To the Editor:

Re “U.S. Undercuts Fraud Inquiries Into For-Profits” (front page, May 14): The Department of Education is very much a building block upon which future generations will stand. It thus stands to reason that the leader of that agency is in a position to significantly influence the future course of our collective success.

Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s choice for that critical role, has demonstrated a disdain for the public education system in this country. Her disdain also extends to protection of those who have enrolled at possibly fraudulent for-profit colleges.

By dramatically cutting back the unit charged with such investigations and by bringing in former officials from the same schools in supervisory roles, our secretary of education is in effect allowing the institutions to investigate themselves.

This is yet another example (witness the Environmental Protection Agency) of an agency acting in contravention of its mission without a check or a balance in sight. This may end up being a one-term presidency, but the repercussions can continue for generations.