U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she's troubled by the record of Donald Trump's pick for education secretary. The Massachusetts Democrat said Betsy DeVos' advocacy for school choice and charter schools amounts to support for policies that would drain taxpayer dollars from public schools to "unaccountable private and for-profit operators."
In a letter to DeVos on Monday, Warren also faulted what she called DeVos' "paper-thin record on higher education and student debt."
Warren's sentiments are being shared by some in Grand Rapids. Over the weekend, a large group gathered downtown to protest DeVos being named the education secretary. Warren said the next education secretary must continue to help students struggling with student debt and protect them from for-profit colleges offering worthless degrees and mountains of debt. Trump has called DeVos "a brilliant and passionate education advocate."
Warren is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will hold a hearing on DeVos' nomination Wednesday.
