Dive Brief:

• In a hearing that took place Tuesday before Betsy DeVos’ ethics review was complete and one in which senators were limited to a single round of five-minute questioning, DeVos fielded a range of critics.
• The New York Times reports DeVos supported local control over decisions about having guns in schools and she refused to say she would not cut public education funding, instead supporting an end to a “one-size-fits-all” system and an increase in family access to school choice.
• According to The Washington Post, DeVos seemed unfamiliar with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and school responsibility under it, as well as the years-long debate over whether to use test scores to measure student growth or proficiency — and she would not agree that all types of schools should be held to the same accountability standards.

Dive Insight:

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, has also been criticized for never attending or working in public schools, though some of her supporters say that is precisely one of her qualifications for assuming the job of secretary of education – that she is an outsider. While Republicans insisted throughout the Obama presidency that nominees could not have a hearing without a completed ethics review, DeVos’ hearing was held without it, despite a complicated web of potential conflicts of interest.

While Democrats have identified DeVos as one of the nominees to oppose most fiercely, she is still expected to be confirmed by Congress and assume control of the U.S. Department of Education. She has received a range of endorsements in recent days, including from former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Howard Fuller, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the editorial board of The Detroit News.