tv Kennedy FOX Business January 17, 2017 8:00pm-9:01pm EST
8:00 pm
8:01 pm
my first election going in to get the support of educators. i was 10 minutes into what looked to be a 30-40-minute question and answer. i said are there any questions that deal with kids or outcomes? they said no, so i got and left. we can ask you all sorts of questions about you personally and what you have done. but you came into my office and by ever asked a question in several minutes you convinced me you were passionate about making sure every child had the opportunity at a successful education. and from that every child that got that education would have an opportunity to reach for the american dream for a life that's unlimited.
8:02 pm
an opportunity that's unlimited. you convinced me without me asking a question. i only have one question today. why is it so difficult for us to figure out how to focus on outcome versus to get so hung up on process? >> nor, i think that's a good question. and i think we could have a robust debate in this room about that. but i think human tendency is to protect and guard what is because change is difficult. and yet we see the fact that there are millions of students who are simply not getting the opportunity for an equal oprtunity for a quality education. and we try to tinker around from the top.
8:03 pm
and we try to fix things. but it becomes more about the system, i'm afraid than about what's right for each child. so i thank you for your support and your encouragement around the notion that every child should have the opportunity, every parent should have the opportunity on behalf of their child to choose the ride educational environment for them. i'm hopeful if we can continue having a robust conversation about this that we'll talk about the great schools that our children have the opportunity to go to 10 years from now that's of which may not even exist today or look different than what exists today. i think the opportunity to innovate in education is virtually unlimited and has been really untested to a large extent. i'm hopeful we'll have that
8:04 pm
opportunity. >> i hope the committee sees it. i see an age where technology is going to impact things that we didn't even dream about five years ago. what we have seen happen to our pdas is going into healthcare, and will drive manufacturing. i still remember my father at 90 years old look at knee five years ago, six years ago saying, i will never understand how a fax machine works. i was never able to explain it to him, but that didn't limit my use of it and my belief served an important purpose. but what's most important is to have somebody passionate at the top. concerned about every child and
8:05 pm
every child's opportunity. for that i'm grateful you are here. thank you, mrs. devos. how much information do you have about the finances of the president-elect, his family or trump-related organizations? >> i don't have any of that information, senator. >> i take it you won't have any way of knowing when asked by the president to take official action as secretary how those actions might affect his personal financial situation. >> i'm not sure i could comment on this. >> i think it many relevant to assessing the wisdom of an education policy proposal to know how that proposal might affect the president's personal finances. do you disagree? >> i think the president-elect. >> do you disagree with me? >> can you state your question again? >> i think it's relevant to assessing the wisdom of an
8:06 pm
education policy proposal to know how it will effect the president's personal if finances. >> i don't disagree with you. >> i think the nation deserves a secretary who is a champion of public education. in -- in 2015 you said quote government sucks and you called the public education system a deand. you never attend a k-12 public cool, correct, and your children didn't either. >> correct. but i mentored in one. >> i'm worried about a leader who believes government sucks on the morale of the workforce pooch i support great teachers. >> the attitude of a leader in an organization matters a lot to the morale of the workforce.
