Verbatim

Leading Voices in Education

“Many students and low-income families are facing financial hardships due to the pandemic need assistance from small broadband providers — many of which have already committed to sustain critical internet services and provide upgrades to ensure that the most vulnerable among us stay connected.”

Apr 07, 2020

In a letter to congressional leaders urging them to dedicate funding for small broadband providers.

“If you’re a nursing school student or medical school student, we need you.”

Mar 31, 2020

While unveiling a new website recruiting healthcare professionals near the end of their training to help the state fight coronavirus.

“Homeless youth talk about school as home, they talk about school as an escape, they talk about school as family—and that’s now gone.”

Mar 26, 2020

On how homeless students are impacted by the coronavirus.

“This is a point where I can say to all our educators: We need you. We need you. These children need you. These families need you.”

Mar 18, 2020

After making the decision to close NYC Public Schools.

“Bernie has put forward a plan that would make public colleges and universities free for families whose income is below $125,000. It’s a good idea, and after consideration, I am proud to add it to my platform.”

Mar 16, 2020

In a tweet announcing his adoption of part of Bernie Sanders' free college plan.

“Closing our K-12 school buildings is the responsible choice that will minimize the risk of exposure for children, educators, and families and mitigate the spread of coronavirus.”

Mar 13, 2020

On the closing of all K-12 Michigan schools.

“Today the Senate chose to put #StudentsFirst and reverse @BetsyDeVosED ‘s harmful Borrowers Defense rule. This is an important first step to prioritizing the interests of defrauded student loan borrowers instead of predatory, for-profit colleges.”

Mar 11, 2020

In a tweet about the Senate's vote to overturn the new Borrower's Defense rule.

“We cannot send our children into schools with broken heating, contaminated water, toxic mold, poor technology, and expect them to thrive.”

Mar 04, 2020

In her statement of support for the Rebuild America's Schools Act.

“We believe by eliminating these barriers, we are empowering our students to become lifelong voters and to believe in their power to make a difference.”

Mar 02, 2020

On arranging field trips to polling sites to encourage students to vote.

“I’m not sure they’re appropriate every place. I can only tell you in New York, they provided parents with an alternative to send students to them. The charter schools are mixed in with the non-charter public schools, because our charter schools are public schools as well — they’ve helped each other.”

Feb 26, 2020

On charter schools at the Democratic primary debate in South Carolina.

“As president, we will guarantee free, universal childcare and pre-kindergarten to every child in America to help level the playing field, create new and good jobs, and enable parents more easily balance the demands of work and home.”

Feb 24, 2020

In a statement introducing his $1.5 trillion childcare and pre-k plan.

“Mike [Bloomberg] has always supported charter schools, he opened a record number of charter schools as mayor of New York City, and he will champion the issue as president.”

Feb 19, 2020

In a statement to Politico.

“This budget request allows States the freedom to focus on people, not paperwork. Results, not regulations. We know States will spend their money differently, and that’s okay. In fact, that’s what we hope they do. They know best how to serve their students.”

Feb 13, 2020

On the release of President Trump's budget which cuts the Department's spending by almost 8%.

“Even the NCAA acknowledges now that federal legislation is necessary.”

Feb 10, 2020

Regarding compensation for student athletes.

“When girls are educated and empowered, we uplift communities and families, reduce poverty, and create a safer and more prosperous world.”

Feb 04, 2020

In her statement on the passage of the Keeping Girls in School Act by the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I think there’s a middle ground where you can’t just say America is nothing and everybody run off and do your own thing. It’s important to have a common cultural context and even—and this will be very controversial—a common language of expression.”

Jan 31, 2020

Explaining that he's glad America has become less of a monoculture.

“There are 37 states that have what’s called a Blaine Amendment, which essentially was a bigoted action against Catholic schools in the 1800s.”

Jan 30, 2020

While discussing Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue during a Fox News exclusive.

“For many children, the food they eat at school is their only access to healthy, nutritious meals.”

Jan 27, 2020

On why the Trump administration's rollback of school nutrition guidelines is problematic for students.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Jan 23, 2020

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence…

“We all believe in innovation. But that has to be done with educators, not to educators. And that’s one of many reasons why for-profit charter schools have no place in the future of American education.”

Jan 21, 2020

While talking to teachers in Iowa last weekend.

“Our country’s experiment with debt-financed education went terribly wrong.”

