What Did Confirmation Hearing Tell Us About Betsy DeVos?
Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia gives DeVos mixed reviews.
A U.S. House Committee began confirmation hearings for Michigan billionaire and charter school advocate Betsy DeVos.
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen DeVos to serve as education secretary in his cabinet. But she has received more national criticism than most of Trump’s other nominees to head up departments. DeVos has been critical of public school systems and favors more school choice with little state oversight for charters. She also advocates for a voucher system that would send taxpayer dollars to private schools.
Detroit Today Host Stephen Henderson speaks with Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst for the Reason Foundation and a writer for Reason Magazine, about DeVos’ nomination and the confirmation hearing.
Dalmia gives DeVos mixed reviews for her performance in front of the committee.
“It’s not that she doesn’t know about these issues, but she hasn’t mastered a vocabulary which would allow her to answer these questions in a way that the answers don’t themselves generate headlines,” says Dalmia. “I think you saw a very tight-lipped Betsy DeVos.”
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