8:07 pm
>> absolutely. in reference -- >> i would like to introduce that for the record. i don't have other questions by the and and i want to move on. your husband said -- you were together at the conference if what i read together is correct. the church has been displaced by the public school as the center for activity, the center of what goes on in the community. thomas jefferson didn't view public education as contrary to or competitivet with church and religion. do you? >> i do not. >> do you think k-12 schools who receive public funding should meet the same outcome standards? >> yes. >> meet the same accountability andards. >> yes, although you have different accountability standards between traditional public schools and charter schools. >> but i'm interested in should
8:08 pm
everybody be on a level playing field? public, chatter, private k-12 schools if they receive public funding they should meet the same accountability standards. >> yes. >> if confirmed will you insist on that equal accountability in think k-12 school or educational program that selves federal funding. >> i support accountability is that a yes or no. >> i support accountability. >> you do not want to answer my question? >> i support accountability. >> i think all schools that receive taxpayer funding should be equally accountable. >> they are not today. >> do you agree with me or no. >> well, know -- >> let me move to my next yes question. should all schools receiving federal funding be required to
8:09 pm
meet the requirements of the disabilities act. should all schools that receive -- taxpayer funding be required to meet the requirements of the individuals with disabilities in education. >> that's matter best left to the states. >> sowome states might be good to kids with disabilities and other states might not be so good, then people can move around the country if they don't like the way their kids are being snreetd. >> i think that's an issue best left to the states. >> it's a federal law let's limit it to federal funding. should they be required to the meet federal law? >> as the senator returned top. florida program, there are many parents that are happy with the program there. >> i think all schools that receive federal funding should
8:10 pm
be required to meet the conditions of the individuals with disability in education act. do you have agree with me or not. >> it's certainly worth discussion. >> you cannot yet agree with me. should all k-12 schools receiving governmental funding be required to report the same information regarding instances of harassment, discipline or bullying if they receive federal funding? >> i think federal funding comes with strings attached. >> i think all such schools should be required to report equally information about discipline, hah amounts or bullying, do you agree with me or not. >> i would look forward to reviewing that provision. >> fit was a court i would ask the judge to instruct the witness to answer the question. but you are trying to win my vote. >> thank you for coming to my office.
8:11 pm
i had an opportunity to walk you through the map of alaska and hopefully educate you to some of its challenges that we face as a state in delivering education in what is not a rural state, but what has been described as a frontier state in many, many ways. 82% of the community in the state of alaska are not attached by road. they are truly islanded in every sense of the word. i had an opportunity to meet with 400 teachers around the state and they are concerned about your nomination. they would love to have the choice we are talking about. but when you are a small school in buckled or king cove. when there is no way to get to an alternative option for your child, the best parent is left
8:12 pm
reef lying on a public school system that they have demand to be there for their kids. so i want to make sure and i think every one of those teachers wants to make sure your commitment to public education particularly for our rural students who have no choilts is as strong and robust as the passion you have dedicated to advancing charter schools. i appreciated your responses to senator cassidy because he was very direct and you gave reassuring answers that you are not seeking to undermine or erode public schools. i appreciated to what you said in response stop senator alexander, the chair's questions,bout whether you would work to move towards a voucher type of system if we in the congress said that is not the direction. i tried to assure the teachers that it was talking to that
8:13 pm
there is not this -- there are not sufficient votes to what i call voucherrize the system. i appreciated the inquiry senator kaine has been make being the level of accountability. this was something was brought up in the q and a section in anchorage. a concern that there would not an effort to match that actability to those schools that received federal funding through a voucher program, a federal match through education and savings account dollars. but in addition to performance standards that there would be true accountability with adhering to federal laws for civil rights as well as students with disabilities. so i will ask for continuation of that discussion, you have, i think, provided some very
8:14 pm
responsive comments that i think will help our teachers in alaska where their options and choices are very limited. but how can you provide assurance to these teachers, these families, these students for whom alternative and option are severely limited. not because we don't want them. but our geography really isolates us. >> for that question. i appreciated our conversation and a review of the map. because it does remind us how the unique challenges that alaska has. i would just say that i can assure you that if confirmed, that i will support alaska in its approach to educating its youngsters, and that i have to say i think that the creativity and innovation that alaska has
8:15 pm
employed through the traditional public system is one that other states could probably take note of and learn some lessons from and would hope they would continue to feel that freedom and that drive to continue to educate and innovate. >> we are quite proud of some of the innovation we have made. we have a great deal of choice within our urban centers. for my colleagues education and edification. anchorage hosts six of the most ethnically diverse schools in the united states of america. so i have that level of diversity. but then i have rural villages where i may have no more than 60 kids in a school, and in order for them to have the same benefits and opportunities, the dollars that flow, the commitment that flows to those families, there is that level of
8:16 pm
accountability throughout remains a very significant challenge. so i need to have a very clear and a very firm commitment that the focus that you will give to not on alaska, but to states with significant rural populations, that these students who will not have alternatives, that that public school system is not undermined eroded or ignores. >> you have my commitment. i think there is so much that alaska can share with others in terms of how to address challenges of very widespread student populations. >> i'll now turn to senator murray. mr. i just have some to start by saying on questions that -- i i
8:17 pm
have questions i know all of our committees want to follow up including on i.d.a., sexual assault and pell grants and a number of other questions. i'm disappointed that you have preemptively cut off our members from asking questions. it is unprecedented. you and i have worked together and i appreciate that. but i hope you change your mind. she should get robust scrutiny. what's happening in higher education and much more. and to be very clear, this is not what we have done in this committee from president bush's second health and human services. five members participated in the accepting round. burns third fda commissioner. president obama's second
8:18 pm
secretary of lane, the hearing was over four hours. tom daschle. four members participated in a second round. alexis her man, 3 1/2 hours of hearing, 10 minutes of questioning. i hope we are not just cherry picking. and i really would like to enter these transcripts that i have showing the actual precedent of this committ intthe record. i think it's important for all of us to remember that. given the lack of paperwork from the o.g.e. and the outstanding questions my members have. it's 8:15 at night. they wouldn't be sitting here if they didn't had additional questions. i would like to call for a second hearing for this nominee. >> let me respond in this way.
