for a meeting.

“She wanted to know what I was going to do, what was my plan for the children in the district,” said Neal. “I appreciated her asking the question. She was part of the transformation that we have done in the district.”

When Neal said she needed the expertise of a superintendent coach, DeVos picked up the tab, and she continues to send notes of encouragement.

The DeVos clan, especially Amway President Doug DeVos and his wife, Maria, have channeled millions from their foundations to programs that align with Neal’s goals.

Neal acknowledges the toll Michigan’s school of choice policy has taken on urban school districts like her own over the past 22 years when the lawmakers set it in motion with school finance reform in 1994.

“It has been hurt by choice (but) we have also become a much stronger district and able to compete,” Neal said.

Over the past two decades, the district has lost 8,000 students, closed 35 buildings, eliminated 1000 positions and cut more than $100 million from the budget, according to the district’s spokesman John Helmholdt.

Under Neal, the district’s graduation rates have climbed and chronic absenteeism have dropped, Helmholdt added, although they’re still below state averages.

Neal thinks DeVos can hold up GRPS as a model of what can be done at other struggling districts.

“I’m really excited for the children across the nation,” Neal said. “She has been a wonderful supporter of GRPS and our transition plan. She knows education. She knows what it is going to take in order for our kids to be helped.”

Some have questioned DeVos family involvement in the district and public education in general since they have educated their children in privately-funded Christian schools.

Neal sees the politically conservative family’s focus on education as their commitment to the “greater social good.”

In 2019, during the last school board meeting that Teresa Weatherall Neal was Superintendent, I also wrote about that meeting and some disturbing dynamics. At the time I wrote:

The MLive article mostly focuses on the decline in GRPS enrollment, thus a reduced budget. However, there are several other questions that should be raised about the budget, such as, why the GRPS Foundation has a line for allowances to 23 Charter Schools, funding disparities between different schools and several line items that are vague and unspecified.

I spoke with someone after the public hearing for the school budget, and was told about a few other issues that were disconcerting. First, was the issue of what happened at a recent school board meeting where the Interim GRPS Supervisor, Ron Gorman, was operating on the assumption that he would be able to bring in his own administrative staff. Theresa Weatherall Neal, who was the Superintendent until last Monday’s meeting, stepped in and said that she was picking the administrative staff for Gorman, which was almost the same as the personnel that Neal has had.

A second issue that should raise red flags for people who care about public education is the issue of the Grand Rapids Promise. Grand Rapids is now in line to become a Promise Zone and will have to follow the guidelines of the Michigan Promise Zones. The Michigan Legislature appoints people to the Michigan Promise Zones Authority and Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, has appointed J.C. Huizenga to the Authority. Huizenga is founder and chairman of the board of National Heritage Academies Inc., a for-profit charter school management company. Huizenga, besides being the head of a for-profit Charter School company, is also an influential member of the Grand Rapids Power Structure and a close associate of Betsy DeVos.

What has Teresa Weatherall Neal been up to since?

It would appear that since Teresa Weatherall Neal resigned from the GRPS her connection to Betsy DeVos has paid off.

• Teresa Weatherall Neal sits of the board of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
• She is on the Executive Committee of Grand Action 2.0.  Grand Action 2.0 is the entity that has led the charge for the Amphitheater and the Soccer Stadium.
• Neal lists herself as the President and CEO of Lead 616 Consulting.

In 2021, I wrote about an exchange between Teresa Weatherall Neal and JC Huizenga during a Grand Rapids Promise meeting:

JC Huizenga asks the questions, “what does BIPOC stand for?”

Teresa Weatherall Neal says, “It’s just another name for non-sense, JC.”

JC Huizenga then asks, “I’m wondering, does this discriminate against Asian people,  Jews who aren’t wealthy or Syrian Refugees?” All the while Weatherall Neal is shaking her head in affirmation of Huizenga’s comment.

Weatherall Neal talks about how she had to deal with the term BIPOC while she was GRPS Superintendent. “Black signifies all people from Africa. So everyone is lumped together.” 

Last year Doug DeVos interviewed Teresa Weatherall Neal on his podcast Believe. In the later part of the interview DeVos and Neal talk about her leadership, which she bragged about, with little or no humility. At one point Neal said, “no one loves the children in Grand Rapids more than I do.”

Lastly, Teresa Weatherall Neal briefly talks about her work now with the group Thrive & Prosper, which is another front group for the DeVos family and other members of the GR Power Structure. Here is the video where Doug DeVos interviews Teresa Weatherall Neal.