Your priority list, first taxi from right after that education and what you meant by that is developing the skills and skills training to make sure that your workforce you need for the next decade, finding people to bring into your companies that can execute the type of work you need that any new technological world. So how does the white house plan to address your concerns . The executive editor of the wall street journal is going to interview betsy devos, the u. S. Secretary of education who is very much focused on this particular aspect of your agenda. So please join me in welcoming them. [applause] secretary, good to see you. Good to see you, matt. I think its fair to say first of all that education for this audience over the years is probably always been one concern for many people whenever we pull our executives. I know there came interested always in the state of education. We both had a lot of talk over the last day and a half on things like ai, things like the digitization of the workplace and disruption and changes that are already are happening at the golf think are going to accelerate in the coming years. I want to start by asking you, youve been on the job now almost a year, which are your overall assessment of the preparedness of u. S. Workers today for this world in the world thats coming . Your honest sense of where we stand on training our workforce. Well, let me say first its an honor to be here and have a chance to talk a little bit about education today, and the specific question about preparedness of students for the rally of today and tomorrow, i i think weve a lot of opportunity for improvement. There are certainly students that are leaving high school and college well prepared for the world that awaits them, but i think the reality is that much of the systems that weve been relying on in education for decades now really can to be backward looking versus forwardlooking. And its michael at the the department to really bring the focus two, in the k12 very, really empowering parents and students in a new way to find education environment that is really right for them, that is going to stoke the curiosity that is innate in every child, and not sort of beat it off by the time they are in third or fourth grade. And then when you look to be on 12th grade, what are the new breed of pathways that really are available but not yet really highlighted myriad of pathways i think for several decades now we have given the subtle or notsosubtle message that the only successful path to adult life is through a Fouryear College or university. And i think thats been at the expense of lots of great opportunities. We know that 6. 1 million skilled jobs that require some level of education Gunn High School are going unfilled today, and so the opportunity is really there to step back and look more holistically at those opportunities, starting as early as perhaps middle school, exposing kids to what some of these different pathways might be. So lets break it down, talk about k12 and then we can talk about post k12. Just to be clear then, i mean, i dont know if you put a percentage on it, but when you think about how prepared, how many of our students are prepared for the world in the way you think they need to be, are half of them ready for this today . Is it probably lower than that . Is it just the students who get the opportunity to go to the private schools or the right Charter Schools or have certain opportunities . Or how bad are we failing, do you think . Students and wear it in every school in this country, theres at least one or handful of students that for them thats the right of private and they are being prepared and challenge in the right way. But when you think about the fact that kindergartners starting kindergarten this year face the prospect of having 65 of the jobs they will ultimately fail not yet having been created, you really have to think, i think, differently about what the role of education and preparation is. And in talking with a lot of Business People and others who have to ultimately employ individuals, the skills that we really have to be preparing kids with, i think, are simply put in four areas. Critical thinking skills, the ability to collaborate and work well with others, as we do in all of the rest of life but not so much in school. The ability to communicate, both verbally and in written communications, well. And then creativity. And my observation of a lot of students today is they are not having their needs met to be prepared in those areas. Theres a lot of tension on this issue. Weve had a lot of programs over the years now from the left and the right, and from the government and from outside the government, whether its race to the top or common corps. Theres been a lot of permit around but we dont really any abstract move the needle a lot. Why not . Why cant we really see that kind of change . Whats going wrong even with all these ideas . I think weve tried to fix things on the top down. Theres been very heavy involvement on the part of the federal government for several decades with the hope that we would see improving results and different results. The reality is that our performance in aggregate as compared to the rest of the world has not only been stagnant but its continued to slide. And so we really are at a crossroads i believe, and a hope that a lot of the folks here today and those with whom you work will look differently at the way you an act, engage with, and get involved with education. So thats actually a good segue to the poll question i want to ask, if we could put the question of. I want to talk about the department as you see, the Education Department as we know from the time it started has been sometimes a lightning rod on both sides of the aisle. Its been talked about and written about for you that you have been cutting the budget, there are jobs youve not been filling. You have been streamlining the department. Whats your philosophy of what the department can do and what it shouldnt do . How do you want the role of the Education Department to be defined . I think theres much larger role for states to play. It is of the role of the states, and this administration is very embracing of federalism. The every Student Succeeds act the Congress Passed at the end of 2015 which is just now starting to get enacted really returns a lot of the flexibility and control to the states for k12 education. Right now we are receiving the plans, reviewing them. Its michael to a group every single plan to follow the law that Congress Passed. The interpretations in the states will be different, and thats good, and we hope that states will take the opportunity to be creative in how they are addressing needs of students in the states. We also hope states will work with our local communities and with local School Buildings to give the kind of flexibility thats needed to allow for new creative approaches to be taken and to be embarked upon. Okay. So our poll question, does the department favor taking a greater role in driving k12 agenda, lesser role about what is now . Looks like more of the ideas is with you on this, although i see the numbers are still shifting around. Its very dramatic to watch it. A lot of people changing their minds. Let me press on that a little bit because it feels like theres always been especially for the united states, from the national perspective, tension between states and the federal entrance in terms of what should be standard for everybody and what should be localized. Thats a persistent tension point. Something common core was trying to also address. And it goes to a larger question i think that you wrestle with because you like to highlight programs that you think are unique, programs you think are great. You talked about a new Charter Schools, private schools, Public Schools. But what should be done minimal acceptable Educational Attainment . How do we reach some minimal level . There is really an inequality problem in our education system. If you have money, if youre lucky, if youre in the right community you might get a great one. Lots of people dont. How do we race that floor . Well, the reality is the probably most of us if not all of us in this room have had the ability to choose our childrens educational settings, and the reality also is that there are many, many parents, a High Percentage of our population, that dont have that power. We havent tried actually empowering parents to make those choices and to pursue an education environment that is right for each child. That has i believe stunted the creativity and Education World for decades, really. We still fundamentally operate on a model that was brought to us 150 years ago by the prussians, a country that no longer exists, and we have not deviated fundamentally from that approach. Yet everything is change in the world. And so i fundamentally believe that if and when we empower parents to make that right choice for their child, that we will see the kind of creativity entering education that we really need to see, that will ultimately prepare students to be active participants in the workforce, and i would argue even as important or more important to be job creators themselves. Is there a particular Public School model or community that you look at as an example of how then you can move, whether its new orleans or some other place, that you seen that kind of creativity . A number of states have adopted some choice programs, and were starting to see some beneficial result in those states. Florida probably being leading among them. Louisiana has certainly adopted a form of choice. Its a little more limited in scope. Indian is another state, ohio, wisconsin. But all of these are still a relatively small scales. We have not had a state or situation where every single parent in that state actually has the power to make that choice for their child. I hope that sometime in the nottoodistant future we will see that. When we reflect on what the role of the federal government and the department of education is, visavis the states, its important to remember the 90 of the funding comes from within the states. And yet i would say probably 90 plus of the regulation has come from the federal level 90 plus percent what weve seen with the entry into that, trying to make everybody conform to onesizefitsall approach has not, the results have not been positive overall her students in this country. And again company, the critics of choice who say thats all well and good if you get a chance to change her school but that still dooms many kids who dont get into the right school in order, our school or minimal school. Isnt that a risk of choice . Yet we have tried, it is a lot of those programs that has been tried in some places and we see improvement in the school here, we see improvement in his school there, which is to have a lot of kids kind of due doomed to four schools, right . How do you address that problem . Fundamentally if the demand is there is going to be response to demand. And i would actually refer to florida where again theres the broadest range of choices and the greatest number of students taking advantage of those choices. Where there are districts that have a fairly High Percentage of students opting to go to a school other than their assigned school, all of the performance in that district has improved. So it says to me that with even more of those options and more of those opportunities, were going to see even better results ultimately. And then were going to come back to post k12, and we were talking backstage about the fouryear degree. It sounds like you would like a world that has many more options for students than just thinking in terms of the fouryear degree. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts about how we can develop, i guess youre thinking about vocational schools and other options, of the past ways to careers and success. How badly i i would like in otr ways forward for students today . Well, first of all i think we need to be honoring of those various avenues and various pathways. And i i think a large extent we stigmatized them for the last couple decades or more. And weve suggested that they are lesser than and not as good a choice as options as a Fouryear College or university. Yet today we know that only about 30 of students will ultimately have a graduate from a fouryear or university, and we have as a mentioned. 1 million jobs that require some level of Education Beyond High School that remain unfilled. And we have a lot of students that i think would benefit from being exposed to learning about those options and those opportunities at a much earlier stage, as young as and as early as middle school. What can you do, what can the government to specifically to seed and fund of those . Is all up to private enterprise, is all up to states, institutions . Or can you encourage you then whether its through tax policy or two other kinds of i think its really important for businesses to engage with our local Community Colleges, for example, or other local institutions. If you need in your community that are going unfilled or in your business that are going unfilled, ive seen several examples, several great examples of Community Colleges that a party with industry in the region and have planned out curriculum and certifications to specifically meet those needs. Very often, i mean, ive talked to many students who have entered those programs and taken a year, nine months to a year of a micro degree for something, and then they will go and a few years and come back for another level of education. And i think a major shift in Higher Education to the acknowledgment that there is really no traditional student fundamentally anymore. The percentage of students to go directly for my school to a Fouryear College or university and graduate in four years is a minority of the population. So really again, getting honor and respect to all of these different opportunities and helping kids actually learn early on whether they like to work with their hands or whether they really do want to sit at a desk and do something that requires them to sit and think all day. I recall a young lady i met that in the orlando area who had been a clerk in a Circuit Court and had done that for a number of years and became bored to death. So she went back to the local committee college and took a class and was now doing advanced manufacturing wiring for one of the Aerospace Industries in the area and couldnt have been more thrilled with the work she was doing it she said i love my job. I go there every day, cant wait to get there. Youve had tough criticism from political opponents and even at times i think doubts from supporters, so, you faced your skeptics at different moments. The last couple of weeks there were rumors going around about you were thinking of stepping down. Are you thinking of stepping down . Absolutely not. Do you expect to be here for your full fouryear term . I do. The opportunity to try to make the Education Future better for kids all across this country. Thats been my lifes work and the opportunity to try to do that in a different way is an unbelievable opportunity. Let me just press, are you getting the support you think you want to get from the white house and from the congress for your agenda then . Indeed, yes. Lots of friends on the hill and the president and the white house has been very, very supportive. I mean, look it, we recognize there is latent potential in so many of our young people today and were doing them a disservice by not ensuring that they all have an equal opportunity to get a great education. Lets go to questions from the audience. Questions right here. Tell us who you are. Jeff hagedorn, scotts miraclegro. You have michelle is on my board. And you have to say to yourself, the education is the biggest shame in this country and look at michelle, shed say she was more successful, but its a suicide mission. I think, kind of, thats what youre saying, how can this country really fix education in the poorest parts of our country where, without education, i dont think there is progress . Thanks for the question and i would just challenge all of you, you have you all have spheres of influence, and you have opportunity to get engaged in your own communities. You have opportunities to engage in your states to advocate for policies that will actually change the Playing Field for all families, especially for those families who dont have the means that we have to be able to choose for our kids. Unless we fundamentally change that, i think everything that not everything that we have done, but much of what we have done to tri it change and reform education over the last several decades has been merely moving the game pieces around on the game board and its not a winning strategy. We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the course for kids today and tomorrow by giving everyone the same kind of opportunity that weve had for our kids. Other question . Questions for secretary devos . No . Before i turn it back it matt, here we go, right here. Hi, keith allman, ceo of masco of michigan. How would you describe your strategy or key initiatives of the department to drive the change that you talk about . So three main areas that im focused on within the department, and they all the first one is certainly k12 education. Starting with ensuring that we implement the every Student Succeeds act as congress has intended. Thats a big piece of work. And secondarily, to advance policy that will help compliment what our states are doing to empower parents with more choices. I believe that its really the states role to take on these policies and to do them in a way that works for their states. Theres lots of different mechanisms, but they have to really respond to and take the initiative within the states. And the federal government can come alongside and compliment what theyre doing. The second area is with Higher Education and as weve already talked about, the fact that we have many students that graduate high school, dont know what they want to pursue. Some of them go to school for a year and a half or two and then drop out because t