U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos used a speech at the National Parent Teachers Association conference Tuesday to make a sales pitch for President Donald Trump鈥檚 school safety plan, which includes helping states to arm teachers. And she did some subtle damage control after her poorly-received 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� interview, which aired Sunday and triggered hours of bad headlines and social media outrage.
The department has said the segment was. DeVos never referred directly to 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� in her . But she welcomed the chance to speak 鈥渦nedited.鈥� And some of the lines in her speech seemed to address her biggest perceived stumbles on the show.
For instance, at one point during 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� DeVos said that the nation hasn鈥檛 seen an uptick in achievement in decades, an assertion that the journalist Lesley Stahl challenged. On Tuesday, DeVos told the parents that she is unhappy that the nation ranks 鈥渋n the middle of the pack鈥� on international tests like the Program for International Student Assessment.
鈥淲e should never be satisfied with 鈥榓verage.鈥� Now, as you may have seen over the past couple of days, that seems to be a controversial sentiment鈥攂ut it shouldn鈥檛 be,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淣ow that I have the opportunity to speak unedited, I鈥檓 not afraid to call out folks who defend stagnation for what it really is: failure.鈥�
DeVos鈥� biggest 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� slip-up came when she was unable to name a place in her home state of Michigan where student achievement had improved because of increased competition. Tuesday, though, she had an example at the ready. 鈥淚n Detroit ... students who attend charter schools perform twice as well as their traditional public school counterparts on state achievement tests,鈥� DeVos told the PTA. (She tweeted a similar stat Monday).
And she noted that school choice remains 鈥渉ighly limited鈥� in Michigan, which has a constitutional prohibition on private school vouchers. 鈥淎s a result, students have suffered,鈥� DeVos said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 borne out in the Fourth grade reading and math scores are essentially a flat line, while states surrounding Michigan offer parents more choices and see improving student achievement.鈥�
While DeVos talked up Trump鈥檚 school safety plan, she didn鈥檛 lead off with what is arguably its centerpiece, a proposal to help states that want to arm certain teachers.
Instead, she said that policymakers and educators must 鈥渇irst鈥� acknowledge 鈥渋ssues of loneliness and isolation. We must find meaningful ways to help [students] reconnect, and we must address social/emotional learning.鈥�
She also called on Congress to bolster background checks for gun purchases and , a bipartisan bill that would allow states to use federal funding to help prevent school violence by beefing up training for teachers, students, and law enforcement officials. DeVos is meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, in part to discuss school safety.
And she did refer to the idea of helping states arm some teachers by offering 鈥渉ighly specialized courses to prepare school staff to respond to incidents,鈥� similar to programs in Florida, Ohio, and Texas. She added that the feds could also help 鈥渕ilitary veterans and retired law enforcement鈥� make the move to careers in education. (It鈥檚 not clear how that last idea would be different from Troops to Teachers, a federal program that鈥檚 been in place since at least 2001.)
But some of the parents listening to DeVos鈥� speech weren鈥檛 sold.
鈥淎rming teachers is not the best route,鈥� said Marques Ivey, a parent and school board president from Aurora, Colo., who spoke for himself and not on behalf of the PTA. 鈥淢y wife is a teacher, and it freaks her out, the concept of actually having a gun and going through a potential chaotic situation where she could accidentally hurt one of her students. Even with training. There are police officers that get trained for scenarios and still make mistakes. How can we expect a teacher to do the same thing and not make mistakes?鈥�
Ivey has some personal experience with mass shootings鈥攈e was at a movie theater when one happened in Aurora back in 2012, in which 12 people were killed.
And Ivey said he didn鈥檛 think DeVos acquitted herself well in the parts of the 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� interview he鈥檚 seen, although he added that he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 have the heart鈥� to watch it all the way through.
鈥淚 thought there were probably questions there that she was not prepared for, but that鈥檚 the job of the reporter, and that鈥檚 her job to be prepared for that as well,鈥� Ivey said. He鈥檚 ready, though, to keep working with the secretary. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 pick and choose who gets put in that position, and unfortunately, we have to accept who is in that position, but also continue to advocate on behalf of our children.鈥�
Donald Dunn, a parent from North Carolina, had a similar take. He didn鈥檛 think there was 鈥渁nything new鈥� in DeVos speech.
鈥淪he stayed on script,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wish she would have talked more about funding, student achievement, what her long term goal was for schools other than just 鈥榳e need to challenge鈥� the system. She is the system now.鈥�
But other parents responded to DeVos鈥� pitch to 鈥渞ethink鈥� schools to better meet the needs of individual students.
鈥淚 was very inspired,鈥� said Pamela Driggers, the president of the South Carolina PTA. Her own children, she said are the products of 鈥渟chools of choice"鈥攖hey attended a magnet school that helped them become fluent in French. 鈥淚 just felt, as a mom, spot on with her message.鈥�
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