Transcripts For CSPAN3 Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Pressed On Accountability For Charter... 20170525

With massachusetts representative Catherine Clark at a house appropriation subcommittee hearing on the 2017 Education Department budget. Now that hearing in its entirety. Good to have you here, madam secretary. Before we begin formally i want to recognize miss allard for the purposes of introduction. I would like to introduce tommy a former foster care youth for the congressional foster youth shadow day. Tommy is a resident of downey, california, in my district. His educational aspirations are to earn a masters in architecture and have a career in design i just want to thank him for coming to d. C. To help ensure that the our youth are involved in child welfare. His efforts to support the wellbeing, talent and educational aspirations of every child involved in foster care and tommy is the one with the blue around him. Why dont you stand up real quick. Yeah, stand up. There he is. Good morning, madam secretary. Its genuinely my pleasure to welcome you here to the subcommittee on labor health and Human Services an education. Were looking forward to hearing your testimony. Madam secretary, you have one of the most important jobs in washington and thats ensuring that all young people will have access to the education they need to be successful in coming decades. I know its a cause that youve devoted occur life to quite seflessly. Many of our schools do fantastic jobs. Some need some support and others are in need of significant improvement and reform. But one fact remains. And thats we need to do the right thing for all americas children and your job is to ensure that that happens. The budget blueprint that came out in march was further detailed yesterday and proposes some dramatic shifts in the way your agency does business. It has a goal of Opening Doors for more educational choices to families whether those schools be regular public excuse, Charter Schools or private schools. I applaud your investment in high quality Charter Schools as a way to give options to many students who have had no options in the past. I support high quality education options for all students and i believe the neediest among us have the most to gain from an excellent education. Ive long supported programs that help level the Playing Field for indian children, disabled, first generation and poor children. Thats a Common Objective on this committee. Today ill have questions how your School Choice proposals would work and mesh with the reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act that was just completed over a year ago and was nearly a decade in the making. I also appreciate that your budget aims to protect the most vulnerable populations, students with disabilities, english language learners and minority serving institutions. Itsen fortunate the timing of the final consolidated an appropriations bill and the production of the full budget coincided such that the final fiscal 2017 year budget figures were not known at the time your funding proposal decisions were finalized. I understand that makes makes sometimes cuts appear that frankly were not intended to be cuts at all. In many cases, its obvious that the policy of your administration was to maintain current funding for programs, but congress increased funding after for particular programs sometimes after the fact such that your proposal would appear to be a cut when in fact that was not the intention at all. We need 0 carefully explain ourselves when discussing proposed increases and decreases today. Your budget also shifts the way Higher Education Student Financial assistant flows by proposing dramatic changes in seog and College Work Study programs. I look forward to learning more about how you believe these reforms will increase Student Access to and completion of college programs. Your budget consolidates and proposes over 20 programs for elimination. Many of these are cited as being duplicate and effective or not a key federal mission. I look forward to discussing those and your budget also proposes cuts in trio and gearup which frankly il advise you, i have a different point of view on. But ill be interested in discussing this with you and learning your rationale. Ill also have questions about your proposed funding levels for individuals with disabilities particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court decision which found that schools must provide a meaningful Educational Opportunity to all children with disabilities and not just a bare minimum of services. I want to commend you for making a special effort to protected these populations in your budget. The subcommittee needs to know the specific details how your cuts impact schools and students and how new programs would be implemented. The budget provides some of these details and i know some are still being develop bud we look forward to hearing what youre able to share with us today. As a reminder the subcommittee and our witnesses will abide by the fiveminute rule so that everyone will have a chance to get their questions asked and answered. Obviously we have both the big chairman and the Ranking Member here. So im going to move next to my Ranking Member but well certainly be calling on them for whatever remarks they want to make. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I want to welcome the secretary. I will take one second because like my colleague, congresswoman, i too have a young woman shadowing me today justina rosario who is part of the program dealing with foster children and making it through the system which they both have. So i want to welcome her. Thank you, justina. Again, thank you, secretary devos, for joining us today and offer my congratulations to you. But let me launch right in as we spoke about recently. I believe the proposals contained in President Trumps budget are alarming and quite frankly, this puts us on a path towards the privatization of Public Education. This budget intends to shift Public School funding and to advance an agenda that transfers taxpayer dollars out of local community schools. Education is the great equalizer in our country. At the signing ceremony for the original elementary and secondary education act, president Lyndon Johnson described education as the only valid passport out of poverty. Decades later hes still right. The economic benefits that accrue to the individual and society are induce putable. Thats why our government must be committed to providing every chide with access to high quality Public Education. We need to focus on policies on strengthening Public Schools, reducing class sizes, supporting the teaching profession, providing more oneonone attention, boosting student enrichment opportunities, supporting parental involvement and making high quality preschool available to all. We have an aachievement gap in this country and it is worst in high poverty areas both urban and rural. Yet, these are the very areas we would starve with this budget. I know the that a concerted federal investment has helped students of it color and low income students make gains since the department of education was created. Reading and math scores have improved. I wont go into it now but later in the hearing, to readed you the success percentages of our students with the sxorpz at the same time, economic inequities grew, high poverty districts receive less funding. Their students are more likely to be taught by novice teachers and less likely to take an a. P. Course for which they have shown potential. 90 of our kids are in Public Schools. We need more resources to help them succeed. You cant do more with less. You do less with less. We certainly should not be siphoning off taxpayer dollars to pay for crouchers. Vouchers in my view will destabilize not only our schools but our communities and i will fight it against any attempt to take public money away from Public Schools. Cutting funding for critical programs to increase federal investments in Charter Schools also raises public accountability questions. I support Charter Schools. But i do not believe that they should supplant a Public Education system. Transferring limited resources from Public Schools to private schools is wrong. It creates a false choice for families. When congress completed the bipartisan reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education in 2015, it soundly rejected efforts to decimate neighborhood schools. And we expect the administration to implement the new law as written. The trump budget request includes 1. 4 billion in new funding to expand panned socalled choice. At the same time, the budget puts 9. 2 billion in cuts on the table. Slashing or eliminating funding for many programs that benefit kids in Public Schools to pay for this ill conceived proposal. Despite budget documents and rhetoric claiming that maintain funding for core formula Grant Programs, it cuts 578 million from title 1 and 114 million from idea. The budget also eliminates 1. 2 billion for after School Enrichment programs that help keep nearly 2 million kids safe. 2 billion for teacher of professional development and class size reductions which would rumt in more than 7,000 teaches losing their jobs. Literacy is a mark of a civilized society. We spend money to spread literate sit internationally, yet we are eliminating 190 million from the largest Reading Program for low income children and youth and 96 million from grants that help low skilled adults become literate. Despite props by the administration to champion the american worker, the budget slashes funding by 15 for career and Technical Education programs that help prepare high school and Community College students for in demand jobs. The list goes on and on. The budget also proposes deep cuts to or eliminate nations of programs that help students access and succeed in Higher Education. That have enjoyed by partisan support and bipartisan support on this subcommittee for many years. 15 cut to trio which would end Academic Support Services for more than 130,000 college students. 50 cut to work study which would punish thousands of students working their way through college. Complete elimination of both the supplemental education opportunity grants that 1. 5 Million Students rely on, grants that allow schools to tailor programs to students needs and the strengthening Institutions Program that helps nearly 200 Community Colleges and other institutions serve working class students. The budget calls for an end to Public Service loan forgiveness, for police officers, teachers, nurses, and raids 4 billion from pell without taking steps to help students access the Economic Freedom they deserve such as increasing the maximum pell award. Those in the administration claim to support historically black colleges and universitieses but ignore the fact that these Budget Proposals would harm the very programs that hbcus and their students rely on. I want to be clear. Fraught and painful history of segregation in this country, hbcus were not the product of School Choice. They were a product of our nations racist segregation. Aside from your budget, i have questions about how you plan to protect sounds from low quality high debt for profit colleges. These companies prey on low income students, students of color and the honorable men and women who serve in our military and sacrifice their lives for this country. Students at for profits represent only about one in ten of the total Higher Education population, yet, they represent more than a third of all federal student loan defaults calling into question the quality and the value of education provided by this sector. The borrower defense and gainful employment regulations are critically important steps in reigning in these abuses. Thats why i am an alarmed that one of your first actions as secretary was to delay the gainful employment rule. Failure to fully implement this regulation will not only hurt students, it would be expensive. The Congressional Budget Office estimated a 1. 