U.S. Secretary of 91制片厂视频 Betsy DeVos has faced some big challenges in her more than six months in office鈥攕etbacks in Congress on her school choice proposals, difficulty staffing her department, protestors greeting her at every turn, not to mention the political stickiness of serving a controversial president.
She鈥檚 also come into the agency at a consequential time, with every state filing a detailed plan to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, the first update to the main federal K-12 law in over a decade. And she may well be at the department when Congress next considers an update to special education laws鈥攕he says she鈥檚 鈥渃ommitted鈥� to staying in her post through the president鈥檚 first term.
91制片厂视频 Week spoke with DeVos about all of that and much more in a wide-ranging interview during the secretary鈥檚 recent 鈥淩ethink School鈥� tour, which covered six states late last month: Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Here are some of the highlights (for a more complete version of this interview, .)
DeVos, who has spent decades advocating for private school vouchers and charter schools through advocacy organizations like the American Federation for Children, came to Washington with one item at the top of her agenda: to push for a new federal school choice initiative.
Vouchers, Charters
Her vision is running into trouble on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers in both chambers have failed to fund either of the school choice proposals in the president鈥檚 budget. And it鈥檚 looking less and less likely that the White House will push to include a federal tax-credit scholarship program in a sweeping tax overhaul package that鈥檚 slated to be unveiled soon.
Still, the secretary is not giving up. And she wants to make sure the administration pursues the best possible school choice policy.
鈥淚 think what鈥檚 most important is鈥攚hatever is done or originated at the federal level鈥攖hat it not be a new and expansive program to be administered at the federal level, and secondly that we do it at the right time and under the right circumstances,鈥� she said as her car rolled past strip malls on the outskirts of Indianapolis to rural Charlottesville, Ind., the final stop on the secretary鈥檚 鈥淩ethink School鈥� tour.
Some conservative organizations, such as the Heritage Foundation, have been skeptical about a new federal tax-credit scholarship, which would give corporations and individuals a tax credit for investing in scholarship-granting organizations that help students attend the private school of their choice. The proposal, they worry, could require the federal government to create a new office to administer the scholarships.
DeVos said she鈥檚 willing to wait for the right moment and the right strategy to pursue her choice goals.
鈥淚鈥檝e been at this work for a really long time,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淚鈥檓 impatient, but I also understand the necessity for patience and for the right dynamics to be developed. So what comes to my mind is a really good motto that a family adviser has shared with us at a regular interval, which is 鈥榟asten slowly,鈥� and I think that鈥檚 a really good phrase for me to keep in mind.鈥�
There are rumors that President Donald Trump called the secretary to the White House recently to tell her the tax-credit scholarship wasn鈥檛 going to happen this year. DeVos declined to confirm those rumors. She believes the president continues to share her commitment to choice.
For now, it sounds like DeVos will be relying on another important tool of her office鈥攖he bully pulpit鈥攖o put a focus on states, schools, and districts that are using choice in a way she thinks is working for students.
She is stressing 鈥渢ours like [the one] we did this week to really highlight and expose to more people the beauty of options and choices,鈥� she said. DeVos said she would 鈥渃ontinue to make the case that all parents, not only ones that have the economic means, should be able to have a decision-making power to make some of those choices.鈥�
And she said she鈥檚 encouraged by recent action on school choice at the state level.
鈥淭he reality is that most of the momentum around this, and frankly most of the funding around it, comes at the state level,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淢ore and more states are adopting programs that embrace a wide range of choices. And I expect that to continue apace.鈥�
DeVos is convinced that what schools want and need is more autonomy. DeVos has visited more than a dozen public schools since taking office. And in talking to teachers, parents, and school officials, she said she鈥檚 learned that, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a higher than average level of frustration around the inability to really try to do things differently ... In too many places there isn鈥檛 the kind of autonomy at a building level to really kind of break out of [the] mold and do things differently to meet students鈥� needs.鈥�
It鈥檚 less clear, though, if DeVos sees federal policy as the right lever to give teachers and school officials the leeway she thinks they鈥檙e looking for. The solution, she said, is, 鈥渢o really help create the environment and encourage states to create the environment that these kinds of schools can grow and happen.鈥�
ESSA Implementation
DeVos said she wishes that ESSA had even more flexibility for states. She encouraged states to 鈥済o right up to the line; test how far it takes to get over it.鈥�
鈥淭he legislation is lengthy and has way too many subparts that are more prescriptive than they need to be,鈥� DeVos said. (She did not offer specific examples.) 鈥淏ut, that being said, I鈥檓 encouraged that there are opportunities for states to really implement ESSA in a way that does allow a lot more creativity and flexibility, and I鈥檓 encouraging states to do so and not to err on the side of caution, but to really push and go up to the line, test how far it takes to go over it.鈥�
Asked about New Hampshire and Arizona, which have passed state laws that some experts say don鈥檛 mesh with federal testing requirements in ESSA, DeVos said those states can do their own thing at the state level, but must follow the law.
鈥淓verybody has to comply with the law,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to approve every plan that complies with the law. Now, they can have their own requirements within the state that they decide to act upon, but from a federal perspective as long as they comply with the law, they鈥檙e going to be approved.鈥�
Civil Rights
DeVos doesn鈥檛 think the Trump administration鈥檚 decision to rescind the Obama administration鈥檚 guidance on transgender students and bathrooms and its new process for considering civil rights complaints will weaken protections for vulnerable students.
鈥淲e made it really clear that we鈥檙e going to continue to investigate and to address any concern that鈥檚 brought to the department that involves discrimination of students, and we鈥檙e committed to that because we鈥檙e committed to helping to ensure that students have a safe and nurturing environment in which to learn,鈥� she said.
Special 91制片厂视频
DeVos said Congress needs to take a close look at both the funding levels for the Individuals with Disabilities 91制片厂视频 Act, the main federal law for students in special education, and the requirements in the law for school districts and states.
鈥淚 think Congress needs to seriously look at the commitment they made when passing the act to fund it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think there has to be a review of the act and all of the mandates put on states. It doesn鈥檛 match up with the funding. I think that there鈥檚 opportunity to support parents whose kids are using an [individualized education program], or have an IEP to allow them more flexibility in making decisions around their child鈥檚 education, and I think that certainly is an area that should be reviewed regularly by Congress.鈥�
DeVos did not, however, commit to pushing for full funding of IDEA, which would mean the federal government would pick up 40 percent of the excess cost of educating a student in special education.
鈥淚鈥檓 not advocating one way or another right now,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just saying it鈥檚 clear that Congress has not funded it at the level they committed to when the law was passed. And I think that is something that should be reviewed on a regular basis.鈥�
Teacher Issues
DeVos defended the president鈥檚 decision to propose the elimination of Title II, the main federal program for teacher quality.
The program is 鈥渕uch too prescriptive and was really shown to not have any real effect or impact,鈥� DeVos said. (State chiefs and many teachers beg to differ.) States, she said, can use other federal funding for teacher development.
And she doesn鈥檛 expect that the Trump administration will push districts to adopt performance pay, even though the president campaigned on it.
鈥淚 think mandating a one-size-fits-all approach from the federal level is not something I鈥檓 seeking to pursue,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 believe the president [would] embrace that either. [She favors] encouraging states to look at how [they] are respecting the teaching profession and how much autonomy [teachers have] to make decisions in their schools and in their classrooms. ... I do think that great teachers should be really well compensated and teachers that are not effective should not be in classrooms.鈥�
