Verbatim

Leading Voices in Education

“When you put the responsibility on parents to make good choices, it rarely works.”

Sep 19, 2018

Describing the need for some regulation in school choice

“If you continue to defund the profession, teachers are going to leave, or are not going to make it. This is a real turning point at a critical time for public schools and for public education, and our members know it.”

Sep 05, 2018

On the frustration that led a strike vote in the teachers union.

“Let me be clear: I have no intention of taking any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff under the ESEA.”

Sep 01, 2018

In a letter to Congress

“What is the advantage in a low-income area of sending a child to a failed school and that being your only choice?”

Aug 30, 2018

Explaining his support for school choice in a 2008 presidential debate.

“Congress doesn’t think this is a good idea. Parents don’t think this is a good idea. Teachers don’t think this is a good idea. Only Betsy DeVos and the gun industry want this.”

Aug 27, 2018

Introducing an amendment that would block federal spending to arm teachers.

“What it ultimately comes down to is that someone cares about their future. We want the next great police officer, the next great politician, the next great doctor, the next great nurse, the next great musician.”

Aug 16, 2018

Explaining the philosophy behind the new public school he opened in Akron, Ohio

“We are in the business of educating children, no matter where they came from or how they got here.”

Aug 12, 2018

Describing her district's commitment to helping unaccompanied immigrant children

“I don’t look at what people say, I look at actions and policies. I look at their budgets. And our values don’t reflect that we care about education, teachers or that we truly care about keeping our children safe and free of fear.”

Aug 05, 2018

In an interview on Face the Nation

“Do we need to be spending money on giving [a] random group of privileged high school students a world-class running track? No. That’s crazy. But do we need to be spending money in order to expand educational opportunities for kids who otherwise wouldn’t have them? Absolutely,”

Aug 03, 2018

On donations to Ivy League colleges

“When a child who could be taught to read goes untaught, the child suffers a lasting injury—and so does society.”

Jul 26, 2018

Ruling that the state has failed to provide at-risk students with a proficient education

“It’s incredibly powerful that in the capital of the Confederacy, where we had a school named for an individual who fought to maintain slavery, that now we’re renaming that school after the first black president.”

Jul 20, 2018

On renaming J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School for Barack Obama

“Research shows the benefits of diversity for all students.”

Jul 08, 2018

About the Trump administration's decision to rescind Obama-era guidance on race-based admissions

“Across the country, the relationships of public employees and employers will alter in both predictable and wholly unexpected ways.”

Jun 29, 2018

In her dissent on the Janus v. AFSCME decision

“College wasn’t meant to do alone.”

Jun 27, 2018

Speaking to first-generation, college-bound students

“The Department of Labor is no more equipped to oversee elementary education policy than the Department of Education is prepared to enforce standards for coal mine safety. The logic behind this proposal is painfully thin.”

Jun 22, 2018

On a proposal to merge the Education and Labor departments

“We will continue to stress the importance of attendance because every day counts.”

Jun 12, 2018

After a City Council vote allowing truant seniors to graduate

“School is a sacrosanct place for students to be able to learn, and they should be protected.”

Jun 06, 2018

Clarifying past statements about immigration officials approaching undocumented students at school

“If we’re going to get serious about closing the achievement gap, we have to start at the beginning.”

Jun 05, 2018

On the need to strengthen early childhood education

“I shouldn’t be going through this. It’s my school. This is my daily life. I shouldn’t have to feel like that, and I feel scared to even go back.”

May 25, 2018

After a mass shooting at the Texas school

“I would say we are a nation of laws, and we are a compassionate people.”

May 22, 2018

Answering a question on whether schools should report undocumented immigrants.

“For years now, our schools have been suffering death by a thousand paper cuts, and it’s long past time we right this wrong.”

May 17, 2018

Voting on a bill to modernize the state's education funding formula

“Students are suffering because of an absence of vision, a failure of will and politics that values opposition over progress.”

May 10, 2018

In a joint Washington Post commentary piece

“Even the best teacher can’t succeed with students who are not in class.”

May 09, 2018

On the importance of school attendance

“This raise is earned, and it is deserved. Everyone can name the teachers who made a positive impact on their lives.”

May 03, 2018

After signing a bill that raised teachers' salaries by 20% in 2020.

“No one indicator is the silver bullet in education.”

May 01, 2018

During a panel discussion on chronic absenteeism and ESSA

“Conjunction Junction, what’s your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.”

Apr 26, 2018

Composer of Schoolhouse Rock, who died this week

“If you can’t read, you can’t do anything.”

Apr 18, 2018

On the need for promoting literacy

“Education cuts do not heal.”

Apr 09, 2018

Education cuts do not heal.

“More glue guns, fewer handguns.”

Mar 27, 2018

More glue guns, fewer handguns.

“I think it would be important to visit some poor performing schools, I think the question is: will they let me in?”

Mar 21, 2018

At a Congressional hearing

“It strains credibility to suggest that schools cannot be made safer unless states and districts can employ racially discriminatory discipline policies and practices.”

Mar 19, 2018

In a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Obama-era discipline guidance

“It certainly was hard to watch, but more concerning are the policies of this administration, their unwillingness to protect student civil rights, their unwillingness to invest in public education, their unwillingness to do what’s necessary to make our schools safer from gun violence.”

Mar 13, 2018

On the 60 Minutes Interview with his successor, Betsy DeVos

“If we wanted to dictate from D.C., I’d claim the mantle of our nation’s ‘choice chief’ and reject plans because they don’t give parents more quality choices. But I haven’t done that. And I won’t.”

Mar 05, 2018

On her handling of the state plans required by the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“Lyndon Johnson understood that you can’t deal with education without dealing with poverty, and you can’t deal with poverty without dealing with race.”

Feb 28, 2018

Reflecting on the lack of progress in civil rights in the past 50 years

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Feb 18, 2018

Inaugural Address, January 20, 1937

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Feb 18, 2018

Inaugural Address, January 20, 1937

“We have many qualified, capable individuals waiting to come and contribute here, and they’re just messing around up at that building on the Hill.”

Feb 09, 2018

On Congress' delay in confirming Education Department officials.

“A lot of where kids end up is already kind of baked in by the 3rd grade.”

Feb 06, 2018

On new research into teacher quality and student achievement.

“Higher education must provide a return on investment for students and taxpayers. Right now, both are getting a raw deal.”

Feb 01, 2018

In a hearing about reauthorizing the Higher Education Act

“Maybe what students need is someone who doesn’t yet know all the things you ‘can’t do.’”

Jan 23, 2018

On the benefits of being an outsider

” I agree–and have always agreed–with President Trump on this: Common Core is a disaster. And at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead.”

Jan 16, 2018

In a Jan. 16 speech

“To be ready for school and learning, you have to be healthy first.”

Jan 12, 2018

On the importance of the CHIP program to education

“When public officials resist public disclosure of what they do, people should be skeptical of what they’re trying to hide.”

Jan 03, 2018

Executive Director of American Oversight, which has sued for the calendar of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

“The easiest fix is to eliminate the 529 expansion…. Not doing so will affirm the worst caricature of Republicans and education — taking money from the poor to give to the rich.”

Dec 21, 2017

On a new tax break for parents spending money on private school tuition

“I think that we can all do well to reflect on the things we say before we say them.”

Dec 01, 2017

When asked about President Trump's reference to Pocahontas

“If the department is today ignoring the agreement we made in the law and just choosing to implement whatever it feels like…then this committee needs to hear from the secretary directly.”

Nov 29, 2017

Accusing the U.S. Education Department of flouting ESSA rules

“I am committed to seeing ESSA implemented as it was written. I believe Secretary DeVos is doing just that—following the law in approval of state plans while encouraging states to use maximum flexibility afforded to them.”

Nov 28, 2017

In a tweet defending Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from Democratic criticism

“We’ll take $200,000 of your money; in exchange, we’ll train your children to hate your country…We’ll make them unemployable by teaching them courses in zombie studies, underwater basket weaving and, my personal favorite, tree climbing.”

Nov 27, 2017

Decrying American universities in an Oct. 24 speech at the University of North Texas

“We need to stop forcing kids into believing a traditional four-year degree is the only pathway to success.”

Nov 14, 2017

Speaking about the value of apprenticeships.

“I think I was undercoached. The transition group was very circumspect about how much information they gave me about then-current policy and … it was in their view a balance between being prepared for a confirmation hearing and not having well-formed opinions on what should or shouldn’t change.”

Nov 01, 2017

Describing her difficult confirmation hearing before the Senate HELP Committee

“For students of color, disparities in educational opportunity and achievement are inextricably linked to our nation’s continued struggle to grapple with issues of race and bias.”