8:19 pm
you know, the respect i have for you and each member for this committee and how we have worked together. but what you are asking me to do is to treat mrs. devos differently than we treated president obama's two education secretaries. and i'm not going to do that. we are already at -- this hearing started at 5:15. it's 8:15. that's 3 hours 5 minutes of question. secretary duncan, the first education second tear question was 2 hours 2 minutes. this is already 3 hours and we are not finished yet. as far as questions go, each member of this committee has had an opportunity to visit with mrs. devos in their office.
8:20 pm
and i believe she has done that. several members of this committee have already sent her written questions which she'll answer before we vote on her nomination. she has complied with all the rules of the committee. the committee rules do not require that the office of government ethics -- office of government ethics report be in by the time we actually have a hearing. she submitted her information there on the 12th of i believe the 12th -- the 4th of january. mrs. devos, i understand you are working and will continue to work with the office of government ethics and sign an ethics agreement, is that correct? >> that's correct, mr. chairman. >> there is a designated government office that works with nominees, and that comes to
8:21 pm
an agreement with them if there is any conflict of interest. and if she, for example, needs to drneeds -- needs to divest hf of something, that will be part of the agreement. she said she'll do whatever she needs to do to gain an agreement with the office of government ethics so the agreement will say she has no conflicts of interest. i said that letter will be public at least by friday before we vote on her nomination by next tuesday. so you will have the opportunity to question her in your office. to question her today as extensively as you have did either of president obama's nominees, to have an opportunity to submit additional written questions after this hearing for up t2 days wn we had secretary perez before the committee. i would say two days has been
8:22 pm
the close of thursday. then you will have three or four days after the office of government ethics letter of agreement saying she has no on applicants of interest is public -- she has no conflicts of interest, to vote. i moved the hearing one week at the request of the democratic and republican leadership so they could consider other nominations. on the tax returns issue of it is not a requirement of this committee that nominees provide us with their tax returns. they provide us with financial information just as senators do it is not a law that she provide her tax returns. she is doing everything that the rules of the committee say she should do, and i'm treating her in terms of questions the same way we treated president obama's two education secretaries. so i'm not going to have a second round.
8:23 pm
i will be happy to extend to you if you would like a chance to ask questions, then i will do the same, which is consistent with what we did with the two previous obama secretaries. >> mr. chairman, with all due respect, this nominee is the only one to not submit an o.g.e. paperwork before on you hearing. so our members have not had a chance to reright or ask questions about it. i appreciate private meetings, but all our constituents want to hear what this nominee has to say because of a vast history in education that concerns a lot of people. tillerson had three rounds of hearings. sessions two rounds. carson two rounds.
8:24 pm
i'm clear -- i'm not clear education isn't just as important. >> if it's important under trump, it's important under obama. i don't know why suddenly we have this sudden interest -- several people mentioned secretary page here. he didn't have his ethics letter in before his hearing. that's not been a consistent pattern either. i have tried to be as fair as i can in following what i believe to be the golden true. and we have gone for more than three hours in an extensive hearing which is simply part of a discussion as you chief valuate how you are going to vote when it comes up before the committee. >> @the request is very simple. i'm asking for 5 minutes per member on and set of issues that are this important at the beginning of a new administration which is a change
8:25 pm
in party it's a -- a lot of new policies coming forward. as senator murray said we did have name our office. most us had a half-hour. but our constituents weren't there for a half-hour. asking for five minutes isn't unreasonable. >> senator casey, i've normous respect for you -- i'v -- i have enormous respects for you. president obama was a change in administration. i don't think it's fair to treat a republican education ma'am knee any different than we treated a democrat's education nominee. >> senator, i think you are one of the fairest people in this town. you really are.
