Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos would have received a failing grade for her performance on CBS’s 60 Minutes. The richest member of Donald Trump’s cabinet has led a life sheltered from public schools. Plus, she will personally profit from her plan of federally privatizing schools. This woman is the most hated member of Trump’s cabinet.
The secretary struggled to answer 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl’s basic questions about even the schools in her home state, Michigan. The correspondent asked about students who cannot afford to leave the public schools:
‘Have the public schools in Michigan gotten better?’
DeVos floundered:
‘I don’t know. Overall, I — I can’t say overall that they have all gotten better, There are certainly lots of pockets where the students are doing well.’
But Stahl noted that the secretary’s “
‘(Devos’) 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.’
DeVos responded, but confessed she did not visits “underperforming” schools “intentionally:”
‘I hesitate to talk about all schools in general because schools are made up of individual students attending them. Michigan schools need to do better. There is no doubt about it, (I do not) intentionally (visit) schools that are underperforming.’
The secretary argued that the federal government:
‘Invested billions and billions and billions of dollars … and we have seen zero results (in public education).’
Stahl pointed out test scored have climbed over the last 25 years:
‘But that really isn’t true.’
In spite of Stahl’s facts, DeVos claimed the country’s test scores have stagnated:
‘What can be done about that is empowering parents to make the choices for their kids. Any family that has the economic means and the power to make choices is doing so for their children.’
Remember, DeVos is the one who suggested schools have guns so they could kill grisly bears. She told Stahl that guns:
‘Should be an option for states and communities to consider ,(but she) couldn’t ever imagine (her own first grade teacher with one).’
The secretary claimed individual circumstances were the reason for repealing President Barack Obama’s guidelines:
‘(To) identify, avoid and remedy discriminatory discipline Arguably, all of these issues or all of this issue comes down to individual kids.’
Stahl disagreed:
‘Well, no … it’s not. It does come down to individual kids.’
Then, DeVos skipped back to one of her talking points:
‘And — often comes down to — I am committed to making sure that students have the opportunity to learn in an environment that is conducive to their learning.’
Then, the secretary defended her stance of increasing sexual assault victim’s required proof:
‘One one falsely accused individual is one too many.’
When Stahl asked if they were the same, DeVos answered:
‘I don’t know. I don’t know. But I’m committed to a process that’s fair for everyone involved.’
Was this the best Trump could do to find a secretary of education? Sad.
Check out DeVos’ poor performance on 60 Minutes in the video below:
Betsy DeVos struggling hard on 60 Minutes pic.twitter.com/2iI52WR79u
— Bubba Atkinson (@BubbaAtkinson) March 11, 2018
Featured Image via Getty Images/Mario Tama.