Oct 22, 2017

In a speech at Georgetown University

“The mission of schools and teachers is to develop an understanding of all that is true, good and beautiful.”

Oct 06, 2017

In a tweet

“An A in Louisiana should be an A in any state in this country.”

Oct 04, 2017

On the goals of his state's ESSA plan.

“I know if Washington tries to mandate ‘choice,’ all we’ll end up with is a mountain of mediocrity, a surge of spending and a bloat of bureaucracy to go along with it.”

Oct 03, 2017

Speaking at Harvard University

“Getting anything done is a process, not an event. When you are oriented to getting things done, it can be frustrating.”

Sep 25, 2017

On the challenges of working in the federal bureaucracy

“I got the impression that her learning curve where higher ed is concerned is quite vertical.”

Sep 21, 2017

After a conversation with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos

It’s a mundane malaise that dampens dreams, dims horizons and denies futures.”

Sep 13, 2017

On the back-to-school routine in public schools

“This is not about letting institutions off the hook – they still have important work to do. [But] through intimidation and coercion, the failed system has clearly pushed schools to overreach.”

Sep 07, 2017

Pledging to revise rules on campus sexual assaults

“Condemning the KKK and Nazis is a really low bar.”

Aug 28, 2017

Former education secretary criticizing current Secretary Betsy DeVos's response to Charlottesville

“The views of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other racist bigots are totally abhorrent to the American ideal. We all have a role to play in rejecting views that pit one group of people against another. Such views are cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong.”

Aug 18, 2017

On white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va.

“It is not fair to think that when students transit through a K-12 system that is not preparing them for beyond, that somehow we are going to waive a magic wand and things are going to be perfect for them at the higher-ed level.”

Aug 09, 2017

On the connection between K-12 school quality and college completion

“For all of the beauty of technology and all the things we’ve helped facilitate over the years, nothing yet replaces human interactions.”

Aug 07, 2017

Quoted in a Wall Street Journal Magazine article on Apple's new corporate headquarters

“Out of Michigan, without her checkbook, DeVos is like a mermaid with legs: clumsy, conspicuous, and unable to move forward.”

Jul 28, 2017

Writing in a New York magazine profile of the U.S. Secretary of Education.

“I think school choice advocates, and I’m one of them, have made a lot more progress state-by-state and community-by-community than in Washington. I think it’s more difficult here.”

Jul 27, 2017

On stalled efforts to increase federal spending for school choice

“Ms. Jackson’s callous, insensitive, and egregious comments regarding sexual assault on college campuses crossed a serious line and highlighted her clear biases.”

Jul 18, 2017

On "flippant" remarks by Candice Jackson, acting Education Department civil rights chief

“We can’t go back to the days when allegations were swept under the rug. And I acknowledge there was a time when women were essentially dismissed. That is not acceptable. It’s clear that there are failings in this process. A system without due process protections ultimately serves no one in the end.”

Jul 14, 2017

On the need for balance on campus sexual assault

“We urge your administration to not just commit to protecting the civil rights of all students in this country, but to also do so proactively and with the utmost urgency.”

Jul 10, 2017

Letter from 64 Congressional Democrats to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos…

“Within the Beltway and education policy circles, people come to these studies and ask ‘Do voucher programs work?’ I view that as the wrong question to ask. The question is are there good schools, effective schools of all governance types available to low-income and other disadvantaged children?”

Jun 26, 2017

On new research on performance of students using private school vouchers.

“Superintendents in Pennsylvania and across the nation have been clear that the Republican health care plan will devastate our schools.”

Jun 21, 2017

On cuts to Medicaid expected in the health care bill

“I suggest we focus less on what word comes before ‘school’ – whether it be traditional, charter, virtual, magnet, home, parochial, private or any approach yet to be developed and focus instead on the individuals they are intended to serve.”

Jun 14, 2017

Speaking to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

“Any elected official who asks to visit my schools is welcome to do so; there is no political litmus test.”

Jun 13, 2017

On the need for a bipartisan approach to education

“This is a difficult budget request to defend. I think it’s likely that the kinds of cuts that are proposed in this budget will not occur.”

Jun 08, 2017

Speaking about the fiscal year 2018 budget for the U.S. Education Department

“Education is not mayonnaise. The day we start treating education of our children like the marketing of a condiment is the day we’ve given up on our kids.”

