Child and they know other options exist. She then will say i will be a strong advocate for great Public Schools. Other topic shell hit upon as i where up is this discussion nationally about forgiving College Student loans or making it easier tore people to repay college loans. She is also expected to say that one of the problems with our current Education System is its set up to try to get everyone to go to college. But that a fouryear degree is not appropriate for everybody. Then shell talk about the every student successful act. And president elect trumps vision of using the 20 million in the community where our children are educated. David Teachers Unions out in full force blasting and trying to influence the president elects pick for education secretary. Melissa the democrats questioning devos have received over 700,000 from Teachers Unions compared to ,000 the republicans have received. Will this have an effect on how the dim krats press devos . Jim, let me start with you. Among those opposing devos plan for education, bernie sanders. He received 150,000 from unions since 1998. Elizabeth warren received 30,000 since 2012. Does this compromise their questions . I think for bernie sanders, 150,000 of union money over 20 years is not a lot of money in the political system. Democrats have been supporters of the public Teachers Union for a long time for better or worse. Public schools are usually the big topic when we have an education secretary. We have a nome knee who has not been a fan of the Public School system. I think you will see to fireworks about that. David john stossel, we have gone through the list of state by state, how much money is spent by governments. Most of the money for education comes from state governments. But the feds have been putting in increasingly more and more money. Average is 13,000 a year. Some states like new york is 20,000. Washington, d. C. Is 18,000 a year. Here is the big question. You are kid gets, say, 13,000 a year for education. Dont you think as a parent you can do better with that money than the government has been doing . Is that a fair question . Yes, i wish people would ask it more. 13,000 ferp kid times 22 kids in a courtroom. Thats 300,000 plus dollars. Thats not capital costs, thats just annual expenditures. But the government is tep team squanders if the money. David the average cost of private School Education in the United States 10,000. John, as you point out before, the government would save money if people spent their vouchers. John if you start giving vouchers to every poor person, you are also reaching the people who pay for Catholic Schools right now out of their own pocket. But they are low income so they deserve. Melissa tony sayegh joins us now. The knock on devos, we heard it. That her goal is to destroy Public Schools. You are putting someone in charge of Public Schools, who has no experience in them, who clearly dislikes them and distrusts them, that she drains money from the Public School system to fund forprofit charters and the Public Schools are worse some of because of herb efforts. So you are putting somebody in charge who mr. Basically destroy Public Schools in that way. How do you think she responds to that. The goal of the secretary of education is to make sure children are well educated. When you take the perspective when you are talking about School Choice, you are talking about giving underserved. Underprivileged students who dont have choices to improve third casual opportunity. Reality is well always have public or governmentrun schools. Usual not talking about massive numbers of students leaving the Public Schools. You are talking about essentially a lottery system in which a few students in failing schools get a chance to have an Educational Opportunity they are not getting in their educational environment its not an eitheror conversation. Public schools have plenty of money and they will continue to have plenty of money. But weve need to think about how are we going to innovate and get American Students the best possible education when they are not in schools providing it for them. David ford oconnell, its not just the Teachers Unions that are against this. People can vote with their feet and vote with their own pocketbook, maybe they will take their money to schools where a lot of b teachers arent there. But here is what the New York Times says about betsy devos. They are against her full bore. They have say she has poured money into chart were schools. She also argued for shutting down detroit Public Schools. And thats only partially true. She said the lowest 5 if they stay below 5 per from in terms of their quality for three years in a row, they should be shut down and money should be turned over to charter or taxpayer money store given out as vouchers for private schools. Thats what the New York Times says is bad, she wants to shut down bad if schools and giftman money to the parents. There will and lot of fireworks going on here. Whether i are rich or poor in this country, the primary road out of poverty runs by the schoolhouse. I dont understand what it is we are debating here . We need to be make our schools better in whichever way that occurs. But you have to understand what the democratic position is which is hold the status quo. You cant do that, because we are not achieving anything. What they want to do is feed the beast. What betsy devos is speak about is restoring power to parents and the local school boards. Melissa the people discriminated against the most are people without means. If you have money and its a bad school you are going to take your kids out and put them somewhere else. Why shouldnt all parents have that choice instead of just rich people . That seems like a value democrats should embrace. Lets just talk im a big fan of Charter