Betsy DeVos Says Students Need to Learn Civics and Government

Zachary Stieber
10/16/2018
Updated:
10/16/2018

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a new interview that she is working hard to hand states more power in determining education policies and rules, and she also wants to make sure students in grade school and college are learning civics and government.

“Students aren’t getting the kind of foundation in civics and government that I recall getting. They’re coming into higher education without the background to even know and understand competing ideas and then without the ability to discuss and debate them,” she said in a podcast interview.

DeVos told the Daily Signal that she has been stressing the need for parents to be involved with their children’s schooling. She wants parents to be able to analyze which school they think will be best for their children, and take them out of a school if they feel the children are being taught something parents aren’t comfortable with.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during CPAC 2018 in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 22, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks during CPAC 2018 in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 22, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

‘They’re a Very Important Need’

DeVos recalled she went into a classroom recently where a teacher wore a shirt saying “Find Your Truth,” suggesting truth is a “fungible thing” instead of focusing on the fact that there’s objective truth and focusing on teaching students that truth.

“There’s a very important need for students to know the foundations of our country and the ideas around which our country was formed and to then have the ability to discuss and debate those ideas freely.”

DeVos also touted the Education Department almost immediately “rolling back a number of regulations that were very broad overreaches by the previous administration.”

She said she and her education administration have worked on implementing the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2015 but, according to DeVos, not fully implemented until the past year.

Implementing Act

“We are on the proactive side of things, pointing out to states and communities the inherent flexibilities that Congress wrote into that status,” she said.
According to the U.S. Department of Education website, the act replaced No Child Left Behind, which was signed in 2002 by President George W. Bush.
The law requires states to help ensure that all students have access to excellent teachers and positive, safe learning environments with necessary supports to prepare them for success in college, a career, and life, the department stated. Highlights include requiring, for the first time, that students will be taught to high academic standards along with help to support and grow local innovations.
In a previous interview with the Daily Signal, DeVos noted the failure of efforts at the national level to make a difference while praising Florida for its improvements made in recent years, with some of the reforms she highlighted including merit pay for teachers and offering a range of choices for parents from lower incomes or those with children with special needs.
From NTD.tv
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Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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