Trump’s former education secretary lays out ‘unfinished business’ for new administration on school reform

President-elect Donald Trump’s first secretary of the Department of Education (DOE), Betsy DeVos, has been listed as a candidate again. However, if she doesn’t get the job, DeVos has some ideas about who might be best suited to carry Trump’s mantle starting in 2017.

“There are a number of Republican governors who have taken the lead on issues that affect K-12 education, particularly, and in some cases, higher education,” DeVos told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“They have good backgrounds and they can do a great, great job in carrying out the policies of the second Trump administration. What I believe is that, as President Trump said, it should definitely include all efforts to reduce the power of the federal agency and return control and power back. over states, local, districts and parents.”

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GOP-controlled legislatures in Florida, Iowa, Arkansas and elsewhere passed bills that greatly expanded school vouchers last year.

In his campaign, Trump said that one of the first things he would do is “close the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and return all the education and training work that you need to the states.”

DeVos said the budget and investment in education will not change, but with “block offers.”

“Let’s talk about defunding the office, not the budget, and ways to do that,” said DeVos. “Simply put, prevent money from returning to the states, so that it goes to the states and goes directly to the families who need it most.”

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Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Lancaster Airport on Nov. 3, 2024 in Lititz, Pennsylvania. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

During Trump’s first term, DeVos strongly advocated school choice policies and expanded school voucher programs and tax credit scholarships to allow public funding to be used for private and religious school education.

He also rescinded the federal directive on the use of restrooms by transgender students in schools, saying it should be a national and local decision.

DeVos scaled back federal oversight and programs in K-12 education, including the scope of the DOE’s civil rights investigation.

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Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos strongly advocated for school policies and expanded school voucher programs and tax credit scholarships to allow federal funding to be used for private and religious school education. (Stock)

“This is unfinished business from the first time, when we introduced with the support of President Trump and called for the freedom, the tax freedom bill to create a bunch of funds that people can raise money at the federal level, but it will go along with what the states are already doing,” DeVos said.

“A lot of states have passed educational freedom policies to support families making those decisions in that state, and some states haven’t, but this will allow kids across the state through scholarship organizations to have more education, freedom and choices and options. , and that’s a really important piece. that must be dealt with and I believe that this new Congress is ready to step into it,” he added.

In contrast, President Biden has increased funding for public schools, especially in low-income areas, through the American Rescue Program during the COVID-19 crisis.

Throughout his presidency, Biden pushed for college student loan relief, despite being blocked by the Supreme Court.

Biden’s Department of Education is trying to implement a new federal law in the final weeks before President-elect Trump takes office to provide loan forgiveness for 8 million student borrowers facing financial hardship.

When finished, new law can authorize one-time student loan forgiveness for people the department deems to have at least an 80% chance of defaulting on the loan based on “predictive assessments using existing borrower data.”

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The law would also allow individuals, including “future borrowers” who may apply for assistance to be granted based on a “comprehensive assessment of the borrower’s hardship.”

“There is an argument that if taxpayers are going to fund student loans, there better be ways to oversee them and do it effectively and efficiently,” DeVos said. “And it wasn’t possible. It’s a big mess, and we need to rethink and review, and frankly, private sector, private sector lending has to come back to it and be an option.”

Alec Schemmel of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.