Schools, i live in d. C. Half the kids in the Public Schools go to Charter Schools. Half go to dcs. In michigan where betsy devos is, there is no accountability in michigan for the quality of Charter Schools. And they are the worst Charter Schools in the country. So its not just whether the kids can go to school. Melissa what do you flown is no accountability . One of the biggest knocks on charter scooltds is they test, test, test. Each state has their own rules about Charter Schools. And the Charter Schools she runs, the Detroit Press is against her. The bad ones get closed down, thats the way it should work. Melissa you did a big special on this and dove deep into Charter Schools around the country. I know you interviewed betsy devos. What do you think of what you just heard from jim . John i think thats government think. Accountability is when the customers dont stlierkt, the parents choose to leave that school. The parents wake you have and realize johnny down the street has a school where he likes going to school. Thats accountability. David some things were just said about michigan schools. I want to correct the record. This is from stats that came out this year. Detroit Charter Schools are low performing. Only 19 of the students are prove efficient in english, but they are much better than the public other governmentrun alternatives. Charter students on average score 60 more proficient on state tests than kids attending traditional Public Schools. 18 of the top 25 schools in detroit are charters while 23 of the bottom 25 are traditional government schools. As for what betsy devos did, the American Federation for children, it participates in elections and gets behind politicians that are pushing Charter Schools and pushing more choice for parents. And its been very successful at this. She is a political operator as well as a philosophical believer in the charter School System and School Choice. Donald trump knew what he was doing when he chose her. She is a fighter. You measure the Charter Schools performance among the other options the childrenn have in the public system in that jurisdiction. The free market is the best vehicle through which improvement occurs. When you think about betty devos, she has done something, and it shows donal Donald Trumps attitude toward Educational Opportunity it helps those in the least good socioeconomic conditions. Take the conversation about chatter, im in new york, its a huge topic. Its a bipartisan topic inen in and new york where you have africanamerican and hispanic clergy who support this. Betsy devos has done this master any. It is a political change. And its been largely successful where she and her organization have intervened. The fact president elect trump has taken this conversation and made it the priority and not just making sure we sustain the failed status question shows you the kind of performer he plans to be. David the a. F. C. Started by betsy devos, they were especially successful. 108 out of 121 candidates they supported won their elects. This year was particularly resonating. When we synthesize the numbers that have come out about her record. When you put it together, the kids in detroit are doing worse than across the nation. But the kids in the Charter Schools are doing better than the kid in the governmentrun schools. Does it change your opinion or have any impact on it . Jim . Hope Charter School in detroit, okay . Finished in the bottom 1 of all schools. Its a Charter School. Finished in the bottom 1 . It has been a disaster for 20 years it just got its chatter renewed for two years. Change without accountability is not change its a pipe dream. Chart kerr schools are great. Its a great option out there. But if you do not have accountability in this system and she has lobbied strongly in michigan to keep accountability at the absolute minimum. Its not going well. So of course want kids in detroit to do better. I want their Public Schools and Charter Schools to do better. Melissa we watched betsy devos walknto the hearing room and she is greeting the senators. We expect to hear a statement from her. Then well hear questions based on the discussion you just heard here. You know it will get fiery so we want to listen in as she gets ready. You can see her take her seat. I saw Joe Lieberman as well. So she is surrounded by friendlies. Melissa how do you expect this to go . What is going to happen . I expect Elizabeth Warren on the left to start lobbing early and often. The democrats cannot stop betsy devos confirmation. Only betsy devos can stop it. If devos gets into trouble, will Lamar Alexander step in and shepherd her . It will be key the role he plays the in this to stop the democrats from slamming her. Melissa tony . What do you think . I agree. Look who is sitting next to her. Joe lieberman, there is broad support for betsy devos nomination. And there is an awareness that the educationalma monopoly held by the unions is at a point. As contentious has this political environment has been, there will be fireworks. Thats how they fundraise. Melissa Opening Statements about to begin. Well make an opening statement, well introduce the nominee. We welcome senator scott, a member of this committee. Senator lieberman a distinguished former member of this body who will make introductory remarks, and following the nominees comments, well have fiveminute round of questions. We have capitol officers here today who will remove anyone who attempts to disrupt the hearing. This is the first meeting of our committee in the new congress. This is a committee that will probably become evident that has some considerable differences of opinion on a variety of issues. But we found we can sometimes resolve them in important ways. Last year we passed what the majority leader senator mcconnell said was the most important bill in the congress, 20th century cures and know child left behind and 33 other bills signed by the president , 33 total. I want to sth want to thank seny and the democrats on the committee. I would like to make a word about process. 