UNC-System President Margaret Spellings endorsed Betsy DeVos for secretary of education. However, the decision, which has been referred to as “baffling” by some, is actually anything but, given Spellings’ previous policies.

Prior to being instated as the president of the UNC Board of Directors, Spellings held the position of secretary of education under President George W. Bush. During her tenure, she helped implement the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which emphasized standardized testing and increased federal intervention in schools.

Spellings also held a position in the Apollo Group, a parent company of the for-profit University of Phoenix, which has come under fire several times due to their low educational standards and increased student fees. She has also served as a board chair of the student loan collection agency, Ceannate Corporation.

DeVos, in turn, is a wealthy private school advocate, often at the expense of public schools. Her support of the voucher system allows money from already struggling public school systems to be funneled into sub-par private schools, where there are few to no regulations. She views the ever-important task of educating our youth as a business, something I fear will embolden Spellings to return to prior ideologies.

Already in Spellings’ tenure, there has a been a government bill to significantly reduce tuition cost at five UNC schools, of which all except for one is a minority-serving institution. Moreover, earlier this month the NC House of Representatives passed a bill aiming to reduce the number of members on the Board of Governors from 32 to 24.

Spellings supported Senate Bill 873 last year, aimed at reducing tuition at five UNC System schools, stating that “the intention was not to cut funding,” but rather to increase the enrollment at the listed institutions. The bill died in the last congressional session, and Spellings’ unwillingness to put her foot down calls into question her commitment to minority-serving institutions and diversity in the UNC System, an issue she claimed to champion upon taking the position of president.

As for the bill cutting the number of members of the UNC Board of Governors, Spelling has questioned the necessity of having 32 members. While such large numbers are not necessary, Spellings has remained silent on the House’s decision to forgo an amendment that would ensure diversity on the board. Currently only one member of the board has attended a minority-serving institution in North Carolina.

These issues go to show that despite her vocal commitment to our system, it is hard to get a leopard to change its spots. The Republican Party has given Spellings her platform to excel in the educational world, but despite her initial denouncement the placement of “the interest of adults put before students,” I have seen minimal commitment to protecting the students since Spellings’ controversial hiring at the end of 2015. In this way, the endorsement of DeVos is unsurprising.

Spellings and DeVos are cut from the same cloth and the endorsement of DeVos only highlights what many have already concluded about Spellings: that her ideals have never quite lined up with the overall goals of the UNC System.