8:26 pm
but to me the fact that republican members of the senate did not want to ask a second rounds of questions for the obama nominee to the senate, the idea that that should be a precedent for the democrats, 8 of whom are here tonight to ask questions, even followups to questions we heard tonight i think is unfair and uncharacteristic. and i hope if we weren't have this hearing -- if we can't have the questions here, we'll have another hearing. but that we'll have assurance that every single question submitted by this panel is answered before weave vote. i don't think that's a satisfactory result. but if we can't ask the questions today, i hope the majority leader will consider that. >> i said that members will have
8:27 pm
an opportunity to ask questions in writing which they already have, many of you have have already done that. to ask additional questions in writing. if you have them in by 5:00p.m. thursday. that's one more day than senator harken gave us on perez. we'll schedule an executive session next tuesday when we'll be glad to discuss the tax return issue. whether we want to apply tax returns to future nominees that come before this committee and we'll vote on mrs. devos, but only if the letter agreement is complete by this friday and made available to all members of the committee so you have three or four days to see how that might affect your vote. >> are we assured before this vote tuesday we'll have the answers to these questions?
8:28 pm
what i have heard is we can submit the questions, but here at least the nominee has to answer them. are you assuring us before the vote tuesday our questions will have been answered? >> you have know, the number of questions needs to be reasonable and the answers need to be reasonable. that's in the eye of the beholder sometimes. the most number of questions ever asked a nominee before this committee i'm told was 191 to secretary perez. i won't say there is a certain number that is reasonable. and then i'm confident that mrs. devos will make every effort to give a reason rabble and as complete an answer as she can. >> but the answer is no we won't assured of that. >> mrs. devos what would your answer be? would you do your best to answer the questions you will receive
8:29 pm
by after 5:00 thursday before the possibility of a vote next tuesday. >> i will certainly endeavor to have all the questions responded to. >> did you make any announcements about whether there will be more than one rounds of questions tomorrow when we convene to hear mr. price's -- -- representative price's? see you was not planning on more than one. >> i heard in various members who did the research during the course of this proceedings he indicate there have been additional trownds for nominees who have come before this committee for other department than education, and i can tell you that perhaps half -- i perhaps got a chance to -- i got half of my questions today. tomorrow given the breadth of that department, i have many,
8:30 pm
many more. >> since i'm talking a lot about precedent tonight. let me look at the precedent and see what that says. i told dr. price there would be -- in my experience, one rounds of questions would pretty well do it. but usually we had senator murray and i fowmed and occasionally senator warren does. but let me think about that. >> mr. chairman, can i ask about the precedent? when we got back and examined the record will we find instances where people asked for a second round of questions and were refused? >> will you find instances where they were asked and refused. i don't know the answer to that. but if you go back to president obama's two education secretaries, there was one rounds of five minute questions. then the chairman asked a
8:31 pm
question and one other senator asked a question and that's that's what we are doing tonight. >> but as you have said in that hearing i think we have time for a second round. those were your words. then you said senator warren, you can be the first in the second round. which i believe to mean had there been anyone else who wanted to ask a question. they could have. no one was refused the opportunity to ask. it's just that people were satisfied with the nominee and had no further questions. >> i can guarantee you many of us were not spattified with the last nominee, but out of deference to the president and the institution thought it would be appropriate to defer to the president and it was important to have a secretary in place. you are a very exceptional law professor and i don't want to get into that kind of discussion with you. my guess is, i looked over there
8:32 pm
and saw you and you asked if there could be a second round and i said yes. so i think we are the on ones on the rope. we have to bring this to a conclusion. i think mrs. devos -- i think we are not going to have a he round of questions tonight. >> i just want to be clear. this is the first time ever someone has asked for a second ronald and been refused. >> no, no one ever said that except you. >> you haven't said otherwise. >> well, lewis carroll would be proud of that. >> did you say you had refused anyone a sond round. >> i said lewis carroll would be proud of that kind of reasoning. i looked straightforwardly with the process with president obama's education secretaries and said we would do the same thing for president-elect trump's nominee.