3 billion cost over ten years to taxpayers. President george h. W. Bush once said and i quote, think of every problem every challenge we face. The solution to each starts with education. We owe it to the future of our society to make a commitment to all of our children that they get the best start in life as possible. And that cannot happen if we make misguided cuts to education. I look forward to a robust discussion today and i thank you for being here and i thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the gentle lady. Were privileged to have the distinguished chairman of the full committee today. Chairman, we would love to hear whatever opening remarks you care to make. Thank you, chairman cole. Welcome, madam sect devos to the appropriations committee. We look forward to hearing your frank and candid views on any number of issues. Todays hearing is an important part of the oversight duties of this committee. Now that weve formally received the administrations budget request, the committee will the undertake a thorough analysis of each and every budget will go through each and every budget line, question every witness, and demand credible spending justifications and only then will we make our own determinations on the best use of those tax dollars. We intend to put forward a complete set of Appropriations Bills that adequately Fund Important programs while working to reduce eliminate waste and duplication. I will work with miss lowie, chairman cole, Ranking Member delauro to move rapidly in thing weeks and months to complete the fiscal year 2018 bills. Todays hearing is part of a process we follow to determine the best use of taxpayers dollars. After all, the power of the purse lies in this building. It is the constitutional duty of congress to make spending decisions on behalf of the people we represent at home. We owe it to our young people to ensure that they have access to the best education possible and your department is vital in keeping that promise. Many programs administered by the department of education like pell grants and those established by the individuals with disabilities act idea ensure young people receive a quality shakes. I visit many wonderful schools in my district new jersey, some of the best in the nation throughout the school year and to hear from opportunities, teachers and parents on a range of issues. In middle schools and high schools, i often hear about the benefits of a wellrounded education inspired by every Student Succeeds act which allows students to pursue interests in the arts, music and physical education as well as s. T. E. M. Education and english. In colleges and universities in my district, many students remind me that they would not have the opportunity to attend without programs like pell and federal work study. Im eager to hear how your department will ensure opportunity for these students under proposed reductions including the elimination of supplemental education opportunity grants. Further, these goals can only be met by ensure the next generation of teachers have access to quality Higher Education and the necessary tools in their careers. We need to work as we have in the past in a bipartisan way to ensure that every child in america is well educated. In conclusion, madam chairman, i welcome you. I look forward to working with you and this committee to make sure we have the best possible legislation possible, thank you, mr. Chairman. And again, were very fortunate to have my good friend from new york is recognized for whatever remarks she cares to make. I want to thank chairman cole. Its good to have chairman freeing haasen here, my partner and always good to have my friend, congresswoman delauro here. Thank you both for holding this hear. Im very pleased to welcome secretary devos before this subcommittee for the first time. Mad dap secretary, i will get right to it. I believe that your Budget Proposal would do great harm to students in every facet of education from kindergarten through graduate school. And for those with student loan debt, years beyond. It is just another example of the broken promises in the trump budget that would harm hardworking americans and set us back in preparing a 21st century workforce. To me, this budget reflects the vi views that do not represent the majority of people in my district and people throughout the country. Your budget would cut 9. 2 billion from the department of education. A cut of 13. 6 taking us back to 2,002 levels. It would siphon money from Public Schools to pay for private school vouchers, eliminate more than 22 education investments including teacher training, after School Programs, leaving 1. 6 million children without a safe enrichment environment. I want to say that has always been one of my favorite programs because if you cant convince people that theyre enriching their children, at least theyre keeping them safe while their parents are both working. It would make Higher Education more expensive by cutting federal work study in half, eliminating per kins can loans for needy students, preventing inflationary increase for pell grants, robbing its surplus, ending Public Service loan forgiveness and more. In my district, rockland Community College is currently taking part in a department of Education Initiative that provides child care for low income parents taking college courses. Allowing students to earn a degree and enter the workforce more quickly with less debt. Your budget would eliminate this program, destroying the dreams of these hard working people who are trying to build a better life for themselves and their children. And i hope, by the way, before this budget is completed, you would come to the district, meet these families, meet these parents who are working jobs, going back to school so they can have a positive bright future. This budget reflects the views of an administration filled with people who, frankly, never had to worry about how they were going to pay for their children going to college. And yet, i am most upset that this budget would undermine our Public Education system and the working families who depend on them by reallocating funding for disadvantaged students including the pell surplus and title 1 funding to private school vouchers. Study after study shows these vouchers go to families who would likely send their kids to private school anyway, yet, this budget would deplete Public Schools to fund them. Its clear to me that you not have the necessary understanding of our Education System between this proposed budget and your comments referring to Public Schools as a dead end. And Public School teachers as being in receive mode. Please come, come spend some time in schools in my district where the teachers i know dont stop working when the final bell rings. They work for hours every night getting prepared for the next day. Many of these teachers and administrators are on the front line identifying the best way to reach each student and at times being a parent, counselor, teacher and more. And im not saying that its all perfect. But lets improve the system rather than destroy the system. The teachers i represent were angered and demoralized after hearing your statements on Public Education. I hope that as you lead the department, you will see the hard work and good that most Public School teachers do every day and do better than this Budget Proposal to empower them to succeed. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank the gentle lady. Plaid dam secretary, its a pleasure to have you here. Youre recognized for whatever opening remarks you care to mak make. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Chairman fruling haasen, Ranking Member lowie, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member delauro and members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify on behalf of the administrations Budget Proposal for fiscal year 2018. I look forward to talking about how we can Work Together to improve Educational Opportunities and outcops for all students while also refocusing the federal role in education. While todays hearing is meant to focus on the numbers and mechanics of the budget, i hope well all remember our goal and our purpose, how to best serve americas students. Allow me to share just one example. I recently met a young man, michael, whose story spoke to me. He grew up in East Hartford connecticut in a low income neighborhood. He was an average student throughout elementary and middle school but that changed when he reached the district high school. Michael described a school where students were the real ones in charge of the class and they would make it impossible for the teacher to teach. He was constantly bullied to the point he was afraid to even go to the schools bathroom and had constant fear made him hate school. He described the school kefs assigned to as and i quote, nothing more than adult daycare. A dangerous daycare. But even though he was failing his classes the school passed him along from year to year giving him ds and sending the not so subtle message that they didnt think michael would amount to much. Michael got a diploma but not an education. Michael followed the path he thought he was destined for, working in a low skill, low wage job. But with the encouragement of his wife, he took a course at the local Community College to see what was possible for him. He found an environment that was invested in his success and much to his surprise, michael earned an a. He thought it was a fluke. So he took more classes. Lo and behold, he earned more as and is now in the schools Honor Program with the goal of working as an emergency room nurse. His success ses americas success. Access to a quality education is the path to the american dream. So i ask to keep michael and countless other students like him in mind as we go about our shared work to support americas students. No student should feel they attend a dangerous daycare. No childs dream should be limited by the quality or lack thereof of the education they receive. This budget lays out a series of proposals and priorities working toward ensuring every student has an equal opportunity to receive a great education. It focuses on returning Decision Making power and flexibility to the states where it belongs. And giving parents more control over their childs education. Parents deserve that right and frankly, that right has been denied for too long. We cannot allow any parents to feel their child is trapped in a school that isnt meeting his or her unique needs. The budget also reflects a series of tough choices. If taxpayer money were limitless, we wouldnt need a budget at all. But by its very definition, a budget reflects the difficult decisions of how how best to appropriate the limited taxpayer dollars we have. This budget does so by putting an emphasis on the programs that are proven to help students while taking a hard look at programs that are well intended but simply havent yielded meaningful results. This is why the president s fiscal year 2018 budget would reduce overall funding for Department Programs by 9 billion or 13 . Ive seen the headlines and i understand those figures may sound alarming for some. However, this budget refocuses the department on supporting states and School Districts in their efforts to provide high quality shakes to all our students. At the same time, the budget simplifies funding for college while continuing to help make a Higher Education more accessible to all. Id like to outline the principles that guided our Decision Making. First, our request would devote significant resources toward giving every student an equal opportunity for a great education. It emphasizes giving parents more power and students more opportunities. Second, the administrations request recognizes importance of maintaining strong support for Public Schools through longstanding state formula Grant Programs focused on meeting the Educational Needs of the nations most vulnerable students including poor and minority students and students with disabilities. Third, our request maintains funding for key competitive Grant Programs that support innovation and build evidence of what works in education. This also means strong support for the research and Data Collection activities of the department. Fourth, our request reduces the complexity of funding for college while prioritizing efforts to help make a College Education accessible for low income students. As Congress Prepares to reauthorize the Higher Education act, i look forward to working with you to address student debt and Higher Education costs while improving student completion rates through such efforts as year round pell and reducing