--- title: Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer These Education Questions description: Betsy DeVos received criticism from Democrats for appearing unwilling or unprepared to take a stance on some key issues in education policy canonical: https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T21:37:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:47:08.117Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's a Look at the Questions Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer og:description: Democrats criticized DeVos for dodging some of their questions og:url: https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9dcc89d19a333a9/6988b5e8f887dcdc59e98b70/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3414 og:image:height: 1920 og:image:alt: Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's a Look at the Questions Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer twitter:description: Democrats criticized DeVos for dodging some of their questions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9dcc89d19a333a9/6988b5e8f887dcdc59e98b70/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's a Look at the Education Questions Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 18, 2017 9:37 PM UTC  Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos prepares to testify during her confirmation hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 17, 2017. Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos prepares to testify during her confirmation hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 17, 2017. Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 18, 2017 9:37 PM UTC Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s [education secretary nominee](http://time.com/4606096/betsy-devos-schoolyard-rebel/), received criticism from Democrats for appearing unwilling or unprepared to take a stance on several key issues in education policy [during her confirmation hearing](http://time.com/4637164/betsy-devos-education-secretary-hearing/) Tuesday night. Here’s a closer look at a few of those notable moments: **Measuring proficiency vs. growth**DeVos appeared unfamiliar with a long-running debate over the benefits of measuring proficiency or growth among students when she was asked for her opinion on it. “I think, if I’m understanding your question correctly around proficiency, I would also correlate it to competency and mastery, so that each student is measured according to the advancement they’re making in each subject area,” she told Minnesota Sen. Al Franken . “Well, that’s growth. That’s not proficiency,” Franken responded. “This is a subject that has been debated in the education community for years,” Franken said. “It surprises me that you don’t know this issue.” Franken has argued that growth is a more useful metric because it accounts for individual progress over a period of time. He said it’s a more useful tool for assessing advanced students, who begin at a proficient level already, as well as struggling students, who might not reach proficiency but should make progress compared to their own starting point. Those on the other side of the debate argue that all students should strive to meet a common level of proficiency. **The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act** DeVos said states should be responsible for deciding whether and how to enforce a federal law that protects the rights of students with disabilities, and she suggested that she didn’t know it was a federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires schools to provide a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities, but it has been the subject of disputes over how it should be applied in some states and school districts. “So were you unaware when I just asked you about the IDEA that it was a federal law?” said New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, for whom the issue is personal because her son has cerebral palsy. “I may have confused it.” DeVos said, adding that federal laws must be followed. **School accountability** DeVos dodged a question from Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine about accountability standards across different schools and states. When he asked multiple questions about whether all schools that receive federal funding should be held to equal standards of accountability, DeVos gave the same answer four times, saying only, “I support accountability.” Visibly frustrated, Kaine asked if she agreed with him that “all schools that receive taxpayer funding should be equally accountable.” DeVos said no, and Kaine interrupted to ask another question before she could explain the reasons for her disagreement. The exchange touched on the debate over charter school accountability. Charter schools are public, but they operate independently from a school district and are usually granted more autonomy. Some charter school advocates argue that charter schools should operate with less government interference. Others, including Kaine, have argued for increased accountability. **Gun-free zones around schools**When asked whether she thinks guns have a place in or around schools, DeVos said she would leave that decision up to state and local authorities. “I will refer back to Sen. \[Mike\] Enzi and the school that he was talking about in Wapiti, Wyoming. I think probably there, I would imagine that there’s probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” DeVos said, referring to a Wyoming school that has a grizzly bear fence surrounding it. DeVos also said she would support whatever stance the president-elect takes on the issue. The original question came from Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who has been a vocal proponent of gun control measures since the [Sandy Hook elementary school shooting](http://time.com/4147684/newtown-sandy-hook-anniversary/?iid=sr-link6) in his home state in 2012\. His question referred to Trump’s promise this month that he would eliminate gun-free zones around schools on his first day in office. The Gun-Free School Zones Act, enacted in 1990, bans possession of a firearm in a school zone. But some Republicans and gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, have argued that people should be allowed to carry guns in such zones for self-defense purposes. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie introduced a bill earlier this month that would repeal that act. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/"},"headline":"Here's a Look at the Education Questions Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer","datePublished":"2017-01-18T21:37:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:47:08.117Z","description":"Democrats criticized DeVos for dodging some of their questions","url":"https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/","keywords":["Education","Congress","College","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9dcc89d19a333a9/6988b5e8f887dcdc59e98b70/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9dcc89d19a333a9/6988b5e8f887dcdc59e98b70/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing","caption":"Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing","creditText":"Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy/","name":"Here's a Look at the Education Questions Betsy DeVos Struggled to Answer"}}]}] ```