Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate held its confirmation hearing for Betsy  DeVos as Secretary of Education.  As can be expected, the hearing was highly partisan with Republicans supporting her views and positions while Democrats attacked her qualifications.  DeVos spoke about school choice, charter schools, parents rights, virtual and distance education.   A full video (three hours plus) of the hearing is above.

Bernie Sanders questioned her credentials implying that the only reason she is the nominee is that her family has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the Republican Party.  He also asked about her positions on free tuition proposals for  public universities and federal financial support for child care. 

Elizabeth Warren questioned her knowledge and experience with college student financial aid, how she would deal with unscrupulous for-profit colleges, and what she knew about the U.S. DOE’s gainful employment stipulations.

Video clips of Senators Sanders and Warren quesitoning are below.

Good theater!

Tony