Trump Regime Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did not acquit herself well on 60 Minutes tonight when it came to defending the Trump approach to "school choice" in her home state of Michigan.
Lesley Stahl: Why take away money from that school that's not working, to bring them up to a level where they are-- that school is working?
Betsy DeVos: Well, we should be funding and investing in students, not in school-- school buildings, not in institutions, not in systems.
Lesley Stahl: Okay. But what about the kids who are back at the school that's not working? What about those kids?
Betsy DeVos: Well, in places where there have been-- where there is-- a lot of choice that's been introduced-- Florida, for example, the-- studies show that when there's a large number of students that opt to go to a different school or different schools, the traditional public schools actually-- the results get better, as well.
Lesley Stahl: Now, has that happened in Michigan? We're in Michigan. This is your home state.
Betsy DeVos: Michi--Yes, well, there's lots of great options and choices for students here.
Lesley Stahl: Have the public schools in Michigan gotten better?
Betsy DeVos: I don't know. Overall, I-- I can't say overall that they have all gotten better.
Lesley Stahl: The whole state is not doing well.
Betsy DeVos: Well, there are certainly lots of pockets where this-- the students are doing well and--
Lesley Stahl: No, but your argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better, is not working in Michigan where you had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system here.
Betsy DeVos: I hesitate to talk about all schools in general because schools are made up of individual students attending them.
Lesley Stahl: The public schools here are doing worse than they did.
Betsy DeVos: Michigan schools need to do better. There is no doubt about it.
Lesley Stahl: Have you seen the really bad schools? Maybe try to figure out what they're doing?
Betsy DeVos: I have not-- I have not-- I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming.
Lesley Stahl: Maybe you should.
Betsy DeVos: Maybe I should. Yes.
DeVos is the only Cabinet secretary protected by a squad of U.S. Marshals because she's gotten death threats. She's frequently met by protesters who accuse her of pushing an elitist agenda.
She often manages to offend, as when she called historically black colleges and universities "pioneers" of "school choice" – as though they had a choice.
At this commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University, students booed and turned their backs to her.
Lesley Stahl: Why have you become, people say, the most hated Cabinet secretary?
Betsy DeVos: I'm not so sure exactly how that happened. But I think there are a lot of really powerful forces allied against change.
Lesley Stahl: Does it hurt?
Betsy DeVos: Sometimes it does. Sometimes it does. Again, I think-- I think--
Lesley Stahl: Do you ever say--
Betsy DeVos: --I'm more misunderstood than anything.
Of all the Trump cabinet secretaries, DeVos is second only to Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the sheer amount of damage she's doing to the country, particularly to people of color. Naturally if given a choice, people want to send their kids to the best schools, but all DeVos's plan is doing is taking money out of public schools and putting it in the pockets of "education reform" companies, opening charter schools across the country that are nothing but huge scams.
Oh, and there's the issue of DeVos's brother, Erik Prince, and his involvement in Trump's foreign fundraising and how DeVos ended up with this job when she's clearly unqualified for it.
There's no way DeVos should have this job, but she does.
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