BETSY DEVOS/EDUCATION/MEDIA: “Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbled her way through a tense interview on CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ Sunday [3-11-18] night, struggling to answer some basic questions about schools in her home state of Michigan and admitting that she does not ‘intentionally’ visit underperforming schools.
’60 Minutes’ correspondent Lesley Stahl asked DeVos if in Michigan, students who can’t afford to leave public schools are thriving, as the secretary cites… But Stahl notes that the secretary’s ‘argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better, is not working in Michigan where (she) had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system here.’… White House officials watched the interview, along with media appearances DeVos made on Monday morning, with dismay, two sources familiar with their reaction told CNN. The White House did not respond to a request for an official comment regarding DeVos’ performances, and it wasn’t immediately clear what President Donald Trump’s reaction was.
The secretary also argued that the federal government has ‘invested billions and billions and billions of dollars … and we have seen zero results’ in public education. ‘But that really isn’t true,’ Stahl argued, noting that test scores have gone up over the last 25 years…
DeVos’ passion for school and community choice also transferred into how she views school safety… While DeVos maintained that addressing gun violence in schools is an urgent matter, noting that she’s heading up a task force to observe what states are doing to protect students, Stahl balked, saying ‘this sounds like talking instead of acting.’
DeVos also identified individual circumstances as to why she’s considering repealing Obama-era guidance that outlines ‘how to identify, avoid and remedy discriminatory discipline.’…
DeVos also said that ‘one sexual assault is one too many, but ‘one falsely accused individual is one too many.’
Asked if the two were the same, DeVos remarked, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. But I’m committed to a process that’s fair for everyone involved.’ “
-Maegan Vazquez, “DeVos struggles to answer basic questions about schools in her home state,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Mar. 12, 2018 11:05am