Despite repeated attempts by Democrats on the Senate Health, Education and Labor (HELP) Committee to bait Betsy DeVos into attacking public schools, the president-elect’s choice for education secretary delivered a measured performance that will likely result in her confirmation.
Withstanding a marathon confirmation hearing that lasted well over three hours, Democrats led by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) peppered DeVos with leading questions in the hopes of discrediting her. DeVos’s nomination is opposed by a number of special interest groups, including the powerful National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. Early on, it became clear that Democrats on the committee would stick to the script of attacking DeVos on her lack of teaching experience, failure to attend a public school and her vast wealth.
Through it all, DeVos remained poised, respectful and substantive in responding to committee-members, including former Democratic-presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
In one of the sharpest and most memorable exchanges in the hearing, Sanders was forced to admit that free college (one of the senator’s signature proposals during his presidential campaign) would not in fact be free. “Nothing in life is truly free…. Someone is going to have to pay for it,” DeVos retorted, to which Sanders replied: “…. Uh, yes, you are right.”
Besides expressing support for improving all public schools, the philanthropist, businesswoman and activist talked persuasively about changing the paradigm of an education establishment that believes in “one size fits all.” Drawing from her own personal experience of meeting and working with parents and students, DeVos told the committee, “It’s time to shift the debate from what the system thinks is best for kids to what moms and dads want, expect and deserve.”
To make her point, DeVos talked about her personal involvement in helping parents access high quality schools to fit the specific needs of a student. Parents like Maria Salazar, a single mother and a native of Peru that was able to send her daughter Nydia to private school in Arizona, thanks in part to efforts by DeVos. Nydia, the first in her family to attend and graduate from college, sat in the gallery during Tuesday’s hearing.
“Why, in 2017, are we still questioning parents’ ability to exercise educational choice for their children? I am a firm believer that parents should be empowered to choose the learning environment that’s best for their individual children,” the nominee pleaded in her opening remarks.
A number of leading education policy experts took to Twitter expressing support for DeVos’ testimony and exchanges with Senators on the committee. Lindsey Burke, an education policy expert at the Heritage Foundation tweeted:
Refreshing to hear “I trust parents” with no qualifiers. DeVosHearing DeVos
— Lindsey Burke (@lindseymburke) January 17, 2017
Meanwhile, former governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) heaped praised on DeVos following the hearing, saying in a release: “Betsy DeVos showed today why she is a hero of the education reform movement. She passionately articulated the case for school choice and parental control and expressed a deep commitment to children, especially at-risk students who are the biggest victims of failing K-12 schools.”
Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), who sits on the board of the American Federation for Children, spoke on DeVos’s behalf at the beginning of the hearing, saying she is “ready to take on this assignment and do it very well.”
Josh Kraushaar, the politics editor at National Journal, tweeted:
Scott and Lieberman –> strong validators for DeVos https://t.co/dtrR6OWCKI
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 17, 2017
Calls to allow for an additional round of questions by Democrats on the committee were rebuffed by the chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination Jan. 24, where she is expected to win approval in what will likely be a party line vote.
Israel Ortega is a Senior Writer for Opportunity Lives. You can follow him on Twitter: @IzzyOrtega.
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