Government tends to believe in top-down solutions, and government fears of bottom-up solutions.
— Betsy DeVos
It shouldn't matter what type of school a student attends, so long as the school is the right fit for that student.
My family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican Party.
I don't think Donald Trump represents the Republican Party... I think more and more people are going to realize that they really don't trust him.
Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made a determination about the merits of the complaint.
That's where my heart has been for three decades is to really empower and allow all families the same kind of opportunities I've had for my kids.
Discrimination in any form is wrong. I don't support discrimination in any form.
We knew we had the resources to send our kids to whatever school was best for them.
I expect there will be more virtual schools.
It would be fine with me to have myself worked out of a job, but I'm not sure that - I'm not sure that there will be a champion movement in Congress to do that.
I support accountability.
HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.
We're not proposing any shifting of funding from public schools to private schools.
I will not be deterred from my mission of helping kids in this country.
Teaching is hard. It takes a lot of skill. Not everyone who tries can do it well. We need to admit that and act accordingly. We should reward and respect great teachers by paying them more, and we should stop rewarding seniority over effectiveness.
As a kid, I grew up middle class, but my father was a great innovator with an entrepreneurial spirit, and it wasn't long before my family became part of the infamous 1%.
Teachers deserve more respect than many give them, and more opportunities than the system affords them today.
When governors such as John Engler, Mike Huckabee, and Mike Pence were driving the conversation on voluntary high standards driven by local voices, it all made sense.
Dick and I became increasingly committed to helping other parents - parents from low-income families in particular.
Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow.
When we had segregated schools and when we had a time when, you know, girls weren't allowed to have the same kind of sports teams - I mean, there have been important inflection points for the federal government to get involved in some of the areas around protecting students and ensuring safe environments for them - there is a role to play.
There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the need in education.
Social justice and economics are both issues to me.
I expect there will be more private schools.
I can assure you I have never made decisions on my mother's behalf on her foundation's board.
All schools that receive public funding should be accountable, yes.
Too many children today are trapped in schools that don't work for them.
I need to stress that I could not be more supportive of great teachers and great teaching, no matter what kind of delivery vehicle they are teaching through. We have to support great teachers. They just have to be freed up to do what they do best.
Parents no longer believe that a one-size-fits-all model of learning meets the needs of every child. And they know other options exist, whether magnet, virtual, charter, home, faith-based, or any other combination.
You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.
Our nation's commitment is to provide a quality education to every child to serve the public common good. Accordingly, we must shift the paradigm to think of education funding as investments made in individual children, not in institutions or buildings.
If the question is around gun violence and the results of that, please know that my heart bleeds and is broken for those families that have lost any individual due to gun violence.
I do support high standards, strong accountability, and local control.
I greatly appreciate being asked to be part of President-elect Trump's team and I will continue to enthusiastically support him and his agenda for American renewal.
It is not fair to think that when students transit through a K-12 system that is not preparing them for beyond, that somehow we are going to wave a magic wand and things are going to be perfect for them at the higher-ed level.
Let me say, I fully embrace equality, and I believe in the innate value of every single human being and that all students, no matter their age, should be able to attend a school and feel safe and be free of discrimination.
We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues.
I expect there will be more schools of any kind that haven't even been invented yet.
I expect there will be more public charter schools.
Federal law must be followed where federal dollars are in play.
If politicians in a state block education choice, it means those politicians do not support equal opportunity for all kids.
The bottom line is we believe that parents are the best equipped to make choices for their children's schooling and education decisions.
The bigger goal of giving all parents more choices is one that will have to be discussed and undoubtedly roundly debated, but we are going to have to continue to build the case. The momentum is there on the state level in many states. That's where the energy needs to be harnessed in a new way.
We'll be examining and auditing and reviewing all of the programs of the department and really figuring out what is the core mission and how can the federal department of education really support and enhance the role of the departments in the states.