25 years ago miss devos i was sitting where you are sitting as the nominee for the secretary of education. And a form senator said to me, well, governor, i heard disturbing things but im not going to bring them up here. Senator nancy castlebbaum of can as said i think you just did. He put a secret hold on me and i wasnt confirmed for three months. But we abolished secret holds. And well use the same procedures on you as we used in 2001 and 2005 for george w. Bushs education secretary nominees. And until 2005 and 2016 for president obamas education nominees. So well curl and vote just as we did them. Arne duncan, president obamas First Education secretary. The hearing was on the 13th of january and he was confirmed a week later. Young king was confirmed 2 1 2 weeks later. We received from mrs. Devos and each senator has had available the committees required forms. The rules require them to be in more than a week in advance. The f. B. I. Background check has been done and senator murray and i heard results. Miss devos provided the office of government ethics with all the relevant information about her financial affairs. Well have a letter from that office which will be an agreement between mrs. Devos and that office on how to deal with any conflicts of interest before we vote on her confirmation. Mrs. Devos has met with each of us in her office. Several of us have written questions already given to her. Today well each have five minutes for further questions. The golden rule, five minutes. Question per rounds. It was the case for president obamas education if nominees and it was for me as well. In those cases the chairman and one sneb asked additional questions, and well do that again as we did before. Ill ask questions and i will ask senator murray if she would like to do the same. Each of us will have a chance to ask additional questions in a reasonable number in write big the close of business thursday at 5 00 p. M. Then well meet in executive session next tuesday to consider mrs. Devos nomination and other business if the final office of government ethics letter is received by this friday in order to give senators a chance to review it before tuesday. Following my opening remarks, senator murray will make hers, then well hear from senator scott, senator lieberman, then well hear froevos. Betsy devos in my opinion is on our childrens side. She has devoted her life to helping mainly lower income children have better choices of schools. Most criticism i have heard of her is she supports public chart kerr schools and supports giving lower income parents for choices of schools for their children. And she used her considerable wealth and effectiveness to advance those ideas. I believe she is in the main stream of Public Opinion and her critics are not. First, lets take the idea of Charter Schools. They are Public Schools. With fewer government rules, fewer union rules, so teachers have more freedom to teach and parents have more freedom to choose the school that best suits their child. Nothing new by the. In 1991 and 1992 president h. W. Bush raised 70 million for new American School development corporation. Then in 1993 in january and my last act as president bushs education secretary, i wrote every single superintendent in the country and asked them to try something that was invented in minnesota by the democratic farmer labour party. Something called Charter Schools. There were 12 of them then. Since then there has been broad support for the idea. Albert shanker endorsed those Charter Schools. In 1997, president clinton said we need 3,000 Charter Schools by 2002. Senator Hillary Clinton supported Charter Schools. President george w. Bush supported Charter Schools. President obama supports Charter Schools. Arne duncan described himself as a strong supporter of Charter Schools. Congress in 1994 and 1998, always bipartisan and usually by huge margins supported Charter Schools. 43 states and the District Of Columbia operate Charter Schools. For over 30 years those 12 Charter Schools in minnesota have grown to 6,800, 66 of americas Public School students attend them. So who is in the mainstream . The democratic labour party, president s bush and clinton. The u. S. Congress, 43 states, the district of columbus, betsy devos or her critics. I think obviously she is in the mainstream. Lets go to the other criticism. Giving lower income parents choices of schools that wealthy parents have. Arguing against that is arguing against the most successful social policy this congress has ever enacted. The g. I. Bill for veterans which appropriated federal dollars to follow veterans to the school of their choice. Notre dame, university of tennessee, any accredited institution. It produced the greatest generation and produced a model for all of our federal aid for colleges. They follow the student to the school of their choice. Nearly 100 billion in new Student Loans follow the student to the school of his choice. Many of us believe competition produces the best colleges and might produce the best schools. Many scholars have suggested a poor kids bill of rights 40 years ago. Today 50 states provide parents more choices of Public Schools. 15 attend a school other than their school of residence through open enrollment. 34 states within their detective. And 400,000 children are served by 50 private School Choice programs across 25 state, the District Of Columbia and douglas county, colorado. Congress passed Bipartisan Legislation with senator lieberman ahead of it creating the d. C. School voucher system helping 6,100 children. So there has been growing support since president h. W. Bush produced the g. I. Bill for kids to let states who wanted to to expand choice for lowincome students. Today in 2015. 