00:00A question from one of our community members.
00:02Katie Reeves is a schoolteacher in Wisconsin.
00:04She's taught K-3 in public, independent,
00:07private, and private schools.
00:08And here's what she wanted me to ask you.
00:11She says, I see the elimination of the
00:13Department of Education as an excellent first step
00:15in the improvement of our school system.
00:17Do you see any further role the federal government can
00:19take beyond this, possibly in promoting the expansion
00:22of voucher programs or reducing the influence
00:24that teachers' unions hold over our schools?
00:27Ms. Sanders Well, first of all,
00:28I want to thank Katie for her service to our country
00:31and our nation's children.
00:33Being a teacher is the most noble profession that we
00:36believe one can have.
00:37And the President said in his remarks when he signed
00:40the executive order to dismantle the Department
00:42of Education that he loves our teachers.
00:44And in part, this order is to empower our teachers
00:47to have greater decision-making
00:49in the classroom.
00:51Nobody knows our nation's children and our students
00:53better than our teachers who are with them
00:55every single day.
00:56As for the federal government's role to get to
00:58the heart of Katie's question,
01:00the President has made it clear to Linda McMahon
01:02that we need to find other places within our federal
01:05government for critical programs regarding education.
01:08Pell grants, Title IX, lawsuits, et cetera,
01:11civil rights lawsuits, all of that are critical
01:14functions, special needs programs,
01:16nutrition programs.
01:17But there are other places throughout the federal
01:19bureaucracy where those things can happen and work.
01:22The Department of Education has been a very
01:24bloated bureaucracy.
01:25We spent trillions of dollars on this department
01:28and for what?
01:29Our children are worse off, as far as education
01:31goes today, than they were when this department
01:33originated, and that's very concerning
01:35to the President.
01:35The Press On the two issues she cited,
01:36are those priorities for the President?
01:39School education choice, vouchers,
01:41and diminishing the role of teachers, you mean?
01:45Ms. McEnany The President is very supportive of both
01:47of those things, particularly when it comes
01:49to school choice.
01:50He has said that school choice is the civil rights
01:52issue of our time, and he wants every child,
01:55regardless of zip code, socioeconomic status,
01:57how much money their parents have, to be able
01:59to go to the school of their choosing that best
02:02suits their educational needs.
02:03And he is going to empower state and local leaders
02:05to make those decisions on behalf
02:07of our nation's children.
02:08Thanks for being here, Mark.
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