complexity of Student Financial aid and fifth, consistent with our commitment to improve the efficiency of the federal government, our request would eliminate or phase out 22 programs that are duplicative, ineffective or better supported through state, local or philanthropic efforts. Six Additional Programs were already eliminated in the reauthorization of the elementary and secondary educate act. In total, the president s budget fulfills his promise to devolve power from the federal government and place it in the hands of parents and families. It refocuses the department on supporting states in their efforts to provide a high quality education to all of our students. Research shows that increasing education options can can have positive effects on students generally and an even greater impact on poor and minority students. If we truly want to provide better education to underserved communities, we must start with giving parents and students the power to select high quality schools that meet their needs. We want to unleash a new era of creativity and ingenuity in the education space. My hope is that working in concert with each of you, we can make education in america the ep have i of the rest of the world. Thank you again for the opportunity to share the administrations vision for improving education across the country. I look forward to respond to your questions. Thank you, madam chairman. And delighted to have you here and appreciate your testimony. Let me begin with the first of the many unfair questions youre going to get. Unfair in this case because you will have had so little time in your department to react to it, but as and im sure youre well aware, we recently had a Supreme Court decision in drew versus the Douglas County school district. An 80 decision which found School Districts must provide a truly meaningful level of Educational Opportunity for students with disabilities and not simply more than a deminimus level of basic services. I think its early obviously to tell what the full ramifications and implications of this are. But is you know, this is a tremendous cost to local districts. Obviously its a major item in your budget, as well which again i appreciate you defending. Have you had a chance to think about what the impact of this decision will be on local School Districts and obviously, how the Department Might be able to be assist local areas in addressing it. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for that question. And this is an issue about which ive definitely become aware and followed closely. Let me just begin by saying how important i believe it is the federal departments, the federal governments role is to support the idea plan Program Supporting students with special needs with disabilities and this budget does in fact anticipate fully funding i. D. E. A. What the implications are of this decision obviously remain to be seen. Were looking closely at the decision and the directive to help provide guidelines and are in the process of working through that now. But i would come back to the i think the or reason for the case, and that was that these parents felt their son was not getting the kind of education that he needed and they as any parent would do fought hard to make sure that their child was getting the support that he needed. And i think that this is an area that is very ripe for broader discussion around empowering parents more in these decisions around their children. This has been an area that this committee has really focused on. As a matter of fact, with all due respect, the last administration they flat funded i. D. E. A. In their last couple budgets. It was this committee that put more money for id idea for the senate and the house. Eknow this is a challenge for a lot of districts and we want to make sure these young people are well taken care of. Let me also ask you and give you an opportunity and in full disclosure, im a big trio fan. Ive seen the impact in my district. Its a Program Actually i first found a lot about when i was an academic in the 1970s. Its been around a long time, a Great Program but it has produced over 5 million college glutes. Thats an area that had been flat funded and this subcommittee has been the leader on restoring funding there. I know youve proposed some reductions to that and to gear up if you care to address it in the time weve got. Would love to have your thinking on this and your assessment of the program. Thank you. Agreed there are portions of the trio program that have been very effective and very important for students who are aspiring to go to college who may not have had that opportunity. The focus of this budget and the portion of the trio program that were proposing to be eliminated are the mcnair and the eoc portions, mcnair being focused on post baccalaureate programs, students and not sort of outside of the original intent of the trio programs to begin with, and then the eoc program being more of and sill larry activity to help support or market the trio program. So we felt that again, with tough choices to be made, that these were areas that probably were not really focused on the original intent as congress intended the trio programs originally. So we have proposed those be eliminated but continue to fund the upward bound and the other Talent Search and the other Student Services support systems. I appreciates that very much. And you know, well continue to have a dialogue. If you look at mcnair in particular, it has helped a lot of students get graduate school ta otherwise couldnt because quite often theyre copping from families with very limited means. Granted. Its a high cost per student in terms of its application. Youre absolutely correct. It is much more expensive per constituent. Thats partly because its a graduate degree. Youre correct in your assess the and cost. With that let me go to the Ranking Member. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Madam secretary, you previously stated that funding designated for professional development in title 2 part a of essa is redundant and duplicative. Eliminating title 2 part a sends the message that either teaches, school staff and principals have hit all the burj marks and they do not need to improve or teachers are doing so poorly there is no need to investment in them. Which category do you believe, teachers, paraprofessionals and principals fall into . Well, madam congresswoman, first of all, the title 2a program 2a program we believe has been spread very thinly. Its been more prescriptive in nature and as the states go to implement their es sa programs and plans they have great attitude with how to use other Funding Sources and to devote them to the kinds of activities that 2a has been intended for. 20 of the grants that have gone through that program are of 10,000 or less. And so, the efficacy of them has been very much in question. We believe that with the flexibility granted to the states that theyre going to be able to use the other funding streams to use in support of these developmental programs. If thats whats right for the plan and programs and the students in their states. I dont know these days that states have a lot of leeway in other funding streams. I just pointed to the state of connecticut which is very serious financial difficulty. You know, teachers feel prepared and supported they stay in the profession. Research, teachers need to improve and change, as well. Do you believe that thats true . Absolutely. Okay. And that good and effective teach is invaluable. They need the resources to do it. Okay. So having the resources there is critically important in order to deal with a teacher development. Many schools use their title 2 part a funds to keep classes from being overcrowded. The parents dont want a first grader in a class of 30 with 1 teacher. Eliminating this funding could mean firing approximately 8,000 teachers. How do you explain the decision to parents . We believe with implementation of essa states are best equipped and able along with the local education agencies and authorities to be able to make the decisions on behalf of the students closer to the decisions, though, without resources . Well, thats resources through title 1 that are very flexible in that regard. Well, we have got a serious shift in funds from title 1. We can get that in another round. To School Choice. Thats part of where youve all want to go with title 1 so title 1 isnt going to be at the at the level that it necessarily needs to be in order to be able to accommodate these efforts. You talked about in your fy 2018 budget it refocuses the departments mission on the efforts of states for hard quality education. My view that eliminating title 2 part a contradicts this mission. How do you square this circle . Again, we believe that these decisions are best made at the state and the local level. And their ability to target the resources to where the needs are for their state, for their students and for their schools is the most important, the flexibility afforded through essa is a very important element in consideration of this whole budget process. Should every student again, you cant do less with less. Thats my view. I dont know what everyone elses view is and were cutting back significantly in the resources to education and dealing with a the notion that we do not have to invest in teacher training or in reduced class size in order to help better to have kids learn. Should every student have access to a highly qualified teacher . Im sure your answer is absolutely they should. Absolutely. How does the eliminating title 2 Funding Impact the belief . We know that the seat exist, tiff exists. Competitive grants that dont each every state and every school district. So, how do you by eliminating title 2, how do you back up your view that every student should have access to a highly effective teacher . Again, reprioritizing the dollar that is go to the states for their flexibility to be used in the best manner that they deem the best manner possible for on behalf of the students theyre serving and just with respect to your question and comment about reducing class size, that portion of that program only was effective or implemented for 8,000 teachers out of more than 3 million. So, the number of teachers that are actually being benefited or impacted through that is really very minimal. 8,000 . I guess if were one of the 8,000 you dont indeed. I just want final comment. And you can is there evidence that states and districts arent spending all of their title 1 money . Because you have claimed that they can gentle lady, please. Theres no room to accommodate elimination of these programs. Thank you for your courtesy. If you would care to respond. Thats okay. Thank you. And well try to be generous with the clock. Thank you. But please. Okay. If we can, next go to the full chairman, mr. Chairman. Madame secretary, i visit some years as many as 80 schools. Juniors and seniors in high school. 7th and 8th graders, some may trek down here for their washington trip. And Elementary Schools promoting obviously literacy, read across america. Things that put a sort of a human face on what we do as members of congress to support Public Education. I have had a particular focus as has the chairman cole on i. D. E. A. And the i am hugely impressed and actually in awe of anyone who teaches special ed. They are should be daned as sainthood. We have never met our full obligation. I think the law was passed in 1975. 40 . 40 partnership. Could you talk a little bit about whether we are where you are relative to greater participation in terms of that partnership . I think its absolutely essential. May i just say for the record maybe its true of new york, as well, for ms. Lowey, a number of people who come to new jersey because of Court Decisions which require a thorough and efficient education for every child regardless of their circumstance. And many families with disabilities have children with severe disabilities, a whole spectrum of disabilities, come to our state. We have obviously a great Public School system. We have a supportive number of other schools, maybe dealing with autism. Particular challenges. Where do you feel were going and how supportive does this budget represent . Thank you, mr. Chairman. I share your concern and heart for both these students as well as those who help teach them and they have a tremendous dedication to a wide range of needs and a wide range of students. And your reference to the fact that when i. D. E. A. Was originally passed the goal was to fund it at or support 40 of the cost of it. If congress were to actually fully fund it, it would be 30 billion for i. D. E. A. We are the budget and what you have traditionally funded it the last number of years is at about the 15 range so you can see we are proposing to continue the budget funding as has been done in the last number of years. But i think, you know, its a matter for robust conversation if congress believes that the commitment to this program should be at a much higher level financially theres certainly an opportunity there. I think one point, mr. Chairman, we were up to 19 . Maybe 22 . And now were down to i think 17 . I think we need to do better. And just want to put my ore in the water because i think its very important. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank the gentleman. Well now go to the Ranking Member of the full committee. Thank you, mr. Chairman. As youve heard, i am extremely disappointed that your budget proposes to take funding from Public Education and chancer if it to private schools. In my judgment, we need to increase the resources. Remember, the federal government just provides about 9 of resources for Public Schools. Most of it comes from state and local taxes. So what we have to do is increase resources for Public Schools, not put an increased burden on the state and local. And again, continue to Work Together to improve them. Not diminish them. So i think its imperative that this committee and the American People really understand just what this proposal would do. So a couple of quick questions. You can just answer yes or no. Under your proposal, would a student with disabilities receiving a voucher for a private school have Due Process Rights under i. D. E. A. . Ranking member lowey, thank you for the question. And thank you for being here today. Before responding yes or no to your question, allow me to just address one of the things that you said earlier about shifting funding. Were not proposing any shifting of funding from Public Schools to private schools. In fact, all of the proposals that have been set forth in the budget continue to fully fund and commit to funding Public Schools as we have. And so i want to make sure that were very clear on that and if were misunderstanding numbers somehow, lets talk about this. Arent you talking about vouchers . Whos paying for the vouchers . That is an Additional Program to the title 1 funds that have been carried forward in the budget. Where title 1 funds in the budget are consistent from this is clearly a misunderstanding. So maybe at another time we could talk about that. If youre funding with vouchers, private schools, the money is coming from some place and theres an overall cut. There is a small there is a proposal for a 250 Million Investment in the innovation portion of the budget that would help fund some pilot test programs around School Choice. And we talk about everybody talks about vouchers but there are what we have to understand, theres mechanisms for parents choices and vouchers are but one mechanism. The 250 million does not prescribe a method or a mechanism. That remains to be discussed and decided upon if that is funded as part of the appropriations process. We have to continue this discussion because id be interested knowing whether private schools funded with public taxpayer dollars will be held to the same performance standards as Public Schools and do you believe that private schools, that enroll voucher students, should be accredited . And have to provide evidence of the quality of their programs . Each state deals with this issue in their own manner. And i can refer to the program in florida where there are 40,000 parents who whose children are students deemed students with disabilities who have chosen to take whats called the mckay scholarship and take it to a private school of their choice. Those parents are very happy with and satisfied with that skigs. Theyve made that choice to do that. And i refer to that as a specific example of a state addressing an issue in a way thats working for the students and parents in their state. Each state has to deal with this, i believe, in their own way. Maybe im misunderstood but can you clarify, a student with disabilities receiving a voucher for a private school have Due Process Rights under i. D. E. A. . What is the law under that . Due process rights with regard to i. D. E. A. If a parent chooses to go to a school that is not a Public School, then that is a decision made and a contract made with that private provider or that other provider. What is will they have access to i. D. E. A. . Will they have Due Process Rights . Or is that i mean, the public should know that its optional. Correct . The way that they handle it in florida is one approach. But again, i each state has to i believe if theyre gong to offer choices to parents and to students, theyre going to be theyre going to deal with those issues in the way that works best for their state. Let me just say i see i have no time left. But there are many questions i have, after School Programs, pel grants. We have worked very, very hard on this committee to support Public Education all the way up. And i am very concerned when the federal government only pays 9 of the budget that you are supporting further cuts. So i think we need increased dialogue here because education for me is probably one of our most important responsibilities if were going to have a workforce thats strong, healthy. Thank you. Thank you. Couldnt agree with you more. Certainly. Were going to go a little bit out of order if we may because our friend mr. Beutler has another agreement and mr. Harris agreed to go to him and then resume the normal rotation. Very gracious. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the good doctor from maryland. Just want to make it as succinct as i possibly can. In 2014, suicide was the second leading cause of death of young people 13 to 19. Youth suicide is a problem in certain areas of my district and across the country, quite frankly. I have made a commitment to helping the schools address this problem. I have a twopart question, madame secretary. The first one is, how does the Department Plan on partnering with local School Districts as well as other agencies to swiftly and effectively address the Mental Health crisis in our nations youth . The second part, in many cases School Resources officers play an Important Role in the effort. They engage with students on a daily basis, they get to know them and are critical in identifying depression and suicidal behavior among the schoolaged kids or young people. And for the last few years, Cops Hiring Program given Additional Resources or consideration to sro Grant Applications. So the School Districts make application for this. I wanted to hear what your thoughts are on the practice of schoolbased policing through School Resource officers and is it something youll be supporting . Thank you, congresswoman. I share your concern about this crisis in our youth. And i think to start with the those issues and that crisis is best addressed in at the most local level possible. And so, to the extent that essa, again, allows states and local communities great flexibility in how to invest the resources, hopefully that they will in an area where that is a very specific issue, and crisis, they will certainly devote the resources necessary from the department level, we do have a program, the office of safety and healthy students that is involved with helping to meet some of these needs. But again, its very much a hands a distant relationship there and i think to the extent that local communities have this issue, as very high on their radar screen, i hope and trust that states in implementing their plans will account for that and address those needs very specifically there. Do you think the department of justice should continue to promote the hiring of School Resource officers within the cops program . Im sorry. Could you say that again . Do you think that the department of justice should continue to promote the hiring of School Resource officers within the Cops Hiring Program . I think certainly School Resource officers are a very viable and important solution in some places and i think, again, that is best determined at the state and local level. Okay. With the little bit of time left, in 2014, department of ed report over 6 Million Students chronically absent or missed 10 or more of school days and in my state, we have the highest rate by district in the nation and unfortunately that the Research Show that is the student whos chronically absent is seven more times to drop out of school than the peers not. There are reasons and very Important Reasons around why students it is not just a random student playing hookey and we used to think of it. There are home environments, community environments. There are reasons, you know, i think in high school i think about some of the young men who dropped out. They dropped out to go get a better job and couldnt see the relevance of being in class. Right . So theres a lot of issues here. And ive recently introduced the chronic absenteeism reduction act to give the School Districts the flexibility of implementing strategies to combat it. Its different per region. And what the needs are. My question for you is how does the Department Plan to empower the districts to address this issue effectively . Thank you for that question. It is a very real issue in many areas, and so often its a matter of the student and the school not being a good fit for one another. But yet the student doesnt have a choice or another alternative. And i think about letter that the department recently received from an individual whos in the correctional facility in minnesota who really was lamenting the fact that he didnt have the kind of fit that he needed in school. He went down a bad path and ends up in jail and in prison and now is getting an education but just with the little bit of my time left. I agree. Sometimes it is the fit and sometimes also extenuating circumstances. And again, i think it goes back to the local districts and the state that really needs to Work Together to address the issues at the local level closest to the students that need the support and the help. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank you again, mr. Harris. Certainly welcome. Now my good friend from california, ms. Roybalallard. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Welcome, secretary devos. I want do go back to a topic raised by the Ranking Member which is how your department treats title 1. Quite frankly, i was disappointed to see your budget request includes focus grants which is in essence a 1 billion title 1 portability proposal. This request for an unauthorized unproven carveout from title 1 is alarming, especially in light of your request to cut 578 million from other parts of title 1. As you know, title 1 portability was soundly rejected by congress during the negotiations for every Student Succeeds act. During the debate surrounding it, numerous nonpartisan experts and stakeholders ranging from the Brookings Institution to the association of School Superintendents concluded that portability would result in more funding for wealthier School Districts at the expense of poorer districts. My first question is, in your view, should high poverty schools receive more Funding Resources than schools that have lower levels of poverty . Congresswoman, yes, i think the reality is that they do receive higher levels of funding. And if i could just actually refer back to one of chairwoman or Ranking Member loweys questions or the question around title 1 funding and the assumption that title 1 funding for vouchers was going to be a part of title 1, its 1b thats for a voluntary School Choice program. It is not any kind of a mandatory or imposed program. I just wanted the make sure to clarify that. And with respect to the funding for title 1, the budget has proposed, and of course, lets make sure were clear that the budget that we are working from was prior to the omnibus changes in april. So were working from that those funding levels and the proposal is to Carry Forward the title 1 funding the same as but just to fully fund title 1 around support to and through Public Schools. Just to be clear so that you do agree that high poverty schools should receive more federal resources than lower level poverty schools . Was that your testimony . I think, yes. I think that that is the case. Okay. And well, as Ranking Member said, they dont. But my next question is then, do you accept the basic premise by experts that high poverty schools face disproportionate challenges when compared to moderate income and well think schools . Yes. Okay. Well, quite frankly, im relieved that you do acknowledge that. And then, then, based on your answer then, i find it curious that then you would endorse a proposal that shifts more funding away from highest needs schools. So i think theres a conflict there. We actually are proposing to protect all of the title 1 dollars to Public Schools and the additional 1 billion is for a voluntary program that would allow students to choose between Public Schools. But that money has to come from somewhere. And we can because of lack of time, we can maybe explore this a little bit further. But any shifts in money given limited budget has to come from somewhere and it appears its coming from areas that could truly help these low income kids and from programs that yes. And the reality is that it is intended to help low income kids and its intended to give some more choices to them and their parents in finding schools that fit for them. I think where the disagreement comes in is that maybe the intentions are good but the actual impact is not meeting those intentions. This administrations made clear that restoring local control is a major tenet of his approach to k12 education. Yet your budget violates that premise. Instead your request would incentivize districts to adopt portability in spite of warnings that port bltd would undermine local control in limiting districts to use funds in ways they believe to be most effective. Has your department considered the financial implications that portability will have on districts and has the department considered how it would mit tate the disruption of portability structure would impose for Public School districts if enacted . Let me just say, again, this is proposed to be a voluntary program. And opt in on the part of states and local communities. And i would also kind of try to take us back to the notion that were talking about students and their education. And i think we spend a lot of time talking instead of schools and buildings and systems. I think we should be focused on doing whats right for individual students, and if a schools not working for a student, and a parent doesnt have the economic means to do Something Different, i think we should help find them ways to be able to make that decision on behalf of their students. An their children. Perhaps a better way, though, would be in these poor minority schools is maybe to invest more and to bring all the schools up to a level rather than take away from schools that need these funds and putting them into wealthier schools. Well, and, you know, the federal department of education has invested a lot of funds in trying to do just that. In fact, the last administration invested 7 billion in School Improvement grants specifically targeted at the lowest performing schools in areas with zero results and zero improvement. So we have tried that. I think its time to try Something Different. Well the chair is going to gently admonish members. Please dont ask a question at the end of your five minutes. Put it is secretary in a very difficult spot and it will inhibit our ability to reach a second round which i would like to do. Second shorter round. With that, i go to my friend dr. Harris and was kind enough to delay questions so ms. Beutler could ask her. Its a pleasure to have you in front of the committee. Every secretary i have questioned in the past few years, ive always made known my preference for giving parents the choice of where to send their students because in the end the parents are the taxpayers. The parents are the ones who probably know best. With that, i just want to read a sentence from your testimony. Im sorry i wasnt here for your testimony. You said my choice is my strong believe in the markets of competition. As drivers of quality and accountability. Lets start with educational quality. Im sure youre aware that in International Testing the oecd nation tests done i guess in 2015 or 2016 in math, reading and science we didnt crack the top ten. In fact, we didnt crack the top 15. In fact, in math we didnt crack the top 25. So i think theres no question that we dont get a bang for our buck in the American Educational system because we see education spending going up. We think that, i guess, the measure on how effective education is how much how much money you spend on it and yet in the objective tests we are failing in a Global Education economy. I welcome things like the Opportunity Scholarship Program in d. C. It is interesting because, i might ask for a brief comment from you on it. They said the latest report is that, well, the people, the children in those in those schools dont do as well come paired to the ones in Public Schools in the latest one. Of course, the study several years ago show the Graduation Rate higher. Things like that. One possible explanation is competition actually works. It actually when you do give people the choice that the Public School system actually figures they better they better turn out a better product because now theres competition. I mean, is that a reasonable reading of those results . I think it is, indeed, congressman. I think that the nape scores for all of the district and the students in the traditional schools in the district have shown remarkable improvement in the last few years and i think its directly relate to believe the fact that there are robust choices now within the district for all of the students. There certainly are. I wish it was more robust but because the new scholarship awards for school year 2016 and 2017 as you probably aware 234 students. Interestingly enough, there were 2,349 applications for those 234 slots. A 10 to 1 ratio. These are parents deciding ten times more than Slots Available and core lates to a Good University gets in terms of apply kabt to accept an ivy league kind of thing. So to somehow suggest that the parents have no idea what theyre talking about and we know better, you know, federal government knows better, is kind of crazy so i hope you are a strong advocate of the osp and fully fund it. Just two other things i wanted to bring up. One is because federal funds do flow directly to institutes of Higher Education, is this trend that i think is waning now of these Higher Education institutions that come to the federal government for billions of dollars declaring themselves sanctuary campuses so we know we want the billions of dollars and not going to comply with federal immigration authorities. And i hope that you follow the lead of the dhs, department of Homeland Security in their budget and right things or request things written into law that suggest that, you know, if youre come dog the federal government for dollars, you better cooperate with our federal immigration with our federal Law Enforcement for immigration because in the end thats the only Immigration Enforcement we have at the federal government. State and local governments are not given the authority to write Immigration Law and have to cooperate with federal authorities. Again, if they expect federal largesque. The last thing to bring up is title 9 exemptions from religious institutions i think before the department and i dont think actions been taken on these. I will ill submit, you know, qfrs on this. I would hope that the department realizes that the freedom of religion is an important freedom, First Amendment freedom, and that there are legitimate reasons to ask for exemptions from federal regulations, including title 9 and that the department take action on those and with that mrs. Secretary, im going to yield back the last 20 seconds. Youre an example to the committee. I thank the gentleman. Next on the basis of order of arrival, the gentleman from wisconsin. Thank you, secretary. Im looking forward to today. I come from wisconsin. One of those states that unfortunately has had a failed experiment in taxpayer funded voucher schemes and forprofit charters and i know that recently you saw theres Research Showing in indiana and louisiana, ohio, washington, d. C. That students receiving vouchers saw their test scores drop. I think you were asked recently about this and on the way out and didnt have a chance to answer and today we have a chance to ask some of these questions but my experience in the legislature in wisconsin was the almost entire growth period of this program. They turned down kids of disabilities, dont get into the programs. Left to be in the Public Schools. They can turn down students gay or lesbian within the schools. My rural areas often dont have an alternative for people to go to so they dont see that but one thing to disagree with you in wisconsin anyway, those public dollars go to the private vouchers so theyre losing their money in rural schools to go to this experiment which hasnt worked. Lets read you a couple things on the wisconsin experience because i know this inside and out. National public radio did a story on the milwaukee voucher program. Quote, over the years much of the Research Found test scores flat, lower in some cases or slightly improved in others. Milwaukee journal sentiment, on average, students in the Voucher School program performed lower than the Public School system. Again, milwaukee journal, right step ying, Voucher School in milwaukee, theyre being sued by parents right now that the reports indicate that only 7 of their students tested at english Language Proficiency and 0 in math. So this is our public dollars going to these schools. I just would ask you, would you send your kids to a school where they have 93 of the students arent English Proficient and 0 are math proficient . Would i . Congressman, thank you for the question. Sure. And it im really glad to hear youre from wisconsin and youve had some of the experiences in wisconsin. I was just recalling the history of the Program Since i only have five minutes, i appreciate that but polly williams, a democrat city crown kill woman first introduced the and who says its no lived up to before he passed away said it did not live up to the promise. She said it didnt the creation was. Would you send your children to a school 28,000, 28,000 students in the city of milwaukee are being sent there by their parents. Madame chair, to take the time back if youre not going to answer the question and one you might be willing to answer. So the last expansion in wisconsin of this program, 75 of the kids, the parents who got this money, their kids already attended the school and two thirds of the money that went in the tax vouchers to the folks that received this making more than 100,000. Largely, this is tax policy. This isnt education policy. This is making sure people attending the schools do you think your federal program will support this sort of thing, so its not to encourage new outlets in education but people to attend the schools . I applaud milwaukee for empowering parents to make the decisions that they think are right for their students and their children. And i go back to what i said earlier about the fact that i think we need to shift our will the federal program i guess, maybe im sorry if im not clear. Under what youre doing theres 20 programs zeroed out, Mental Health, Special Olympics, theres zeroed out under the Budget Proposal and new dollars for the failed experiment that i can tell you after 14 years in the legislature, we have had the dismal results. My question is, will the path of this new dollars youre putting in from the federal government go down the failed path in wisconsin . Going to people attending the school. Theres nothing new about education. This is tax policy. It should be for the ways and Means Committee s. That the intention of the new Program Expansion you have . I know 28,000 students attending schools in milwaukee by the choice of their parents that is a success for those students because will you hold any accountability thats the right place for their children. Seriously, you are not answering the ques. Let me try one more. 40 seconds please give her an opportunity to answer the question. But shes answering a different question im asking and i guess please her allow to finish her answer. Sure. Will you have any accountability standards for the schools . When we first started the program in wisconsin, money went to someone starting a school who said he could read a book by putting the hand on it. And people bought cadillacs with the dollars they got in the program. Will have you have accountability standards in the programs youre offering new dollars to at the federal level . Wisconsin and all of the states in the country are putting their essa plans together right now. And theyre going to decide what kind of flexibility theyre going to allow. They have more freedom than ever because of the essa legislation to be creative and innovative an our conversation needs to shift from talking about schools and buildings and institutions to what is right for individual students. I tried. Will you have accountability standards was the question. There are accountability standards. The states are required to have accountability standards. Are you going to with the federal dollars is part thats part of essa legislation. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I have a second round. Thank you. Absolutely. We now go to i think a member probably not a stranger to you, madame secretary. Mr. Moolenaar from michigan. Absolutely not. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Secretary devos, thank you for being here and thank you for stepping up and being a leader for our kids in education, our country at this important time. And from your message today, i think its Important Message of trusting parents, trusting our local and state educators and really keeping the focus on kids. And whats best for them so i very much appreciate that message. I wanted to bring up a specific topic to you that i had a recent listening session at Central Michigan university. And students in my district came forward with concerns regarding the rise of Campus Sexual Assault across the nation. And its been recently been reported that 1 in 5 women and over 10 of the student body will be a victim of sexual assault. My understanding is you recently met with the first lady of michigan who has recently unveiled a program to combat this growing issue by creating a Campus Sexual Assault work group called lets end Campus Sexual Assault. I guess what im wondering is, is there a role for the federal government in this meeting this challenge . I appreciate the fact that youre working with state officials and addressing this concern. And i promised the student that asked me this question to ask you directly in a hearing so thank you for being here. Thanks, congressman. Its great to see you. And let me just say i share the concern that you and many others have about the rise in this issue on campuses. As well as many other issues on campuses. But the office of civil rights at the department of education is very committed to investigating complaints that reach the office of the civil rights and we are invested in fully funding ocr. I think i know that there are a number of viewpoints on how this the rules surrounding this have been implemented and we are looking at those very closely. Ive been meeting with a number of stake hold earls including first lady snyder from michigan and we take the issue seriously. It is certainly an issue for the office of civil rights to be engaged with and for the department of education to grapple with but we we are not at a point where we can communicate any change in direction or any new information at this point. Okay. Well, thank you for that. And i would like to keep in contact with you on that. Welcome that. And the students across the country are thats a concern. And another area thats a concern, in fact, i have heard recently as today from Business Leaders about the need for Skilled Labor and career and Technical Education is a huge priority. And the opportunity for jobs in this area and the future. And i know there are different ideas, the federal government has a role and i appreciated your year around pel grant statement. Are there partnerships or things that we can be doing at the federal level to encourage career and Technical Education and what thoughts do you have on that . Well, this clearly is an area that is of great focus on behalf of the president and this administration. And ive had the privilege and opportunity to visit three different Community Colleges since i have been in this job and all of them taking a really unique approach to partnering with local businesses that have great needs for skilled workers and Skilled Trades and really very high skilled, high paying jobs. I think that the way we can best support it is to very in a very targeted manner focus the dollars to help support Community Colleges in this pursuit. Community colleges and other s institutions of higher learning. I think we have done our young people a disservice over the past few decades by suggesting that a Fouryear College or university is the only way you can really be a success in life and that we have to have a much broader conversation around multiple pathways and multiple options for Higher Education including, you know, layered credentialing and some of these programs that are being implemented at the Community College level that are really meeting immediate needs. Students are getting the training and education they need and into a very well paying job. Can go back, again, a year or two or three later and get additional credentialing. We have many, many jobs going unfilled in this country today that could be filled and addressed if theres that partnership. Again, it comes down to really a local Level Partnership with businesses and their needs, saw an Amazing Program in salt lake city. One in the orlando area and miami meeting very different needs for Different Directions and many of them s. T. E. M. Focused and a common theme and so i think that another area that we can play a role is to really highlight some of the best practices and some of the good some of the successes that are happening. Thank you. Next goes to the jentd l lady of massachusetts. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you, madame secretary, for being with us today. First, a quick question from home. We have 4,500 massachusetts students who attended the now defukt american career institute. January 18th, your department told them that their loans would be forgiven. It should be completed between 90 and 120 days. We are passed the 120day. Parents are Massachusetts Attorney general, students are not getting a response from your department. Can you reaffirm that youre moving forward with this loan forgiveness . Thanks. Thank you, congresswoman. Indeed, those who to whom we have made a commitment, we are going to make good on that commitment. And that is in process. With regard to that regulation, that is something that we are studying carefully and looking at and we will have something further to say on that within the next few weeks. Great. And it will be very helpful to get back to the attorney general and give some some reassurance to our students. I want to go back to the discussion you were asking with my colleague from wisconsin. You were recently in indiana where you called opponents of School Choice flat earthers. I assume that you mean by that a flat earther is someone who doesnt look at evidence, doesnt look at data, isnt willing to embrace innovation, creativity. Just keeps believing what they always believe. But we have had some major studies in. As youre proposing, 250 million increase in pilots that would include vouchers for private schools. The studies from louisiana, from indiana, from ohio all show that students who choose private schools in voucher programs have experienced, quote, significant losses in achievement. And the studies also show that if we want to achieve good outcomes for students those come through nonprofit schools that are open to all and are accountable to state and or federal authorities. Youve talked a lot about the flexibility of states as being preeminent. So i want to go back to indiana to bloomington in particular. And look at the Lighthouse Christian academy. The Lighthouse Christian academy currently receives over 665,000 in state vouchers for students to attend their school. Theyre also clearing their handbook and guidance that if you are from a family where there is homosexual or bisexual activity, their word, not mine, or practicingal tern gnat gender identity, you may be denied admissions. If this school which obviously is approved to discriminate against lgbt students in indiana, if indiana applies for this federal funding, will you stand up that this school be open to all students . Thank you, congresswoman, for your question with regard broadly to School Choice and its actually kind of narrow because i have one minute left. And i would like to refer back to your question about the comment about those im sure you would. I want to ask particularly, is there a line for you on state flexibility . You are the backstop for students and their right to access of a quality education. Would you in this case say, we are going to overrule and you cannot discriminate whether it be on sexual orientation, race, special needs, in our voucher programs . Will that be a guarantee from you for our students . For states who have programs that allow for parents to make choices, they set up the rules around that. So thats a no. Do you see any circumstance where the federal department of education under your leadership would say that a school was not qualified . What if they said, were not accepting africanAmerican Students . But that was okay with the state. Does the state trump . Do you see any situation where you would step in . Again, i think the office of civil rights and our title 9 protections are broadly applicable across the board. But when it comes to parents making choices on behalf of this isnt this isnt about parents making choices. This is about use of federal dollars s. There any situation would you say to indiana, that school cannot discriminate against lgbt students if you want to receive federal dollars . Or would you say the state has the flexibility in this situation . I believe states yes or no . Continue to have flexibility in putting together their programs so if i understand your testimony, i want to make sure i get this right. Theres no situation of discrimination or exclusion that if a state approved it for its voucher program, that you would step in and say thats not how were going the use our federal dollars. Theres no situation if the state approved it that you would put the state flexibility over our students . Is that your testimony . I think a hypothetical in this case is its not a hypothetical. This is a real school the gentle ladys time is expired. Ill allow the secretary to answer. I go back to the bottom line is we believe that parents are the best equipped to make choices for their childrens schooling and education decisions and too many children today are trapped in schools that dont work for them. We have to do Something Different. We have to do Something Different than continuing a top down one size fits all approach and that is the focus and states and local communities are best equipped to make these decisions and framework on behalf of their i am shocked that you cannot come up with one example of discrimination that you would stand up for students. Not required to answer. Go now to the gentleman from idaho, mr. Simpson. Thank you. Im sorry i had to step out and finish a hearing over on the here side but we have hearings going on all over the place. Im a big supporter of trio just like you are in your comments to senator collins during your confirmation. As the chairman is, i think most members of this program are and as you said, you dropped the mcnair programs because you thought they were outside of the congressional intent of what we had planned for trio. If we fund those programs, would they then be within congressional intent . If thats how you defined it, i guess they would be. Im giving you the rationale for what we have proposed in the budget. And we believe