Producers’ Pick | Betsy DeVos: Schools Need Change

Let's bring in the former Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. Congratulations on your book, Ms. Secretary. Hostages No More is a New York Times bestseller. Well, thank you so much, Brian. It's great to get the message out there about how we can fix American education.

And Hostages No More is a story about just doing just that and gives us ways to do it. You know, Americans had a front row seat the last two years in how the education system actually handles delivering learning to kids, and many people are very disappointed. So it's a prime time to have policy change that will support families and kids, not systems. So I was spent last week with Governor Youngkin, and I would say that he probably wouldn't get elected as governor of Virginia if those school boards didn't erupt after people found out the curriculum that they were being taught their kids, and parents were dismissed when they tried to give some input into it.

Ms. Secretary, when you took over this job, did you know a lot of this anti-American CRT was taking place? Well, I knew that it was continuing to infiltrate in many places, but the exposure that it got in families' living rooms during COVID certainly brought it right in front of parents who never thought they had to worry or be concerned about their kids' curriculums. Also, parents were told to just go home and not speak up when their schools were closed for months longer than they needed to be. They were also told to go home and don't speak up when they saw distance learning that was anything but high expectations and robust. There are many reasons why families are unhappy with the status quo and with the system that they thought was serving their kids well. Many families have gone on to figure out alternatives that are working well for them, and many families want to do just that, and policy needs to support them doing that.

When you began to change things and saw this problem, how were you received? Well, I've been at this for 35 years, and I have gone head-to-head with the teachers unions every step of the way. The teachers unions are at the top of the pile with preserving and protecting and expanding the status quo. They, with all their allies in Washington, D.C., continue to really control K-12 education in America, a 175-year-old system that was started for an entirely different time. And education itself is the least disrupted industry we have in our country. And parents saw this, families saw this in the last two years, and neighbors and friends saw it.

And so there is a realization that we have got to do something different to provide better opportunities for kids across the country. And they hit back at you hard. They didn't want any part of you.

They didn't want any part of that reform. And the day that you were hired, I remember you going to visit a school, I think it was in New York, they were protesting the Secretary of Education. I think to myself, I cannot believe you need security to get into a van to visit a school.

Yep. Well, it was actually in Washington, D.C., on my second day in the job, and I was physically barred from the school initially. Now, we eventually got in, and I tell the story in the book. It's a sad commentary on people who think that they have, you know, that they have kids' interests at heart.

They showed themselves regularly while continuing. When I was trying to highlight great things happening, they would continually protest and have, you know, dozens, if not hundreds, in some cases, of protesters out just attacking me personally. It's not about me.

It wasn't about me. It's about protecting a system that's working for adults but isn't working for kids. Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, her book is now out, is with us now. Her book is now Out Hostages No More, the Fight for Education, Freedom, and the Future of the American Child.

So there's a couple of stories I want to bring you to. First, in the Los Angeles Unified District, there are training teachers and staff against meritocracy, that merit and individualism are concepts rooted in whiteness and must be challenged in schools. Meritocracy is synonymous with America. So I am stunned by this, are you?

Absolutely. No, I'm not stunned because the LA District has, again, been focused on their own ideological crusades. They kept kids out of school for nearly two full school years. And these are the kids who can least afford to not be in the classroom and not be learning. We won't know the devastating effects of those lockdowns for years, but what we do know is that while they're busy trying to fill kids' heads ideologically, kids are not learning to read and write, and it's tragic. Other story, on FoxNews.com, the National Education Association Teachers Union is proposing a resolution to change mother, which is commonly used in school, to birthing parent. Birthing parent.

What the hell is that about? Again, all the ideology that the system, the unions and their allies are trying to force feed to every American family, and at the same time, kids can't read, kids don't know how to do math. We trail the world, the rest of our peers around the world. We're 37th in math, 18th in science, and 13th in reading.

And this was before COVID struck. So what we need to do is have kids focused again on being kids, first of all, and learning how to do the things that they're going to need to have as tools when they grow up into adulthood, not focus on all of this ideology. And again, families are fed up. So I want you to hear this, Nicole Neely, case in point, as a parent defending against, going against this, defending the lawsuit that they filed against Joe Biden's Department of Education for this whole birthing thing and more. Cut 29. We were very surprised about three weeks ago when the administration announced the creation of the National Parent and Family Council.

And our first thought was, my gosh, I guess our invitation was lost in the mail. But the more we dug into it with our friends at America First Legal and Fight for Schools, we figured out this is actually a significant violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which has to announce the creation of committees ahead of time, have oversight provisions in place, and be ideologically balanced. And none of these, the council meets none of these criteria.

So it's illegal. And some of the things they're trying to do, cut 31. You know, raises real concerns, obviously, about teachers unions, showing how far away they are from the concerns of average parents.

I mean, this reminds me what Van Jones said a few weeks ago, that this is not language you hear at the nail salon or, you know, the beauty parlor. These are very deeply out of touch ideologues who are in front of our children. And, you know, it's funny, for this resolution, they actually said they need more money to even advance this internally. And so there's not even buy-in among their members. And the fact that they're going to push this on families is offensive.

Right. The whole birthing person thing and changing the pronouns and having kids, boys who claim to be transsexuals on girls' teams. It's like they're trying to rip apart the fabric. If they're not trying to destroy and denigrate our history, they're trying to dumb down our schools and change it. What's behind this? Well, it has been a progressive ideology that has been seeded in the system, the K-12 system, for decades. And it's finally coming to to the fore. People are finally knowing and understanding and realizing what has been, what the march that has been happening. And thankfully, you know, families have awakened and they're not going to stand for it. We're seeing in states across the country, you know, actions being taken around demanding transparency on curriculum and transparency on finances and giving families the economic freedom by having the money for their child follow their child to where they want their child to go to school. Arizona being the first state that's about to pass or have Governor Ducey sign into law an education savings account that will allow families to buy their children's education where they find the best fit for their child so they can make choices to get away from this ideology and to do the things that they actually, during COVID, many of them found solutions that they want to continue. So how would you characterize your experience with the Trump administration?

You were almost there the entire time. Like very few, as we're seeing now, we're seeing everyone run for the exits. What was it like for you? Did you have support of the president, do you feel? Absolutely. The president was very supportive. In fact, it was his championing this notion of education freedom and families making the best decisions for their children was the reason why I joined the administration in the first place. And he was very supportive of education freedom, of family, of young people following multiple alternative pathways beyond high school to be ready for great careers and great futures, not forcing every kid into a four-year college or university, whether that's the right thing for them or not. And he was always very supportive of all of those goals. And I had lots of latitude with my team to be able to carry out the agenda. And at the end, you decided to resign after January 6th.

Why? That day was very difficult watching what was going on. And I looked at it from the eyes of children who might be watching and thought about the fact that he could have and should have done more to stop what happened at the Capitol. It was a difficult day for me, for many people.

And I just felt that when he abandoned his vice president who had been loyally serving for the full term, it was just a bridge too far. Right. Have you talked to him since? I have not. Would you?

I would be happy to, but I haven't sought that out. Okay. Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, her book is doing exceedingly well, Hostages No More.

It's the top three issues on almost everybody's agenda. And she was right in the eye of the storm and the fight continues. Ms. Secretary, thanks so much. Thanks so much, Brian.