A company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
When Donald Trump picked Republican mega-donor Betsy DeVos to run the Department of Education, some were concerned because she had absolutely no relevant experience. Others were concerned because she is a long-time opponent of public education, preferring to support private schools, charter schools, and home schooling. Some raised concerns about her refusal to support federal laws protecting disabled students, her opposition to federal protections for LGBT+ students (which she has since announced the Department will not enforce), or her opposition to federal guidelines on campus sexual assault (which she has since rescinded). Some were troubled by her husband’s stance that creationism should be taught in public schools.
And a few “were uneasy about the influence she could still wield over companies with which she has had a relationship.”
Among those concerned were several Senators, who sent DeVos a formal letter back in January of 2017 raising their ethical concerns:
“You also noted in your ethics agreement that you will continue to hold financial interests in eight entities, including an investment worth millions in RDV Corporation. This investment vehicle appears to be connected to Performant Financial Corp. — a debt collector that is currently seeking a new contract with the Education Department after the Department declined to renew its previous contract last year. While you have agreed to divest from financial interests linked to Performant, we remain concerned by your continued financial interests in RDV Corporation, which appears to be connected to Performant through MCF CLO IV, LMF WF Portfolio II, LMF WF Portfolio III, and/or other funds managed by Madison Capital Funding.”
To clarify: RDV Corporation is the DeVos family investment management company. ("RDV” stands for Richard DeVos, her husband.) As the Senators noted, RDV is a substantial investor in a hedge fund called LMF WF Portfolio. LMF was one of the companies that loaned $147 million to Performant Financial Corp. LMF--and, by extension, RDV--thus has a vested interest in ensuring Performant’s financial health.
Under DeVos, the Department of Education has cracked down on collecting student loans, first ignoring and then eliminating some federal rules designed to protect students from predatory lenders. Naturally, the Department has to pay someone to collect these loans, “contracts valued at up to $400 million.” Historically, “the department has used as many as 17 companies to recoup past-due student loans.” Which is why eyebrows were raised last week when the Department selected only two firms.
One is Windham Professionals, one of seven firms the Obama administration selected two years ago: “Windham’s management was rated satisfactory and its past performance deemed ‘exceptional.’”
The other is the aforementioned Performant Financial Corp., who was not selected two years ago because its ratings are significantly poorer: “Performant’s management was rated ‘marginal,’ while its past performance as a contractor was deemed ‘satisfactory.’”
So the Department selected an underqualified firm that just happens to owe rather a lot of money to a company in which the DeVos family has a substantial financial interest. And as one of only two collection firms, it stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars. Pure coincidence, no doubt.
The Education Department insists that DeVos had “no knowledge, let alone involvement,” in the new debt-collection contract. If that sounds familiar, you might be thinking of that time the State Department verified that Hillary Clinton “never intervened ... in any CFIUS [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] matter,” including when the nine agencies comprising CFIUS did not object to the proposed sale of a majority stake in Uranium One to Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear agency.
But I’m sure Secretary DeVos will be investigated just as thoroughly as Secretary Clinton was.
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I will never use the word “performant,” and I will never use “performative” outside of its original mid 70s academic coinage meaning “speech that is in itself an action,” which itself is a meaning entirely unnecessary in normal speech.
"Fast" is a good word that gives you information. "Fast and scalable" is a good phrase that gives you more information. “Performant” is a “word” that tells you “There's some standard by which it works better.” Perfect for marketing.
“Disingenuous” is a nearly 400 year old word that still works fine. "Specious," “insincere,” “empty,” “hypocritical,” and numerous other words have other nuances. “Performative” means “Someone was putting on a show and I heard this word from a friend who heard it from some sociology student and it's easier to use than a word that actually means what I want to say, so I just called it ‘performative’. Also the vaguely derisive insinuation from a poorly defined word is cool.”
Wikipedia word of the day is performant : Of or relating to performance. Capable of or characterized by a high or excellent level of performance or efficiency. (computing slang) Characterized by a level of performance or efficiency that is adequate for or exceeds the expectations of end users. performant n (obsolete, rare) Someone who performs something, such as a ritual; a performer.