those programs fall outside of the scope and, again, we have made some tough choices and decisions with presenting our appeal for the budget. Well have and i understand that. Well have those discussions and theyre always differences between what any Administration Proposes and what Congress Wants to do. Those are fairly i think well supported programs within congress and youll probably see funding in there. In the fy17 omnibus operations, theres a directive encouraging you to use discretion as the secretary to score upward Bound Program that were rejected for minor fomenting issues like failure to double space and typographical errors. Would you please update the subcommittee on the departments actions in response to that directive and also please outline what steps the department will take to provide the opportunity for the rejected Grant Applications to be considered for funding. Thanks for that question, congressman. As you know, this Grant Application process was under the per view of the previous administration. The process was opened and closed prior to my coming into the job. And because it was when we found out about the issue, with regard to formatting errors, it was after the competition had closed and we looked at all viable legal emeem remember rio try to address it and didnt find any. You have appropriated 50 million and going back and looking at it again, we believe that that has materially changed our available options. And so, we are going to use those funds, the 50 million, to reconsider those applications that were considered not viable because of the formatting errors. And so, that is going to be our remedy. But let me just say that this issue apparently has been going on through four different secretaries unaddressed. The moment i found out about it i issued a departmentwide policy indicating that we are not going to reject applications for any competitive bid process based on formatting. That this is a bureaucratic requirement that we should be rid of now and we are. So anything Going Forward from here will not be held to those same formatting requirement but with regard to this issue which if you had any idea how much time its chewed up internally for us, you would be amazed, but we are we have because of that Material Change with the new appropriation, have found a way to be able to address that particular issue. Thank you. I appreciate that. Your budget also puts 1. 2 billion in for federal impact aid which 67 million cut below impact aid payments currently for federal property and states and states like idaho and in fact states across the country that have dwal facilities that impact School Districts. What is your justification for the cuts in Impact Aid Program . So, the portion of the Impact Aid Program that we have proposed to eliminate is one thats not tied to any students at all. And so there are no students being supported in that particular federal land area. And since those locals have had about 40 years to consider this, we thought it might be appropriate that they could have figured it out by now. Okay. Appreciate that answer. That will be interesting to look at. Anyway, thank you for being here today. I appreciate your testimony and look forward to working with you. Thanks, congressman. Thank the gentleman. We now move to my good friend from california, ms. Lee. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Before i begin id like to introduce our foster youth shadow from oakland, california. Her oldest daughter will be starting [ applause ] shell be starting kindergarten this fall and so as we deliberate today, let us keep in mind the young families who will be affected by our decisions and good to see you. You kind of hurt, quite frankly, she heard your response to congresswoman clarks question with regard to discrimination against students. Its been the federal government that allowed me to go to school. Okay . And so, when you say that you its up to the parents and local communities, even if young people are being discriminated against, that is the parents and schools and to take the federal governments responsibility out of that is just appalling and sad. I see in your budget, it reflect what is you said. Youre cutting 1. 7 million from the office of civil rights. To me, its outrageous. And again, i have to go back to your statement when you said that hbcus historically black colleges an universities, pioneers coming to school of choice and completely ignores the fact that many black for many black students, hbcus were their only choice. I know that. For too long black students werent allowed to enroll in predominant white ins thugss even at Public Schools in their own states. I could not go to Public School, madame secretary. So for you to sit here and say as our secretary it is okay if parents and local communities can discriminate, it is very sad, shocking and disappointing. Now, i see in your budget you say that hbcus, the president said hbcus are critical for black students but i dont think you really mean that because you dont increase the funding for hbcus and you actually zero out or the strengthening masters degree prime ministers we funded in fiscal 17 and extremely important for hbcus and im wondering why are you doing that. Whats that about . And why would you do that . As well as and i just have to say, cut so many programs, 24 programs that minority students and loincome students rely on. 21st Century Community learning centers. After School Programs for lowincome students. Youre cutting youre zeroing out American History and civic academics. Youre leveling out preschool development grants. I mean, not leveling. Youre cutting them. Youre eliminating them. Youre eliminating Special Olympics, 12. 6 million. Just wiping out Special Olympics for disabled students. I have to understand what your thinking is about this budget and lowincome student, vulnerable students, minority students, students who really deserve a shot at a good, quality, Public Education. Thank you, congresswoman. A lot of questions or a lot of issue there is. Theyre all let me wrapped around this budget and a reflection of what you see as being our okay. Let me just start by saying i want to be very clear. I am not in any way suggesting that students should not be protected and not be in a safe and secure and nurturing learning environment. They all should have that opportunity. And i have continued to talk about that need for all students to have a safe and secure and nurturing learning environment. A thats not the issue. The department is going to continue and will continue to investigate any complaints or any issues surrounding, you know, allegations of discrimination. We have no proposal to change any of that. So as we talk about states assuming more authority and flexibility in their in their, you know, how they implement their programs for their students, nothing about that changes our desire to ensure that students have a safe and secure and nurturing learning experience. Madame secretary [ inaudible ] referring to with respect to your congresswoman clarks hbcus did you answer her question . Very quickly. Id rather talk about the hbcus and how our commitment, our continuing commitment to hbcus by continuing to fully fund at previous levels. And i dont think thats what hbcus have requested. In fact, they need to see a small increase in their funding. They need to see increase in funding to make sure that black students have Educational Opportunities. The cut and the Masters Program is just wiping out. I mean you are eliminating that for the most part with hbcus. It is eliminated. Yeah, it is a new program thats not apart of the budget. It is not eliminated because it has not been funded yet. Wait a minute, we did fund that at one point at 7. 5 million. The strengths and Masters Degree Program. You are eliminating that. We are working from the budget numbers that were available to us prior to your on the bus in april, that was a few weeks ago. So you are not eliminating it or you are . No. You are not . The figures were all put together prior to the on the bus legislation. So you are going to restore the 7. 5 million in the strengths and Masters Degree Program . Thats up to congress to decide how to handle that anomaly. So you are cutting it . To be fair, with all due respect, i will allow a respond. I pointed this out from the beginning, we were late getting our they gone ahead and develop their budget so we did not have the guidance there. Well have to visit that ourselves and i suspect the lady again, in fairness, secretary, they did not have that information and they did not know congress authorizing that and putting together a budge. It is nobodys fault. We have over lapping documents here and creating some discrepancies on the case. I have a great deal of respect for my good friend from california and i always listen to the point she makes and a lot of these decisions will depend on what her allocations is which we dont know. We Work Together on a variety of these issues before. I look forward to conning that. Absolutely. With that, well go to mr. Walmack. Thank you mr. Chairman and great discussion, madame secretary, welcome. We are beginning to see early stages of robust doiscussions o how we begin our process of getting our federal budget under control. The in escapable fact that many of the programs that we are talking about here are on the discretionary side of the budget and it is being squeezed by run away entitlement programs and in ability to address those which becomes a political problem for congress and i understand that. I am sad that we have not taken that particular discussion but well save that another day. Pretty good discussions with my friends on michigan on Technical Education and thats where i want to focus my question with you. The response that you gave mr. Mullenar was geared towards what we should be doing with our Community Colleges. You just made a statement that i completely agree with about what we have suggested to previous generations, about a pathway to succe success that, that pathway has to be through college degree. I am of a strong opinion based on my travels and my district and in my conversations with my job creators that a lot of the really good opportunities out there exists today for young people who could leave high schools, maybe not even attending darkening the doors of a College Environment and going right to work with proper training and skills and certifications, right to work with good paying jobs and fulfilling opportunities at a great career and emerging technologies. So i believe in my heart that a lot of this training should be happening long before the decision is made to go or not to go to college. I have in my mind that is probably some where in that late junior high stage based on aptitude, but i am going to ask you where is that time at a Young Persons educational life given the tremendous demand for jobs today and skills today where a lot of our graduates do not possess. Is this something that we should not be doing in our, in our high school curriculums. Thank you congressman. The whole area of career and career preparedness and understanding the wide range of options that one has is an area that definitely needs a lot more discussions and a lot more Energy Around it. You know today a lot of the funding for things that support these effects are bifocated. The notion that there are many, many different opportunities for students beyond high school is not really addressed at an early enough age. I agree with you that a couple of places that i visited that have really great dual Enrollment Programs have started to address this. There is not an opportunity to have young people exposed to some of these opportunities much earlier. Apprenticeships and internships, we should be talking about how to encourage and support the growth of this in a major way. I had an opportunity to visit a unique high school yesterday of one of the crystal ray schools. I dont know if you heard about this. These are catholic high schools that as a way to help support and fund the operations of the school, the students actually go to work in a business one day a week and through doing so gain a whole lot of personal experience and confidence but also help to support their education and they come out of high school really with a much broader understanding of