45 United States senators supported scholarships for kids that i pro poatds and senator scott proposed. 45 United States senators thought that was a good idea. 73 of americans support School Choice, 64 say if given the financial opportunity they would send one or all of their children to a different school. So who is in the mainstream . The g. I. Bill for veterans, pell grants, school loans, the president elect, 25 states, ngress and the d. C. Voucher program. 73 of americans. Betsy devos or her critics. Pretty obvious she is in the mainstream. She is on the side of our children. The final criticism is she used her wealth to support these ideas, i think she deserves credit for that not criticism. Would critics be happier if she spent her time and money trying to deny poorer children the Education Opportunities wealthier students have . She is on our childrens side. I support her confirmation and look forward to working with her. I look forward to working with you and all our colleagues in congress. Thank you, miss devos for joining us. And welcome to the rest of your joined you as well. This is the first of many hearings well be holding on president elect trumps mopresis nominees. I want to talk about the snot senates role and this committees role. President trump has the right to fill his cabinet with people i think will fulfill his strition for his country. But that doesnt mean the senate should be a rubber stamp. We owe it to the public to make sure he or she will it family and workers first. President elect trump was the first president ial candidate in decades to not release his tax returns, and hes opening flauting ethics regarding his family businesses. Some say the bar has been lowered for public service. I refuse to accept that and ill continue to hold the Incoming Administration to the highest ethical standards. This is what the American People deserve regardless of who they voted for. I believe in an administration where the lines around poaf tension conflicts of interest around potential conflicts of interest, they need to be clear in our agencies. We need to make sure there is accountability to the taxpayers from the top of the government all the way down. Well continue pushing for robust screw the any. Miss devos said she knows. She is making sure no corners are cut and shell go to Great Lengths to make sure no corners are cut. However, im disappointed we are moving forward with this hearing before receiving the proper paperwork from the office of government ethics. When president obama entered the white house, republicans insisted on having an ethics letter in hand before moving to a hearing. Leader mcconnell wrote a letter to lead for reid making that explit demand, an ethics letter in hand with time to review and an f. B. I. Background check. I only hope that cutting corn and rushing nominees through will not be the new norm. As a former preschool teacher and School Board Member as well as a mom who got her start in politics fighting for public investments in early learning, i take this issue very seriously. I owe everything i have to strong Public Schools. I was able to attend with my six brothers and sisters. None of us in my family would have been able to go to college were it not for robust federal support. We had those opportunities because pour government was committed to investing in us. But i know thats not case for every student in every community today. Though we have a long way to go, im committed to making sure the federal government is a strong eastern our Public Schools, districts and states, and every student has access to a highquality Public Education that allows them to succeed and we focus our federal policies and investments on strengthening Public Schools for all students and not towards diverting taxpayer dollars to Fund Vouchers that dont work for unaccountable private schools. Thats why i was so proud to work with chairman alexander to give flexibility to states and school districts, but also includes strong accountability and reiterates our nations commitment to strengthening Public Education. This commitment goes beyond k12 because the federal government in general and the department of education specifically has an Important Role to play in supporting, protecting and investing in all of our students from our youngest learners to those in Higher Education and adults and parents seeking to improve their skills midcareer. Leading this agency is a big job. And i consider it to be my job to do everything toi everything i can to make sure whoever fills it will put students and families first. Im looking forward to hearing your answers to my questions. First im going to want to learn about your extensive financial entanglements and potential conflicts of interest. As a billionaire with investments made through connecticut complex financial instruments, many of which are made in ways that are not transparent and hard to track. You will need to make it clear how you will avoid conflic conff interest by not hing anthics her complete before this hearing today, i appreciate what you are doing to provide this committee the information to understand how you intend to live up to the highest level of ethics and transparency. So far you have not accepted calls to release three years of tax returns. I hope you rereconsider that approach. Second, i have Major Concerns how you have spent your career and fortune working to privatized the Public Schools. I will have questions how the policies you pushed have impacted students and how you intend to use the public trust and taxpayer dollars to support Public Education