so-called school choice advocate who trump nominated as education secretary came under scrutiny for answers she gave at her senate confirmation hearing. critics said she seemed unprepared for basic questions. well, after 13 months on the job, the secretary of education seemed to struggle once again in an interview with 60 minutes. are the public schools in michigan getting better? i don t know. overall i can t say overall that they have all gotten better. have you seen the really bad schools maybe try to figure out what they are doing? i have not. i have not. i have not intentionally visited schools that are under performing. maybe you should. maybe i should, yes. do you see this disproportion in discipline for the same infraction as institutional racism? we re studying it carefully.
tweets, the news conference, everything that donald trump does is good for him and helpful for him. but do you think it is helping the republican party? yes. and let me just tell you, a writer by the name of ray di lorenzo. he s nominated the supreme court justice. saying islamic radical. school choice advocate, secretary of education and trade policies are being revised and that s before you get to obamacare and tax reform. so we need not to lose sight that things are being accomplished and sometimes, we re just not paying attention to the fact that they are. that s true. and those are all republican priorities there to be sure. and amanda carpenter, you re a communications expert. you saw the president deliver that news conference yesterday.
escape the club. officials say the shooting was not related to terrorism. they say a man denied admission because he had a gun, open fire on security personnel. jenna: education secretary nominee betsy devos going before a senate committee later today, as her confirmation hearing begins. opponents have criticized the school choice advocate for her work to expand charter schools and voucher programs across the country. but former education secretary bill bennett takes a very different view, writing a respected education advocate and reformer, devos has devoted her nearly 30-year career for fighting for greater parental control and choice. she rejects putting special interest ahead of student interest. that is kind of leadership the country s school system needs. bill bennett, who served as former president ronald reagan s education secretary, joins us now. secretary bennett, nice to have you on a program on a day like today. thank you, jenna, great to be here. jenna: why do you
from where the existing money comes isn t clear. his commitment to making school choice an option is evident. with betsy at our side, i know we will make great strides in fixing our broken schools all over the country. it s time to make education great again. reporter: betsy, who was declining interviews ahead of the process, is a billionaire former michigan gop chair and school choice advocate who also echos the bring education local sentiment trump championed throughout his campaign. the answer isn t bigger government. the answer is local control. it s listening to parents and it s giving more choices. reporter: she was never a teacher. she did make the michigan charter school movement her mission by supporting legislation redirecting public funds since the early 90s. there are nearly 400 charters in the state today. two-thirds of which are run by for profit entities.
the backbone of president-elect trump s k-12 education agenda. in a speech outlining his school choice plan, he said his first budget will turn $20 billion of existing federal dollars into block grants for states with more money going to the ones with school choice programs in place. each state will then decide how to distribute the money which trump said he would like to see go toward financial aid for kids living below the poverty line. from where the existing money comes isn t clear. his commitment to making school choice an option is evident. with betsy at our side, i know we will make great strides in fixing our broken schools all over the country. it s time to make education great again. reporter: betsy, who was declining interviews ahead of the process, is a billionaire former michigan gop chair and school choice advocate who also echos the bring education local