Senator Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat, has become the foremost critic of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ever since, while advocating a few weeks ago the transfer of federal money from public schools to charter schools, she used a weak anecdote to criticize East Hartford’s struggling school system.

Mr. Murphy says the Trump administration just wants to enrich billionaires who own charter school companies. Only a third of the nation’s charter schools, however, are operated for profit. Most require approval by state governments and operate within the general rules of public education. So Senator Murphy’s charge about billionaires is just demagoguery to rile up his liberal base.