8:33 pm
she has now spent 50% more time here in this hearing than either secretary duncan or secretary king did for president obama. she visited every one of your offices. she asked to go in december, no one made time for her in december. she came in january. she received questions from you which she is going to answer. she completed the f.b.i. background. she followed every rule the committee had. i said we'll consider the tax return question at an executive session next week whether we want to change the rules and require that in the future. we senators don't do it for ourselves and we don't do it for our nominees. so we can talk about that. and you will have two days to ask additional written questions, she'll do her reasonable number of them. she'll do her best to give you reasonable answers to them, and we'll not go forward with a vote next tuesday unless her letter
8:34 pm
agreement is public by friday and available for you to review it. so that's my decion. and i think that's what we'll do tonight. we'll conclude the hearing by inviting senator murray if she has any additional questions to ask, to do that, and i will ask some, then we'll finished. >> i take that as a definitive answer. >> as definitive as i can be. >> since i only have one question, i'll ask one with you probably won't like. mrs. devos, president-elect trump was recorded bragging about kissing and groping and vague to have sex with women without their consent. he said on tape when around star they let you do it. you can do anything. i was and i remain very outrained by those comments. and that outa rage grew
8:35 pm
following the recordings release to publicly accuse president-elect trump of the behavior he bragged about on that tape. i take these accusations very seriously. if this behavior, kissing and touching girls without their consent in the schools, would you skirt a sexual assault? >> yes. >> one in five women will be victims of sexual assault in college. we are joined by five young women tonight because this issue is important to them. will you assure you won't be reining in the. >> i will be looking closely at how this has been regulated and
8:36 pm
handled with great sentivity to tseho are victims and also considering pert tray towards as well. but please know that i am very sensitive. >> i heard you say that. but you will not take back the words you will rein in the civil rights. >> i don't believe those are my word. >> this is extremely important to women and men across the country and i hope that you will take back the word of reining in the office of civil rights and the department's work on sexual assault. i'm going to turn to senator haskin. >> i just wanted to clarify the issue about whether you were on the board of your mother's foundation. i have 990s up through 2013 where you are listed as the vice
8:37 pm
president and a board member. was that just a mistake on your part? >> that was a clerical error. i can assure you i have never made decisions on my mother's behalf on the foundation board. >> the listing that you were vice president of the board is incorrect? >> that's incorrect. >> i want to go back to the individual with disability act. that's a federal civil rights law. do you stand by your statement that it should be up to the states to follow it. >> federal law must be followed where federal dollars are in play. >> were you unaware about the i.d.a. that it was a federal law. >> i may have confused it. >> it guarantees basic protections to students with disbits to assure they are afforded a high-quality education with their peers. one of the reasons it's
8:38 pm
difficult to have this hearing and feel we fully understand your perspective is because we do know that children with disability in at least some of the voucher propers you supported have gone with a voucher to a school, because of their disability, had to leave the school. the school keeps the money, and they go back to public schools with even less resources to deal with them. and many of us see this as a potential for turning our public schools into warehouses for the most challenging schools with disabilities or other kinds of particular issues. or the kids whose parents can't afford to makeup the difference between the voucher and the cost of private school tuition. i would urge you to become familiar with the individuals with disthe business act. i'm concerned that you seem so unfamiliar with it and seem to support schools that have made students sign away their rights
8:39 pm
to make sure the law is enforced. that's very troubling to you. >> senator, i assure you if confirmed, i will be very sensitive to the needs of special needs student and the policies surrounding that. >> with all due respect. it's not about sensitivity, though that helps. it's about being willingo enforce the law to make sure my child and he child has the same access to public education. high-quality public education. the reality is the way the voucher systems you have supported work don't always come out that way. that's why it's something we need to continue to explore. thank you. >> thank you senator hassan and senator murray. thank you, mrs. devos for being here. i appreciate you being here for 3 hours, 39 minutes. i am going to put in the record
8:40 pm
with consent a letter from the log cabin republicans who wrote to me as chairman of the committee about a suggestion that you might be anti-gay. according to gregory t. angelo, president, he said far from being an anti-gay fire priester she has a history of working with and supporting gay individuals. her senior adviser dwiewed a tho make his sexual orientation public, mrs. devos put an end to the bullying. and she called for the resignation of the republican national committeeman for posting anti-gay statement online. mrs. devos should be commended for proving the differences of opinion related to marriage equality do not equate to