Jan 17, 2020

In her statement on using the Higher Education Act to cancel student debt.

“I don’t think subsidizing the children of millionaires and billionaires to pay absolutely zero in tuition at public college is the best use of those scarce taxpayer dollars.”

Jan 15, 2020

During January's democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Iowa.

“We don’t have the right to be called professionals—and we will never convince the public that we are—unless we are prepared honestly to decide what constitutes competence in our profession and what constitutes incompetence and apply those definitions to ourselves and our colleagues.”

Jan 08, 2020

To a teacher union convention in Niagara Falls in 1985.

“We have come to take democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside.”

Jan 06, 2020

In the Supreme Court's 2019 year-end report.

“I have a plan, as a Special Ed teacher, to fully fund IDEA.”

Dec 20, 2019

During December's Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University.

“I don’t mean a coffee mug that you buy someone at the holidays. You pay them money … so that they can support their family and still be able to teach in public schools.”

Dec 19, 2019

At the education forum for 2020 candidates in Pittsburgh.

“We have to massively increase what we pay teachers in this country.”

Dec 16, 2019

At the education forum for 2020 candidates in Pittsburgh.

“I think most of us here want justice for these taxpayers that happen to be borrowers, for them to receive the relief that they need to receive.”

Dec 13, 2019

During House Education & Labor's hearing on the Department of Education's handling of Borrower's Defense.

“We cannot tolerate fraud in higher education, nor can we tolerate furiously giving away taxpayer money to those who have submitted a false claim or aren’t eligible for relief.”

Dec 11, 2019

In her statement on the department's new methodology for providing student loan relief to Borrower Defense applicants.

“Students must be responsible consumers of education, seriously committed to their own success.”

Dec 04, 2019

During her speech at the annual Federal Student Aid (FSA) conference.

“We must give America’s students the freedom to learn and grow in the ways and places that work best for them.”

Dec 03, 2019

In her statement on the United States' PISA scores.

“We want to ensure federal dollars have the maximum positive impact on the students and communities that need it most.”

Dec 02, 2019

In her statement on the department's new Opportunity Zones priority.

“Some communities are perfectly comfortable with having their teachers and school staff trained and armed so they can protect people in their buildings. Other communities are adamantly opposed to the idea. That is okay.”

Nov 25, 2019

In their failed armed teacher resolution.

“Studies have shown that two-thirds of our kids’ educational outcomes are determined by what’s happening to them at home.”

Nov 21, 2019

During November's Democratic Primary Debate

“The conservative case that I’m building, or hope to be building here, is that we must stop making unlimited amounts of money available through loans.”

Nov 15, 2019

At an AEI event on the conservative argument for student debt forgiveness.

“For many of us who have DACA, it’s been two years of waiting this out.”

Nov 11, 2019

Describing how the Supreme Court's decision affects her post-graduation plans.

“I didn’t want to have another fire throw a wrench in my academic work.”

Nov 07, 2019

Describing the impact of California wildfires on his education.

“To our educators, this is your victory.”

Nov 06, 2019

In his victory speech Tuesday night.

“Obviously, we shouldn’t be telling [students] how to vote or who to vote for. We just want them to vote, period—to take that first step toward making voting a lifelong habit.”

Nov 04, 2019

Describing her new nonpartisan voter registration program that trains teachers on getting their students to vote.

“We rejected the idea that one-size-fits-all solutions make sense in a world where education needs continue to evolve in our dynamic economy.”

Nov 01, 2019

In her statement on new regulations that overhaul college accreditation.

“This country is in a student achievement crisis, and over the past decade it has continued to worsen, especially for our most vulnerable students.”

Oct 30, 2019

In her statement on the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results.

“The same tired idea of throwing more money into the existing system and hoping that this time things will be different is the very definition of insanity.”

Oct 30, 2019

In her statement during the markup on the Democrats' higher education bill.

“It’s simple, we need more people of color in these rooms making decisions.”

Oct 24, 2019

When asked about recommendations on education reform policies during an event at the Brookings Institution.

“Who do they think is actually going to pay for these? It’s going to be two of the three Americans that aren’t going to college paying for the one out of three that do.”

Oct 21, 2019

Criticizing Democrats' student loan plans during an interview on Fox News.

“People who are getting crushed by student loans are in a fight today.”

Oct 21, 2019

At the fourth Democratic debate in Ohio.

