On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted along party lines (12-11) to advance the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as the next secretary of education. DeVos, a wealthy heiress and charter school advocate with no prior experience as an educator, was nominated by the president to lead the department in November.
During her confirmation hearing on January 17, she made positive statements about CTE—offering few specific policy positions. In written comments provided to the HELP committee after the hearing, she pledged to work with the committee on Perkins reauthorization and called for “flexibility at the state and local levels.” However, she has not commented on the Administration’s plans for funding Perkins in future budget requests, nor has she committed to keeping CTE funds out of an expected proposal from the Administration to repurpose federal education dollars for school choice. Also unknown, her plans for the department’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, and whether she would seek to downsize or eliminate the office and its role in providing technical assistance to states and supporting CTE research. ACTE has worked with the committee and its members to seek clarity from Mrs. DeVos on these and other CTE issues, and we will make those answers available if/when they are provided to us.
DeVos’ nomination will now be voted on by the full Senate, but getting the chamber’s approval is not a foregone conclusion. Democrats, as well as several Senate Republicans, have raised concerns about her commitment to public education. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), co-chairs of the Senate CTE Caucus and HELP committee members, are among those opposing the nomination. For more updates on the new Administration, follow us on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.
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