8:41 pm
anti-gay animus. log cabin republicans encourage her swift confirmation. if senators wish to ask additional questions of our nominee those are due by the close of business thursday, 5r, january 19. the next hearing of our committee will be tomorrow morning at 10:00 on the nomination of tom price for united states secretary of health and human services. thank you for being here. >> i have a letter i would like to add to the record from the massachusetts charter public schools association raising questions about accountability. they are strong supporters of charter schools but they are concerned about mrs. devos' record of accountability with
8:42 pm
charter schools in michigan. >> thank you. it will be admitted into the record. >> the senate confirmation hearing for donald trump's secretary of education. a lot of bickering. >> if anybody had any doubts democrats would do everything possible to obstruct this process approving the nominees of donald trump to his cabinet, those questions were paned by what happened tonight. the committee meeting went on at least an hour longer than previous committee meetings for nomineto the education department, even though the democrats were claiming they didn't have enough time. melissa: there was a 10-minute fight about fighting about not having enough time. bernie sanders asked if she thought she would be there if
8:43 pm
she weren't a billionaire who gave money to republicans. she said she would, that she spent 30 years fighting for better education in the country. david: just to show how disassociated this government has become. elizabeth warren asked if she was a banker. because so much of what the education department does now has to do with banking and loaning money to students. how much of that has to do with your experience and the need to have experience in education. very interesting series of questions, shows you the different ways in which government and its role in our lives are viewed by the people inside the beltway. we'll be right back. don't leave us. when a cold calls...
8:44 pm
achoo! ...answer it. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens cos, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in great tasting crystals. when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. liberty did what? yeah, with liberty mutual all i needed to do to get an estimate was snap a photo of the damage and voila! voila! (sigh) i wish my insurance company had that... wait! hold it... hold it boys... there's supposed to be three of you... where's your brother? where's your brother? hey, where's charlie? charlie?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance
8:46 pm
8:47 pm
melissa: senate confirmation hearing for the secretary of education choice betsy devos. that was something, adam. reporter: it got aggressive when elizabeth warren of massachusetts was lit woolly attacking -- was literally attacking devos on the trump university problem and the $25 million settlement he entered into. here is what senator warren asked and how it went down.
8:48 pm
>> how do you plan to protect taxpayer dollars by colleges hat take in millions. >> if confirmed i will be village length .i am asking how are you going to do that. >> the individuals with whom i work in the department will insure that federal mommies are used properly and appropriately. reporter: tim kaine attacked devos on her previous statements in a speech where she aapparently said government quote sucks. that was part of the democrat strategy because they said they were going to target devos. she is known as a champion of school choice, charters and vouchers.
8:49 pm
here is what she said why parents should have the ability to make that decision. >> if a school is troubled, unsafe or not a good fit for a child or perhaps they have a special need that's going unmet. we should support the parents' right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative. reporter: the democrats wants more information and another hearing. republicans say they have already gone far beyond what other pe secretary of education have went through. in. david: we have all been patient. and none more so than our panel. thanks to all of you for hanging with us on this. we have a lot of the talk from liz warren. we saw one clip of it. surprising to a lot of people that she didn' -- she didn't his
8:50 pm
nominee on school choice and voimps. but not surprising tough read what liz warren wrote in 2003. she had a book in which she supported the position of this current mom knee. she said quote all voucher or all school choice system would be a shock to the educational system buft shakeout might be -- but the shakeout might be just what the system needs. she is taking the nominee to task for her views when she has the same views. >> details. i think the senate democrats high late how bitter, angry and mean they can be at this hearing. mrs. devos, i any she handled herself brilliantly. this is her life's effort for all of children to be educated,
8:51 pm
especially those in disadvantaged neighborhoods. and she has spent untold sums of money supporting these children, testified kateed hours mentoring and -- dedicated hours mentoring. elizabeth warren lecturing her? it's really outrageous. melissa: they said they spent a full 10 minutes bickering about the fact that they didn't have enough time. but when given the opportunity to have questions, one she fielded, would she take a pledge to not cut a penny from fed cal education from the budget from the department. what's the points of that question? she is being nominated by somebody who has promised to cut a lot of the waste in government. obviously she is not going to pledge to not cut a single dollar from education. what is the point of all this?