“By providing students in our Nation with such an education, we help save our children from the clutches of poverty, crime, drugs, and hopelessness, and we help safeguard our Nation’s prosperity for generations yet unborn.”

Oct 17, 2019

By providing students in our Nation with such an education, we help save our children…

“Instead of promoting unworkable partisan bills, we ought to work together to support students’ access to affordable postsecondary education that will prepare them to enter the workforce with the skills they need for lifelong success.”

Oct 16, 2019

In their statement criticizing Democrats' proposed higher education bill.

“We do not believe the U.S. has the high-skill talent it needs, nor does it have the capacity to train enough people with those skills.”

Oct 15, 2019

In an open-letter to the White House and Congress.

“School is where students are first learning how to do the work of citizenship.”

Oct 11, 2019

Regarding how to best teach about impeachment in schools.

“The best the next secretary could do, regardless of where she comes from, would be to assemble a broad-based panel of actual public school teachers, consult them regularly, and listen to them.”

Oct 09, 2019

In his article for Forbes on whether or not a teacher should be Secretary of Education.

“That’s why now is the time to do something different. Something better. Embrace the thing that makes America great: Freedom.”

Oct 03, 2019

In her prepared remarks on Education Freedom Scholarships at the American Enterprise Institute.

“The rich diversity at Harvard and other colleges and universities and the benefits that flow from that diversity will foster the tolerance, acceptance and understanding that will ultimately make race conscious admissions obsolete.”

Oct 02, 2019

From her 130-page ruling on the Harvard affirmative action case.

“This PSA is a gut punch, it’s uncomfortable, it’s hard to watch, but you can’t sanitize a school shooting.”

Sep 30, 2019

Describing a new commercial created by Sandy Hook Promise that vividly displays the atrocities of gun violence in schools

America is on the ‘verge of making education great again.’

Sep 23, 2019

In her remarks at the Mackinac, Michigan Republican Leadership Conference

“At times the new progressivism, for all its up-to-the-minuteness, carries a whiff of the 17th century, with heresy hunts and denunciations of sin and displays of self-mortification. The atmosphere of mental constriction in progressive milieus, the self-censorship and fear of public shaming, the intolerance of dissent—these are qualities of an illiberal politics.”

Sep 17, 2019

When the Culture Wars Come for the Kids, The Atlantic, October 2019

“Strategies like investing in our children work. I’m tired of us thinking about these problems isolated from these other issues.”

Sep 13, 2019

Cory Booker responds during the third Democratic debate where teacher pay, charter schools and Secretary of Education DeVos were discussed.

“The Trump administration is sending an alarming message: Schools can cheat [their] student borrowers and still reap the rewards of federal student aid.”

Sep 03, 2019

The Chairman of the House education committee responds to the the Department of Education's new "borrower defense to repayment" rules.

“I tell parents you are my partner in your child’s education. You pass the baton to me in morning, and I pass the baton back to you in the afternoon.”

Aug 28, 2019

The first week of school for many around the country, Georgia's Teacher of the Year offers advice to parents.

“A $30,000 debt for a graduate degree in education is a much weightier debt than probably a $50,000 debt for law school.”

Aug 22, 2019

Founding dean of the College of Staten Island Department of Education

“This legislation ensures that teachers will never have the burden of choosing between protecting their students or themselves from a violent shooter.”

Aug 12, 2019

In her statement about New York's new law banning schools from arming teachers.

“Equal is not equal.”

Aug 02, 2019

Speaking in the president debate about educational disparities

“Right now, families are worried to the point that some people are questioning whether or not they should fill out basic school district forms.”

Aug 01, 2019

On concerns among immigrant families

“Our system of education today is reinforcing that income inequality, not liberating people from it. Because the best predictor of the quality of the education you get is your parent’s income.”

Jul 28, 2019

Our system of education today is reinforcing that income inequality, not liberating people from it.

“No student in this country should have to sacrifice their own health to get an education.”

Jul 25, 2019

On a report showing that only 12% of schools have been evaluated for lead paint

“The schoolroom is the first opportunity most citizens have to experience the power of government.”

Jul 18, 2019

The schoolroom is the first opportunity most citizens have to experience the power of government.

“We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have. We need trauma-based care in every school. We need social-emotional learning in every school.”

Jul 17, 2019

We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have. We need trauma-based…

“Education reform isn’t a cure-all. As a supporter of education reform, I agree that fixing educational inequality requires doing more to address the broader, systemic sources of economic inequality.”