the professional world, the work world and options and opportunities they have. Those kinds of unique and innovative approaches to expo exposing young people of a wide range of experiences are things that we should be encouraging. We are to try these things. They are the best laboratories of democracy and we should be highlighting those that are working well and encouraging others to emulate them. Yeah, we made sure to disagree or disagree on certain matter of the budget. On that particular budget, we are in total agreement. I yield back my time. Secretary, we would love to have you visit oklahoma. We have a great interlocketing career tech where young people in late junior high and early high schools going back and f t forth and getting exposed to technical careers. We invite you to vote. With that, i am going to go to my good friend from tennessee who had to shuffle back and forth and do a lot of hearing. You are up next. Thank you mr. Chairman and madame secretary, it is a privilege to have you here before us today. I represent the district of tennessee of chattanooga and oak ridge. I was over at the subcommittee this morning so i was a bit delayed. First of all, i would like to mention how impressed i was with the emphasis that you place on schools choice. It is imperative that we give parents the options that they need to ensure our children are properly prepare for the futures. I thank you for that position. I was also especially i am pemp of the innovation section of the budget. We need activities, allowing School Districts to identify what works and what does not. In an area of concern as you may know, i am an advocate and i view myself as a champion for Computer Science education, Computer Science literacy. I think there is tremendous bipartisan support for this endeavor. I was a little concerned about the departments propose cut of par 8 grant authorized under essa. Last years appropriation bill, we work hard to ensure that stage would be able to use some of these money for Computer Science education. For a half million computing jobs currently unfulfilled in the united states. Our country graduated and sent in the work force of 42,954 Computer Science classes last year. It is estimated that there will be 960,000 jobs opening if current graduations had not continue. Only 344 graduates will fulfill them. My question is, do you agree with me and my colleagues from both sides of the isle that we need partnerships with the private sector which is looking to hire americans for Computer Science jobs and schools from kindergartens through high schools, helping ensuring students from all walks of life preparing of Computer Science jobs that needs to be filled now and in the future. If so, how can we work to ensure that we prepare students for these jobs . Thank you. Thank you congressman. I definitely share your interests in ensuring that students have exposure to stem subjects and having the opportunity to pursue Robust Program in the area. As an antidote referring to high school that my husband started focusing on aviation that has a distinct stem focus and has been really doing amazing job attracting kids that would have not been likely to be apart of a High School Like that. With regards to specifics in the budget, this budget was developed before the continuing resolution was addressed. We do have a 20 million experimental grant for stem competition. I think thats a good place and good role for the department. I think an important place for the focus to be placed around stem is again at the state level. They are putting plans together and they have the opportunity to really customize it for the students in their states and their local communities. I had an interesting conversation last week with a number of superintendent from one from a rural district and one from a large urban area and another from kind of a medium size city and the other one was a statewide superintendent, how they have implemented coding programs in their districts and i believe the organization that they partnered with on that has now entered 20 of the School Districts in the country. I think we need to continue to encourage that. I hesitate to say that we should mandate it from the federal level but we should try to actually encourage and support those activities as states are putting their plans together. Madame secretary, i thank you and i agree with you. I engaged with those and particularly in chattanooga. It was inspiring to go there and see high School Students all the way down to second grader. I look forward to working with you on Computer Science literacy and with my colleagues on both sides of the isle as we reach out to all American Students in this regard. Thank you. Thank you. Now my good friend from alabama, miss roby. Thank you madame secretary to be with us today. It is good to see you again and really looking forward to working with you through the over sight of this city. I want to convey my appreciation on behalf of all of the students and parents and educators in the state of alabama. It was about year ago when your predecessor was here and sitting right where you are now. We had a Good Exchange about the role of the federal government in decisions concerning standards and curriculum for the classrooms. Let me backup a little bit and give you background on my involvement on this issue. Back in 2013, i introduced a bill called authority of education act that prohibited the federal government making federal funding grants and in covenant regulation waivers. For three years we worked to get this language included in the comprehensive rewrite of no child left behind which is the now the law. Thankfully we finally succeeded. Back to my exchange with your predecessor which is taking place during the critical implementation process. What i was trying to get a straight answer then was whether the officials of the department of education would simply ignore the law and continue the their old habit of exercising, undo and inappropriate influence of over state those kinds of things was common place under the previous administration. I believe the former secretary king and i got to a good place. I think we can get to a better one today. Let me ask uyou madame secretar, do you acknowledge that the law forbids the coersion of state. Absolutely. Will the department follow the will of the law . Absolutely, it will. To be clear you can count on me of our state of alabama and all states should indeed of high standards that challenge students and build Critical Thinking skills. I am glad that our state have made an effort to raise our standards in recent years. I welcome collaboration with other states to share best practices, however, the intrusion of the federal government into that process directly or in directly is inappropriate. This is a lot of confusion and distrust in many states thats contributed to a volatile policy and environment. I appreciate your commitment and your rightness of this issue and any other comments that you want to make about this, i am welcome to hear. Thank you congresswoman. We share that concern and you have my commitment that the department is going to implement and follow the law that you have set out through assa. I would love to out do one another how high they set the standards. We should be shooting for excellence across the board but in no way, it should be a tap down and one size fit all from the federal government tch. I hope they do indeed shoot high and theyre very ready to point out to others when theyre not, you know, splitting up to the task of preparing all of our students for a great future. Thank you very much for your commitment. But, i do want to allow my good friend, Ranking Member to make any comments or closing statements. I will do the same. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. Thank you madame secretary. Let me correct the record in some instances here with my time. While we can talk about it and give a lot of lip service and the fact the matter is this is not a continuing resolution issue. There was a decision made for this budget to cut the career and Technical Education program by 15 . 168 million. This is not and you cannot talk out of both sides of your mouth. You are either going to put the money where we believe where we make the best possible bank for the bucks or we should be silence about it and dont talk about it and do something about it. Gold standards, evaluations of washington, d. C. The only funded program found that vouchers negatively impact students achievement and significantly worst on math. The first year they used the voucher, they performed worst in both math and reading. My colleagues have pointed out similarly worse in ohio. Title one has been cut by 568 million. The fact the matter is that with all due respect, on may 5th, we signed an ominous bill. I dont want any process piece that affects my colleague, miss lee, talked about. The Budget Proposal cuts if in acted would impose real harm on our countrys students. I want to make the point with regards to vouchers and children who are disabled, disabilities. You reference the mckay scholarship program. That program with information that i have not looked into it and no due process right under idra. They give up Due Process Rights granted by the individual. No accountable for participating schools. They do not have to be acredited or providing any evidence of the quality of the program. No evidence of students success because students do not take standardized tests in private schools. It is impossible to hold private schools accountable or comparing their performance with Public Schools. Now, i make those corrections because we cannot if we are going to have a robust conversation about education then lets put the facts on the table and go from there. This is a budget and i characterize it mr. Chairman, and the appropriation committee, it is cruel and inhumane and heartless. 9. 2 billion cut to education. The fact the matter is, at one point my colleague talked about, there is 10 , there are less money going to high poverty areas. The teachers are more likely to be none of us in here are going to be hurt. We are going to be fine. Our kids and grand kids are going to be okay but millions of kids around this country are going to suffer what has been done with 9. 2 billion cut to our Education Program which is supposed to serve our youngsters and i am going to fight this budget with every fiber of my body because it is wrong to do this to our kids. I have no doubt. Madame secretary, i want to thank you very much for being here today. I want to thank you for your testimony for your professionalism. I love the emphasis of choice and frankly trying to give as many options to young people as you possibly can and you lay it out in your budget. I know you had to make tough decisions. We have three cabinet level of ju jurisdictions here. We certainly have a great deal of sympathy for that. I want to ensure you that this is a committee thats a pretty spirited committee. We appreciate you engaging with us today. We look forward for other opportunity to do that. I know every member of this committee of the bipartisan bases if they can assist you in any way and want to do that. I think your success represents the success of america students. I know you care asht that debou. We know the president cares about that. Thank you very much thank you very much. Joe liebermann removed his name from consideration in search for a new fbi director. Liebermann cited the potential of a conflict after President Trump hired his long time attorney. Mr. Liebermann represents the president in the investigation of russia and the 2016 elections. Regardless of your background, remember where you came from. Hold onto the way so many of you reaching out to mentors. Hold onto the way you engage in this community. Make sure to bring that commitment to whatever walk of life you choose. Bravery, not perfection was the key that unlocked every door that i have walked through since. It took me 33 years to figure out that brown girls can do white guys things, too. You are here because of a lot of health. You understand that now it is time to help others. Thats what this is all about. Saturday night at 8 00 eastern, 2017 commencement speeches. This weekend including speaker Arnold Schwarzenegger and joe biden in maine. Arizona governor doug oc