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DeVos struggles to answer basic questions about schools in her home state

March 12, 2018 14:00·
Betsy DeVos: States should consider letting teachers carry guns in classroom

Betsy DeVos: States should consider letting teachers carry guns in classroom

On Sunday night, she told Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" that she's "more misunderstood than anything".

"Sometimes it does", she said. Asked point blank if cutting funds from struggling public schools would improve the schools, DeVos dodged. "We should be funding and investing in students, not in school buildings, not in institutions, not in systems".

The schools were so weakly regulated, the investigation found, some hired teachers who did not have college degrees and made false fire-safety and health records. What about those kids?

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the billionaire school choice advocate who became the first-ever presidential cabinet member to receive only 50 votes in the Senate during a confirmation, gave a stumbling, cringeworthy interview to CBS' "60 Minutes".

Lesley Stahl: Now, has that happened in MI?

Betsy DeVos: Michi-Yes, well, there's lots of great options and choices for students here.

Trump told Netanyahu that U.S. won't bend demands on Iran deal
Another round of discussions with the European countries on the issue is expected later this week. Netanyahu and Trump's meeting on Monday was their fifth over the past year.

Amazon updates Alexa so you don't have to say 'Alexa' repeatedly
Select the device in question, then scroll down and toggle the Follow-up Mode slider into the on position (it's off by default). You ask Siri, Google or Alexa to hook it up with the facts, they provide an answer, but then you have a follow-up question.

'Myanmar builds military bases in Rohingya homes, mosques'
Tirana Hassan, Amnesty's crisis response director, said: "The remaking of Rakhine State is taking place in a shroud of secrecy". Despite the ongoing preparations for repatriation, more than 2,500 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh this year.

Asked if creating a panel on making schools safer is more talk than action, she said, "No, there is a sense of urgency, indeed".

Betsy DeVos: I don't know.

But Stahl notes that the secretary's "argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better, is not working in MI where (she) had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system here".

But the tensest exchange came when Stahl pressed her on her support for public schools. There is no doubt about it. "I have not. I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming".

"Have you seen the really bad schools?" Once again, Stahl's response was perfectly succinct and shady: "Maybe you should".

(D) All of the above. Teachers began tweeting photos of what their classrooms actually look like at the education secretary.

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