Jul 12, 2019

Responding to a recent opinion piece on education reform and income inequality.

“Our teachers, not unlike teachers elsewhere, feel as though we don’t value their profession. There’s a message there I think we need to think about.”

Jul 02, 2019

Commenting on the results of the Teaching and Learning International Survey

“I like ‘education freedom’ because it opens up our thinking about what education can be.”

Jun 27, 2019

Describing her new terminology for school choice

“Teaching is really hard, It’s about as close to rocket science as I think you can get.”

Jun 25, 2019

Speaking on a FutureEd panel on the teaching profession

“If you’re a jazz musician, you need to know your scales. If you’re an artist, you need to draw a still life. It’s the same with teachers.”

Jun 21, 2019

On the need for standards and training in education

“There are very good public schools and very bad public schools. There are very good charter schools and very bad charter schools. The goal should be to make more schools high-quality and effective .”

Jun 11, 2019

Defending charter schools from attacks by other candidates

“We decided and recognized that trying to swim under that tsunami of choice would only bring about our own demise. If we decided to outrun it, we would lose.”

Jun 05, 2019

On his approach to school choice

“When I watched progressives and Glenn Beck join hands in opposition to Common Core, I said, ‘Whoa, we’ve built a coalition.’ I had not intended to build that coalition.”

May 30, 2019

Reflecting on his life as an education reformer

Educators shouldn’t have to fight so hard for resources and respect.

May 29, 2019

Unveiling his education plan

“People are actually asking a question I never thought I’d hear, ‘Is going to college a reliable path to economic opportunity?'”

May 24, 2019

Announcing a new line of inquiry

“We can’t sit on our hands and ignore the disparities of wealth reflected in the SAT.”

May 22, 2019

On the decision to include a diversity score in the SAT

“Let’s get a person with real teaching experience. A person who understands how low pay, tattered textbooks, and crumbling classrooms hurt students and educators.”

May 15, 2019

On her pick for education secretary

“Teachers don’t need guns. They need a raise.”

May 13, 2019

Touting her plan to use federal dollars to raise teachers salaries

“I don’t enjoy the publicity that comes with my position. I don’t love being up on stage or on any kind of platform. I’m an introvert.”

May 07, 2019

Speaking at the Education Writers Association conference

“We really shouldn’t expect or rely on our young people’s ability on their own to Google their way to good sexual and reproductive health.”

May 06, 2019

Researcher with the Guttmacher Institute

“We are advocating for more freedom in education — for parents and students to be able to take much more control of their education.”

May 02, 2019

Defending her agenda from criticism by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden

“Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent.”

May 02, 2019

Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent.

“We are significantly concerned that big-city students would face horrific consequences from adding a citizenship question to the Census. “

Apr 24, 2019

We are significantly concerned that big-city students would face horrific consequences from adding a citizenship…

“The enormous student debt burden weighing down our economy isn’t the result of laziness or irresponsibility.”

Apr 22, 2019

Unveiling a higher education plan to reduce student debt and eliminate tuition

“I remain concerned that many state [ESSA] plans fall short and risk continuing or even exacerbating inequalities for disadvantaged students.”

Apr 16, 2019

Speaking to state leaders about implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”

Apr 06, 2019

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.

“We spend an awful lot of time, energy and money being reactive to school safety. The pivot that needs to take place is how to be proactive.”

Mar 28, 2019

Speaking on the importance of mental health supports in schools

“We are not doing our children any favors when we borrow from their future in order to invest in systems and policies that are not yielding better results.”

Mar 26, 2019

On her concerns about increased education funding despite the growing federal debt

“Conservatives don’t like it when judges try to write laws, and conservatives should not like it when legislators and agencies try to rewrite the Constitution.”

Mar 22, 2019

On President Trump's executive order about free speech on college campuses

I believe in the promise education provides as an equalizer and as a means of increasing social mobility.

Mar 17, 2019

Chancellor of DC Public Schools

“This is an extreme illustration of a reality in our higher education system: Students from wealthy families and students from poor families are not treated equally.”

Mar 13, 2019

On allegations of widespread fraud in college admissions

“We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world.”

Mar 12, 2019

We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world.

“We still have a significant opportunity to take a big step in the right direction, and to make a significant down payment toward providing real opportunities for future students.”