a. Education. I want to know about the group you have contribute to that want to impose antilgbt on schools. I want to make sure you commit to implementing our every Student Succeeds act by upholding the guardrails that are in there act. Third, ill you have been outspoken on k12 issues, your records and positions not clear in a number of critical areas. I want to know how you aroach Higher Education and whether you will stand with students and borrowers. I want your thoughts on title and how we can stop the scourge of campus sexual assault. I hope you are prefired address it seriously. I want to know how your personal will be religious and ideological views on safety and Womens Health will impact how you approach these issues. And im concerned about your reported view ofs on civil rights. Lgbtq, women and girls and and students of color, and im going to want to know more about how you will enforce critical civil rights laws. As all of my colleagues here know, i have a particular passion for early learning. I want to hear where you stand on how the federal government can insure success of every child in kindergarten. I hope you are transparent about your views, open about your record and the impact it has had on students and willing to make commitments to regarding the core spofnlts this department and the role you will take in it. I am hopeful this can be a smooth process, but i know my members are here tonht, and they are hoping for more than five minutes of questioning on this critical nominee. And as we get through this, i hope you will consider doing that. Im going to follow the golden rule. Im not going to change the rules and apply to mrs. Devos rules we havent applied to president obamas nominees or president bushs nominees. So well have a fiveminute round of questions. You and i can ask questions after that for another 5 minute. Members of this committee met with mrs. Devos. Some of them have already asked her questions and will have two days to think of more. Then shell have to answer them before we vote. As far as tax returns are concerned. If you would like to bring that up we can bring that up at our next executive session on the 24th. If her government ethics letter is completed by friday, i would note Committee Rules dont require tax returns to be reported by president ial nominees. The law does not. We did not require it of president obamas two nominees for education secretary. If we want to change the rules we can do that. But im not in favor of changing the rules in the middle of the process. May i ask a point of order. I believe we got a second round with the john kane hearing. Youve did and i did. In each of the john king, in the last two nominees, mr. Duncan and mr. King, we had a fiveminute round, then the chairman and one other senator asked five minutes of questions. So i will ask five minutes of questions and i will give to senator murray the opportunity to be the other senator who does that. I would just say nobody asked for additional time at that point. I hope as we get through this hearing and hear members questions well have an opportunity to revisit. I appreciate the request but i am not going to change the rules in the middle of the game. Thats the precedent we followed as far back as 1991 when i was the education secretary. I wasnt aware there was a precedent. As clear a precedent as i can think of. I would like to have 36 letters signed by 133 organizations expressing concern to this nomination be placed in the record. They will be. We welcome the nominee mrs. Devos to the hearing. We welcome your husband, your son and daughters and. Tim scott, a strong champion for education and Joe Lieberman served here for 24 years representing connecticut until he retired in 2013. I have said what i havto say about mrs. Devos. Think we shod move ahead with senator scott introduction. Well turn it over to senator lieberman, then well hear from mrs. Devos, then well begin her questions. I will note im surprised the number of folks, photographers who showed up to hear senator liebermans introduction. Very well done, senator lieberman. I have known the devos family for about three decades. I started learning how to sell when i was in college and it was one of the devos companies i learned how to sell. Im thank new that a champion of Public Education, a champion of education and specifically a champion of education for poor kids sits to my left. I will recall my own upbringing as a poor kid who by the time i was in the fourth grade attended four different schools. Its important to recognize the powerful Impact Education has specifically on poor kids. So up excited about this transition, looking forward to the opportunity to have betsy devos as our exam why for all children. For all education. But specifically for what i consider hypo evening kid. Others call at risk kid. For the last 28 years mrs. Devos has been a champion for those kid. A lifelong resident of michigan. She is a business woman and entrepreneur. She is the chairman of the American Federation for children and the wyncrest group. She had a humble beginning. Her parents mort gained everything they had to start a small auto parts business. She still remembers when she was 7 years old helping her father paint a cinder block building that become the office. Betsy worked the third shift at her familys business. She understands the sacrifices that families have to make in order to build a better life for themselves and for their children. She has successfully advocated for expansion of education opportunity in dozen and dozens of states. She also helped her husband launch a Charter School in grand rapid, michigan which is one of the highest performing Charter Schools in her home state. I have been to that school way before there was any idea she might one day sit here