8:52 pm
>> throwing money at the problem has proven so effective. fortunately betsy devols did not take the bait. she seems calm and relaxed. i have been to her conference called american federation for children conference four or five times in the last six years. she is not someone who generally relishes the limelight. she is not an avid public speaker. even in her own conference. so i wasn't sure what to expect tonight. and i think walking in with a 52-48 advantage the republicans have, a 12-11 majority in this committee, she would have needed a meltdown to have lost this. but i think it confirmation is going to happen. i think she won this. she did not melt down. she was crucial. i think she'll be fine.
8:53 pm
david: i was around when the department education started when the carter administration was in power it was suppose to be a small institution it was not suppose on dictating to school systems how to run their affairs. before it has grown into a $70 billion a year monster which a lot of local school districts are so dependent on that they must do what the federal department of education tells them to do. how do you unwind this? we saw how desperately they are clinging to the power they get in local community because of department of ed it's clear trump wants to unravel it. >> he will need the cooperation of congress if he's going to get any of that done. but here is the beauty of our system. the federal government doesn't dictate much of our ed case policy.
8:54 pm
they can dangle money out to the states and states can decide whether they want to make a grab for the money. bust issue ofs raised for k-12 schools in particular are set at the local and state levels. david: i was a teacher in chicago. it was one of the worst areas of economy that doesn't even exist anymore. but when i was teaching there, we had to use one particular teaching method, an audio of video of method. we've might wasn't work. but we had to use it because if we didn't, we would lose our federal dollars for the program. they weren't willing to lose that money. i disagree with if you part because of my own experience. >> there are times when the federal government says if you want this money you must follow this policy. and that happens a lot. but on a lot of the issues that came up tonight as controversial
8:55 pm
or problematic that the democrats were trying to raise, things like chatter school policy. those things are completely set at the state level. the federal government can incentivize those things like the obama administration did. but they don't set the policy. melissa: i are want to get gianno in here. there were questions about conversion therapy and things beyond the scweech this hearing was suppose to be about. what do you make of that? >> i think the democrats often when you talk about school choice and voimps. they want to confuse our viewers as much as possible. they want to make it seem as though this nominee would be anti-everything that people believe in now days which can be climate change, ets. not having school choice voucher
8:56 pm
is similar to segregation in the jim crow south. everyone knows the schools are horrible and in bad shape. but the dems say that's just the way it is. it's a way to protect the teachers union that keep the democrats in power. melissa: while people with money have the opportunity to get out. thanks to our guests for sticking around. david: thanks to all of you. a programming alert. you can see tonight's episode of kennedy at midnight eastern time. thanks for watching us. we appreciate you sticking with us. icines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away
8:57 pm
for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. so we know how to cover almost alanything.ything, even mer-mutts. (1940s aqua music) (burke) and we covered it, february third, twenty-sixteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪
9:00 pm
>> a tv hitmaker loves animals. >> he turned that creatity on animal rights, and it was unbelievable. >> one dog he rescues is off-the-charts dangerous. >> if it's a scale from 1 to 10, columbo's a 12. >> when the hollywood owner dies, columbo becomes their strange -- and expensive -- inheritance. >> acupuncture for a dog? i know we're in los angeles, but really? [ dog growls ] >> is it all worth it? >> your kids could get hurt. you're willing to take the risk. >> we made a commitment to healing dogs and showing other families how to do it. >> welcome to the weird world of pet inheritance. >> so, are you leaving your home to the birds? [ bird squawks ]
113 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
FOX BusinessUploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=355296524)