Jun 06, 2017

At a Senate Hearing on the FY2018 Education Budget

“This budget reflects the views of an administration filled with people who frankly never had to worry about their children going to college.”

May 24, 2017

On education spending in the fiscal year 2018 federal budget

“The opponents of modernizing our education system will pull out all the stops. They will not go quietly into the night.”

May 22, 2017

Speaking at the American Federation for Children National Policy Summit

“We’ve done young people a disservice for a long time in suggesting that if you’re going to be successful as an adult, that you have to go to a four-year college or university.”

May 10, 2017

Speaking at a vocational training program

“This is what winning for young children and kids from all over the country looks like.”

May 03, 2017

On Congress' decision to extend the private school vouchers offered under the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program

“We would tell those who work to destroy our public schools, no matter how well-intentioned they might think themselves to be, to stop invoking ‘civil rights.’ It is a grave insult to the great American martyrs who died in service to that cause

May 01, 2017

Writing in The Washington Post

“There’s isn’t really any Common Core anymore, and each state is able to set the standards for their state.”

Apr 25, 2017

In a recent interview

“My mission is to unleash a new era of innovation in education to drive unprecedented achievement.”

Apr 21, 2017

In a opinion piece in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Common Core. I mean, we have to bring education more local. We can’t be managing education from Washington. When I go out to Iowa, when I go out to the different states and I talk, they want to run their school programs locally.”

Apr 04, 2017

Speaking to a business town hall meeting

“I think the first and most important measure of accountability to the public is to the parents in general, right? The fact that parents choose a school for their child.”

Mar 29, 2017

On the need for school choice

“Schools are still a national issue, but there is a consensus that the issues not to be resolved from Washington.”

Mar 29, 2017

On the federal government's role in education

“I want to be very clear: the massive and immediate cuts to education, health care, medical research, and other middle class and worker priorities that President Trump is demanding are absolute non-starters for Democrats.”

Mar 28, 2017

On President Trump's proposed cuts to the FY 2017 budget, including $3 billion in education spending

“I was all for ESSA’s devolution of authority back to the states. But I’m now living a vivid, painful example of how federalism can be used to advance adult interests at the expense of students.”

Mar 23, 2017

On Maryland's new school accountability plan

“The reality is that private schools receiving taxpayer funds lack accountability and transparency, can deny students and parents basic rights, and are inaccessible to students in rural areas and students who cannot afford to pay the difference in cost between the voucher and private school tuition.”

Mar 22, 2017

In a letter to colleagues about private school choice

“The budget places power in the hands of parents and families to choose schools that are best for their children by investing an additional $1.4 billion in school choice programs.”

Mar 16, 2017

On President Trump's preliminary budget

“We’re going to do what’s best for children by implementing the law as Congress intended, with the freedom and flexibility that state and local leaders deserve.”

Mar 13, 2017

Speaking to the Council of Great City Schools about ESSA

“It will give Secretary DeVos a blank check to promote her anti-public-school agenda.”

Mar 09, 2017

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on the decision to repeal ESSA regulations

“Here is the problem with this rule that was put out by the U.S. Department of Education: the rule specifically does things or requires states to do things that Congress said … the Department can’t do. In other words, the Department’s regulation specifically violates the law.”

Mar 04, 2017

On why he supports repealing ESSA regulations

“I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.”

Feb 28, 2017

In his February 28 address to Congress

“Do you agree…that all schools that receive taxpayer funding should be equally accountable?” “Well no….”

Feb 27, 2017

January 2017 DeVos confirmation hearing

“The path to higher standards and better teaching and real accountability is community by community, classroom by classroom, state by state, and not through the federal government.”

Feb 24, 2017

Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chair

“We have a unique window of opportunity to make school choice a reality for millions of families.”

Feb 23, 2017

U.S. Secretary of Education

“I want every single inner-city child in America, who is today trapped in a failing school, to have the freedom — the civil right — to attend the school of their choice.”

Feb 22, 2017

President Donald J. Trump on school choice…

“I can tell the attitude is more of a ‘receive mode.’ They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child. You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”

Feb 21, 2017

U.S. Secretary of Education

DeVos and Kaine on School Accountability

Jan 26, 2017

This exchange occurred at the January 2017 Senate confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos’s appointment as…