before this committee. Way before we assumed there would be a trump candidates i. I visited the trump candidacy. I had a chance to sit and talk with the kids at lunch and appreciate their hunger for education was stirred by the devos family. Stirred by the devos familys commitment to Public Education at this charter high school. She is motivated by making sure students go to safe and highperforming schools whether they are public, private, charter, traditional, or nontraditional schools. She understands the need to focus on accountability. Not just to have a system in place, but to actually hold schools accountable for the results they have. What she supports is holding all schools accountable, whether they are traditional Public Schools or Charter Schools. Mrs. Devos is clearly not opposed to accountability. What she is opposed to is holding some schools accountable but not all schools. What she is opposed to is leaving children trapped in schools that we know, we know are failing. Failing the very student that will have no hope if they do not receive a highquality education. Parent and students cannot ask for a better role model or a more thoughtful lead tore move the Education System leader to move the Education System into the 21st century. Betsy cares. She questions. She considers. And then and only then will she act. These are the traits of a leader and a doer. I look forward to supporting her nomination throughout the next few weeks. Nor lieberman, welcome. A special hello to chris murphy, my friend and successor from connecticut. Its great to be back in the senate to introduce betsy devos for your consideration as the next secretary of education. I met betsy several years ago in one of the many bipartisan efforts to improve the quality of education of americas children that she and so many others of you have been involved in. When i left the senate as a way to continue my own work on education reform, i became a member of the board of the American Federation for children, Th Organization that betsy devos founded to provide better education options for lower income children throughout america. Im very proud of what the afc has achieved. Particularly at the state level. More than 400,000 lower income families have been empowered with Financial Support to take their children out of schools where they thought the kids were not getting an adequate education, and put them into schools they thought were better. For me as a democrat its especially gratifying thats of these afc state programs have been enactedith bipartisan pport in state legislatures. None of the progress which the afc has achieved very specifically for those 400,000 plus kids would have occurred without bets christmas leadership which is inclusive and motivating. She i is disciplined, organized, knows how to set goals, and knows how to develop practical plans to achieve them. She is a purposedriven team builder. I understand that the department of education is bigger than anything she or for that matter most of any us except for senator alexander, of course, has ever led. But everything i have seen tells me betsy is ready to take on this assignment and do it very well. I know that some people are questioning her qualifications to be secretary of education. And too many of those questions to me seem to be based on the fact that she doesnt come from within the education establishment. But i believe that today thats one of the most important qualifications you could have for this job. She hamany others. She is a mother and grandmother. Shcares abt children more generally and has been involved in education like so many parents and local citizen School Board Members across america for almost 30 years. Her involvement has not just been as a philanthropist and advocate for reform, though she has been a real leader in both, she also mentors students in the Public Schools of grand rapids, michigan. Here is another important qualification betsy has for this job. Shell ask the right questions, such as, is this federal Education Program working . Is it giving our kids the education they need to live productive and satisfying lives . If not, how can we improve it . An examination of the facts of the state of American Education today makes clear that although current federal Education Programs are working for many of our children, they are failing millions of others. Here are just a few of the salient and to me troubling facts. Among all students of all income groups, less than 40 of High School Graduates are college or career ready, according to the a. C. T. A recent report said only 35 of 8th graders were proficient on the n. A. E. P. Reading exact and 34 on the math exam. About 2 3 of 8th graders in our country are not proficient in reading and math. Proficient is the middle ranking under the name. D under the nape. Among lower income students it falls disproportionately heavily. Too many there are too much ways to illustrate this. But let me give this one example. There are more than 1,200 high schools in america with 1. 