Lieu mocks DeVos: She wasn’t asked the ‘airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow’

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) mocked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her interview on “60 Minutes” in which she struggled to answer questions on education policy and schools.

“Betsy DeVos wasn’t asked what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow. She was asked basic questions about education and had trouble answering them,” he tweeted.

“Also, saying that we shouldn’t invest in school buildings is stupid. Dilapidated & unsafe buildings affect learning.”

Betsy DeVos wasn’t asked what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow. She was asked basic questions about education and had trouble answering them.

Also, saying that we shouldn’t invest in school buildings is stupid. Dilapidated & unsafe buildings affect learning. https://t.co/4FQVHYVn73

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 12, 2018

DeVos — an outspoken advocate of school-choice who has pushed for policies that allow students to leave public schools and take public funding to charter or religious schools — had trouble during the interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl explaining what happened to the schools and students left behind if students chose to leave public schools.

{mosads}

“In places where there is a lot of choice that’s been introduced, Florida for example, the studies show that where there’s a large number of students that opt to go to a different school or different schools, the traditional public schools actually, the results get better as well,” DeVos said during the interview.

“Now, has that happened in Michigan?” Stahl responded. Michigan is DeVos’s home state, and the Education secretary as a private citizen spent millions to back school-choice efforts in that state.

“Have the public schools in Michigan gotten better?” Stahl asked.

“I can’t say overall that they have all gotten better,” DeVos responded.

She was mocked by several journalists and Democrats, who pointed to her difficulty in answering questions.

DeVos faced fierce opposition in her confirmation process, with senators in both parties criticizing her lack of experience with public and rural education.

She was confirmed, despite two GOP senators voting against her nomination. Vice President Pence cast the tie-breaking vote for her confirmation.