Mar 05, 2019

On the need to reauthorize the Higher Education Act

“Let’s speak truth: We’re a society that pretends to care about education, but not so much the education of other people’s children.”

Feb 24, 2019

Let’s speak truth: We’re a society that pretends to care about education, but not so…

“Without a strong educational system democracy is crippled.”

Feb 21, 2019

Without a strong educational system democracy is crippled.

“Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.”

Feb 20, 2019

Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.

“Knowledge—that is, education in its true sense—is our best protection against unreasoning prejudice and panic-making fear, whether engendered by special interest, illiberal minorities, or panic-stricken leaders.”

Feb 19, 2019

Knowledge— that is, education in its true sense—is our best protection against unreasoning prejudice and…

“I cannot ever stand up and stand against a parent having options, because I’ve benefited from my parents having options.”

Feb 14, 2019

On his support for school choice programs

“The single, quickest, best way to make college more affordable to poor students is to simplify the FAFSA.”

Feb 12, 2019

Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

“Low standards and low expectations tell students that we don’t have hope for them. That we don’t believe in them. But we do.”

Feb 05, 2019

In a speech to the National School Boards Association

“Every day across districts in America, students and educators attend schools that are either unsafe or lack basic resources, or both, and this is simply unacceptable.”

Jan 31, 2019

Introducing a bill to spend $100 billion on school infrastructure

“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Jan 24, 2019

Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

“There have never been bridges for our low-income and black students to good jobs.”

Jan 22, 2019

There have never been bridges for our low-income and black students to good jobs.

“We’re in a battle for the soul of public education.”

Jan 18, 2019

Amid a teachers' strike

“A good curriculum doesn’t micromanage the minute-to-minute actions of teachers; it challenges them to think.”

Jan 05, 2019

On the tension between autonomy and coherence in school curriculum

“The question of whether money matters is separate from whether money can matter more if we spend it better.”

Dec 31, 2018

On the value of education spending

“Studies have consistently found harsh exclusionary discipline and physical punishments are associated with negative long-term outcomes.”

Dec 19, 2018

In a joint statement recommending efforts to repeal Obama-era guidance on school discipline

“Do we really need more white bread in our schools?”

Dec 14, 2018

On learning that the U.S. Agriculture Department is rolling back school lunch guidelines on whole grains

“Think about every problem, every challenge, we face. The solution to each starts with education.”

Dec 07, 2018

Think about every problem, every challenge, we face. The solution to each starts with education.

“The first responders to poverty are our teachers.”

Nov 29, 2018

The first responders to poverty are our teachers.

“Nothing is free. Someone, somewhere ultimately pays the bills.”

Nov 28, 2018

Speaking about student loan debt

“Which is more predictive of how much you will earn, someone who gets along well with their peers or someone who scores very high on a math test?”

Nov 14, 2018

On the importance of noncognitive measures

“I don’t think what teachers want is to put their feet up while kids are each on a private learning journey.”

Oct 26, 2018

On a misperception about personalized learning

Equality in America won’t come until we have equality of educational opportunity.”

Oct 25, 2018

Equality in America won’t come until we have equality of educational opportunity.

“My most difficult meetings are not with unions and school boards, they’re with publishers.”

Oct 16, 2018

On the challenges of finding appropriate textbooks

“Abandoning truth creates confusion. Confusion leads to censorship. And censorship inevitably invites chaos on campuses, and elsewhere.”

Oct 12, 2018

Speaking about higher education at National Constitution Center

“There is a disconnect between what teachers aspire to, what they say is good professional practice, and what is actually happening in the classroom.”

Oct 08, 2018

On the use of rote memorization in American classrooms

“I didn’t do a great job early on in engaging our educators in New Mexico in meaningful, professional opportunities…. Since then, New Mexico has become well-known for its teacher initiatives which are all about professional engagement, opportunity, and growth. I am proud of that. It took too long to get there.”

Oct 02, 2018

On the need for teacher engagement in teacher reform efforts

“It is incredibly important to police equitable access [to choice schools]. But I also think that giving parents some significant say, that their economic circumstances do not afford them, in what they think is best for their child, is a value that has driven improvements system-wide.”

Sep 28, 2018

Speaking about school choice at recent FutureEd forum: 

“The Every Student Succeeds Act put states back in the driver’s seat for decisions on how to help their students, and I am eager to see what this new chapter holds for our nation’s students,”

Sep 25, 2018

Opening a hearing on the implementation of ESSA

“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…