1 Million Students that failed to graduate from high school at least one third their students. Some as many as more than half the students dont make to it high school graduation. These schools primarily educate lowincome students and students of color. These low Graduation Rate high schools are located in urban and rural areas and they are in almost every state, new york has 199 of them, georgia 115, california 105, and ads alabama and mississippi each more than 50. These are jarring numbers and i think they cry out for National Education reform. We are just not keeping our founders promise of equal opportunity. We are not pro pairing the next generation of americans to enable our economy to compete successfully in the world. We just cant just accept the status quo in education anymore. We need a change agent and education reformer to be education secretary. A leader who has one big goal which is to give every child in america, regardless of family income, or zip code, a firstclass education. And that is exactly the kind of education secretary i believe betsy devos can and will be. Because betsy has been fighting for reform and disrupting the status quo for so long, or nomination is naturally controversial. After all, she has directly challenged the education establishment by supporting Charter Schools and other School Choice program. But i can tell you that in all my work with her, i have never heard betsy speak against our Public School system. I have heard her ask what we can do for the lower income kids trapped in bad Public Schools, until we can make more our public scooments as good as they should be. Is it fair to stand back and not help the parents who want better for their children but cant get because they cant afford it . Is it acceptable to have so many children from all income groups graduate from our high schools unprepared for college in the hightech economy they will enter. No, it is not. Thats why i hope you will confirm betsy devos nomination to be secretary of education. I think its in our National Interest to give her chance to change the status quo in tour schools and secure a Better Future for our country and for all of our children. Thank you, senator lieberman. Before i introduce or welcome mrs. Devos. I would like to welcome into the record 97 letters of support for mrs. Devos from a variety of school groups. Former education secretaries, governors and business groups and others. Mrs. Devos. Thank you, chairman. Chairman alexander, Ranking Member murray, senators, thank you for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon. Thank you senators scott and lieberman for those kind words of introduction. I honor and applaud your lifelong dedication to the success receives our nations students and your fine public service. I want to thank my family for their support. Many of them seated behind me here. Except for my five grandchildren, the oldest of which is 5, it is not advisable they join us today. But im grateful that president elect trump has asked me to join his team. If confirmed im looking forward to work with you and Vice President mike pence to bring educatn to all the families this great nation. Why we might have differences, i think we can all agree, learning as a an american pursuit is a fundamental virtue. We are blessed with great educators who pour themselves into students. The schools in which they work are as diverse as the students they educate. This is a reflection of the diversity that is todays Public Education. Growing up in michigan, i attended local Christian Schools, then calvin college. My greatest influence in life in education was a teacher called elsa prince. Why student called her mrs. Prince, i just call her mom. When dick and i became parents, education took on a new meaning. We realized other parents werent able to make similar decisions about their childrens education. When our oldest reached school age, we visited the Potters House, a Christian School that serves many lowincome student in my hometown. We saw the struggles these families faced. For me it wasnt just a matter of Public Policy but national injustice. I committed to do something by the and eight has become my lifes work. I applaud the great work of the Potters House and its cofounder john boy. He and his team of teachers are doing a great job. But in the past 28 years the need and demand for these other options have grown unabated. I share president elect trumps view its time to shift the debate from what the system thinks is best for kids to what moms and dads want and deserve. Parent no longer believe a onesize fitsall mode of learning meets everyones needs. Whether government, charter, faith based or private education. Choices thats of us here in this room have exercised for our own children, why in 01 why n 2017 aree still questioning parent ability to exercise choices for their childrens education . We should support a parent doesnt right to enroll a child in a highquality alternative. Its very simple. Every child free of discrimination. Every student in america dreams of developing his or her unique talents and gifts. Every parent in america dreams of a future when children have access to schools with the rigor, challenges, and Safe Environments that successfully prepare them for a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow. And every teacher in america dreams of breaking free from standardization so that they can deploy their unique creativity and innovate with their students. Our nations schools are filled with talented, devoted professionals who successfully meet the needs of many, many children. But even our best schools dont work for all. This isnt the fault of teachers but a reality that all students are unique, learn differently, and excel at their own pace. Students also face new challenges today. In particular, our High School Graduates are having increasing difficulty accessing affordable, Higher Education. Escalating tuition is pricing aspiring and talented students out of college. Others are burdened with debts that will tak years o even decades to pay off. There iso magic wand to make the debt go away, but we do need to take action. It would be a mistake to shift that burden to struggling taxpayers without first addressing why tuition has gotten so high. For starters, we need to embrace new pathways of learning. For too long, a College Degree has been pushed as the only avenue for a better life. The old and expensive brick, motor, and ivy model is not the only one that will lead to a prosperous future. Craftsmanship is not a fall back but a noble