Federal

DeVos Goes Before Senators at Wide-Ranging Budget Hearing

Students and ICE, school safety among topics
By Andrew Ujifusa — June 12, 2018 5 min read
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies during a Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations hearing to review the fiscal year 2019 funding request and budget justification for the U.S. Department of Education on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 5.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Washington

In a wide-ranging hearing before a Senate subcommittee last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos changed her stance on the role of schools in reporting undocumented students to federal authorities, explained what the school safety commission she heads will and will not focus on, and defended the Trump administration’s budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year as being focused on students and parents, not systems.

She also sparred with Democrats on the education spending subcommittee about her approach to the department’s office for civil rights, seeking to counter their claims that she was improperly cutting staffing levels by saying that she was committed to conducting its work to protect students in an efficient manner.

Much of DeVos’ recent focus has been on the federal school safety commission she was appointed to lead by President Donald Trump earlier this year. She recently visited a school in Maryland to learn about behavioral-intervention strategies, for example.

“One of the most important things we can do is help others learn about what has been effective,” DeVos told lawmakers.

Role of Firearms

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., quickly zeroed in on the topic and asked if the commission would be looking at the role of firearms in school violence. DeVos responded, “That is not part of the commission’s charge per se.” She stressed that the commission was focused on school safety.

However, when Trump announced the start of the commission in March in the wake of the mass killing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the White House said the commission would examine “age restrictions for certain firearms purchases” among many issues, including “violent entertainment” and media coverage of mass shootings. The commission, made up entirely of Cabinet members, is due to release its findings by the end of this year.

Asked about the discrepancy between the White House and DeVos’ remark to Leahy, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education said: “The secretary and the commission continue to look at all issues the president asked the committee to study and are focused on making recommendations that the agencies, states, and local communities can implement. It’s important to note that the commission cannot create or amend current gun laws—that is the Congress’ job.” (The White House announcement states that the commission’s job is to generate “recommendations” to improve school safety.)

DeVos also shied away from offering an opinion when Leahy asked her whether she believed an 18-year-old high school student should be able to purchase an AR-15 rifle in a matter of minutes, stating only that, “I believe that’s very much a matter for debate.”

The secretary did make her position clear about another controversial issue she raised last month. In May, DeVos told the House education committee that schools could choose whether to report undocumented students to federal authorities, provoking a storm of protest from Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates.

Under questioning from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., DeVos initially said, “I think a school is a sacrosanct place for students to be able to learn, and they should be protected there. ... I think educators know in their hearts that students should have a safe place to learn.”

After Murphy repeatedly pressed her and wondered aloud why she declined to directly answer the question as to whether educators could call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on undocumented students, DeVos ultimately said, “I don’t think they can.”

Questions on Cuts

DeVos also defended the Trump budget against several criticisms from Democrats. The fiscal 2019 blueprint, released in February, would cut her agency’s budget to $63.2 billion. That would be a $7.7 billion reduction from fiscal 2018 levels signed into law by Trump in March. The spending bill the president signed represented a nearly wholesale rejection of the administration’s fiscal 2018 proposals to cut the department’s budget by more than 13 percent from fiscal 2017 levels.

DeVos got encouragement from Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the subcommittee chairman, who told her that, “We should look at programs that are either inefficient or ineffective and prioritize the programs that work best for students.” However, he indicated that large formula-grant programs would likely remain as they are.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sparred with DeVos over her staff reductions at the office for civil rights and noted that Congress actually increased spending for the office in the fiscal 2018 spending bill Trump signed: “We’re going to take fewer claims and protect fewer students. That really isn’t how OCR is supposed to operate.”

DeVos responded that the office’s work had not deteriorated and that, “We are committed to ensuring that the rights of every student are protected.”

Democrats and DeVos have clashed frequently over civil rights issues. Murray and others have criticized DeVos for rolling back Obama administration guidance on transgender students and for changing how the civil rights office conducts investigations. They’ve also warned her not to repeal Obama-era guidance on racial disparities in discipline, which DeVos is current considering.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., among others, questioned the wisdom of the Trump budget blueprint’s call to eliminate two programs: Title II, which provides $2.1 billion in federal aid for educators’ professional development, and $1.1 billion in after-school funding through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs. Manchin stressed that such funding was useful for helping children affected by opioid addiction, for example, while DeVos stressed that other funding under Title IV, a flexible pot of federal money under the Every Student Succeeds Act, could be used by districts in a variety of ways to support such work.

And Manchin spoke for many Democrats when he rejected DeVos’ pitch that rural states like West Virginia could benefit from new school choice opportunities, stating that, among other things, his state simply doesn’t have internet connectivity in many instances: “We just can’t afford to start another education system.”

“You must understand how fast shootings happen and how chaotic and confusing it is. There’s no way to determine who and where the gunfire is coming from. Say I had a gun. Would I have left my terrified children? Never.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 13, 2018 edition of Education Week as DeVos Goes Before Senators in Wide-Ranging Hearing

Events

Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Opinion A D.C. Insider Explains What’s Changed in Education Policy
The biggest thing that people don’t understand about federal education policy? How much the details really matter.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Federal What Superintendents Think About a Steady Clip of Federal K-12 Changes
A state superintendent and two district leaders shared their thoughts on the latest changes coming from Washington.
4 min read
From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools, Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District, and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools in Alabama; Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District in Pennsylvania; and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Federal The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What's in It?
The measure would create a national program funding private school tuition through tax credits, though states would have to opt in.
7 min read
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 30, 2025, as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package.
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington early on June 30, 2025, hours before Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. The bill includes the first major federal private school choice program.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal Senate Narrowly Passes Trump’s Big Tax Breaks and Spending Cuts Bill
The bill goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson warned off big revisions from his chamber’s version.
5 min read
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined from left by, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters after passage of the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined from left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip; Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; and Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters after passage of the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts, at the U.S. Capitol on July 1, 2025. The bill includes the first major federal investment in a private school choice program.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP