|
Washington
–
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
delivered
remarks
in
the
Senate
HELP
committee
ahead
of
voting
in
support
of
the
nomination
of
Betsy
DeVos
for
Education
Secretary.
You
can
watch
Senator
Scott’s
remarks
below:
You
can
watch
Senator
Scott’s
remarks
by
clicking
photo
or
HERE.
Full
transcript
here:
This
debate
about
Betsy
DeVos
has
been
an
interesting,
long,
and
for
some,
a
painful
debate,
without
any
question.
I
think
we
all
have
a
consciousness
about
the
importance
of
education
in
this
country
-
I
know
I
do.
I
think
my
friends
on
the
left
have
a
sincere
desire
to
make
sure
that
children
have
access
to
quality
public
education,
and
I
commend
and
share
and
say
amen
to
that.
I,
on
this
side
as
well
as
all
of
our
members
on
the
right,
also
feel
that
public
education
is
an
absolute
necessity.
I
know
that
my
phone
lines
–
I
assume
all
of
our
phone
lines
–
have
been
bombarded
by
calls.
Senator
Burr,
have
you
gotten
a
call
or
two
yet?
I
will
tell
you
that
I
started
answering
some
of
those
calls
myself
as
they
came
into
the
office.
I
started
engaging
with
many
of
the
teachers
that
were
called
my
office.
I
found
it
very
interesting.
It
was
educational
for
me
to
chat
with
my
teachers
in
South
Carolina
about
the
place
of
public
education
as
a
priority
in
our
state,
about
the
impact
of
our
education
-
wonderful
for
so
many
students.
But
there
was,
without
any
question,
high
levels
of
confusion
around
Betsy
DeVos.
As
I
delved
into,
there
were
questions
within
other
questions.
I
simply
found
that
the
information
that
they
were
provided
was
inconsistent
with
the
reality
of
who
she
is.
And
more
importantly,
the
more
I
spoke
with
my
teachers
around
the
state,
the
more
I
realized
we
were
not
having
the
right
conversation.
We
were
debating
Betsy
DeVos
as
if
Betsy
DeVos,
according
to
some
on
the
left,
can
single-handedly
change
the
education
system
in
America.
This
is
patently
false. She
does
not
have
that
power.
As
a
matter
fact,
what
she
has said
consistently
is
that
she
would
rather
return
the
power
to
the states,
which
is
the
right direction
for
education.
As
I
spoke
with
so
many
of
these
teachers,
many
of
my
teachers came
back
to
mind.
Teachers
like Mrs.
Lynch,
who
I
actually
failed
her class;
love
Mrs.
Lynch. Ms.
Myers,
my
Spanish
teacher,
I actually
failed
her
class,
too, but
they
were
both
really
good teachers. I
thought
about
Mrs.
Greensburg, my
government
teacher
–
I
did decent
in
government. I
thought
about
Mrs.
Cryer, Coach
Roberts,
my
fourth
grade teacher,
Mrs.
Lynn,
my
second Spanish
teacher,
Ms.
Mary. I
thought
about
the
dedication and
commitment
to
education, educating
me
of
my
teachers.
I
am
a
blessed
man
because
in high
school
I
found
a
path
that allowed
me
to
experience
much
of
my
potential.
But,
unfortunately…unfortunately,
this
is
not
the
way
it
is
throughout
our
country.
Some
said
that
the
power
of
education
cannot
be
overstated.
I
would
suggest
that
the
result
of
education
in
our
underperforming
schools
cannot
be
overlooked.
Kids
of
color,
kids
who
live
in
the
poor
school
districts
in
this
nation,
here's
what
they
face:
They
face
higher
levels
of
incarceration.
They
face
higher
levels
of
government
dependency.
They
face
higher
levels
of
unemployment,
But
they
face
lower
levels
of
lifetime
incomes,
lower
levels
of
professional
progress,
lower
levels
of
economic
independence.
The
communities
that
we're
talking
about
are
the
communities
I
grew
up
in.
This
is
not
a
debate,
a
philosophical
debate
about
where
we're
heading
as
a
country
in
education.
This
is
a
real
debate
about
how
kids
today
will
perform
as
adults
tomorrow.
And
our
education
system,
where
it
is
underperforming,
leaves
our
kids
incredibly
vulnerable.
If
you
think
about
where
we
are
from
the
competitive
position
against
other
OECD
countries,
you'll
find
it
very
clear.
In
2015,
we
were
36th
in
math.
We
were
18th
in
science,
14th
in
reading.
We
are
spending
somewhere
near
$700
billion
on
education,
and
our
performance
is
subpar.
And
for
those
kids
trapped
in
underperforming
schools,
this
is
a
sentence
for
the
rest
of
their
lives.
We
should
be
just
as
focused
on
those
underperforming
schools,
those
kids
that
are
trapped,
as
we
are
the
overall
education
apparatus.
Let
me
just
say
this,
the
national
report
card
on
public
education:
in
math,
40%,
in
the
fourth
grade,
are
where
they
need
to
be.
In
reading,
36%
are
where
they
need
to
be.
For
kids
of
color
-
in
math,
20%
are
where
they
need
to
be,
in
reading,
30%.
What
am
I
suggesting?
That
the
real
debate
isn't
Betsy
DeVos.
The
real
debate
is
generations,
generations
of
kids,
who
are
stuck
in
underperforming
schools.
That
is
a
travesty.
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