President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Education will tell senators Tuesday that the federal government’s education policy needs to be based on what’s best for parents and students, instead of the educational system itself.
“I share President-elect Trump’s view that 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,” Betsy DeVos will say in prepared remarks to the Senate health committee.
DeVos is a school choice supporter, and her testimony argues that the federal government needs to encourage a wide range of choices to help students get through high school.
“Parents no longer believe that a one-size-fits-all model of learning meets the needs of every child, and they know other options exist, whether magnet, virtual, charter, home, religious, or any combination thereof,” her prepared remarks state. “Yet, too many parents are denied access to the full range of options… choices that many of us — here in this room — have exercised for our own children.”
While DeVos has been attacked as someone who wants to tear down public schools, she said she would work to make sure both public schools and other alternatives are “great.”
“But, if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child – perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet — we should support a parent’s right to enroll their child in a high quality alternative,” she said.
DeVos indicated that college may not be the right path for every student, but said even non-college choices should be celebrated and encouraged, depending on the student.
“Craftsmanship is not a fallback – but a noble pursuit,” she said.
“Students should make informed choices about what type of education they want to pursue post high school and have access to high quality options,” DeVos added. “President-elect Trump and I agree we need to support all post-secondary avenues, including trade and vocational schools, and community colleges.”
Democrats have argued for years now that college debt is sinking too many graduates. But while DeVos said that’s a problem to be solved, she indicated that the government needs to figure out how prices have risen so much, instead of immediately moving to bail out students who are swimming in debt.
“There is no magic wand to make the debt go away, but we do need to take action,” she said. “It would be a mistake to shift that burden to struggling taxpayers without first addressing why tuition has gotten so high.”
