U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addressed urban school leaders at the Council of the Great City Schools annual legislative and policy conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 12, 2017. Her speech--which sounded a mostly positive message about public education--also hit her most familiar theme of expanding parents’ access to school choice. The urban superintendents and school board members in the audience gave her kudos for attending, but some school officials said the speech lacked policy details and avoided acknowledging the challenging issues urban school systems face.
