Few, if any, education secretaries have gotten off to as rocky a start as Betsy DeVos, who took the helm of the U.S. Department of Education last month with opponents ready to pounce.
There was her contentious confirmation hearing, with its much-mocked comment about guns in schools to defend against grizzly bears. Protesters temporarily blocked her first visit to a public school, and a series of perceived gaffes in interviews and speeches drew online outrage and scolding editorials鈥攁s well as some off-base criticism.
DeVos in recent weeks did make a number of drama-free appearances to groups around Washington such as the Council of the Great City Schools and the National Lieutenant Governors Association. And she tagged along with President Donald Trump on a visit to a Roman Catholic school in Florida to highlight the administration鈥檚 school choice priority.
Finding Her Way
DeVos鈥� press office declined a request for comment in time for deadline last week.
But her rough start on the communications front raises the question of what鈥檚 next for a neophyte federal official as she aims to get her points across to the public, while sorting out the policy details of a cabinet agency.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos drew heat for some of her comments during her first weeks in office, but she is hardly the only person to hold the office who has made controversial or regrettable remarks.
See gaffes from past education secretaries.
Former officials and public relations professionals with experience in the Education Department say DeVos needs to surround herself with savvy political and communications aides, refine her message, and take it directly to constituencies that may not initially be on her side.
鈥淔or Republicans, the blob [of established education groups] is not the friendliest territory,鈥� said Margaret Spellings, a former education secretary under President George W. Bush and now the president of the University of North Carolina system.
She recalled in an interview that even though she had worked for years for the Texas Association of School Boards before joining Bush when he was governor of Texas and then in the White House, she got 鈥渜uite a chilly reception鈥� from the National School Boards Association. And she said DeVos shouldn鈥檛 shy away from addressing such likely skeptical audiences as the teachers鈥� unions.
Spellings also said that given DeVos鈥� lack of experience in public office and relatively limited background in the public arena鈥擠eVos is a longtime GOP political donor in Michigan and philanthropist focused on school choice issues鈥�"I think she would be well-advised to get about the country and really go talk to people. Go into flyover country.鈥�
鈥淚 think she can learn the most by getting out into the states,鈥� Spellings said.
The point about messaging is echoed by Peter Cunningham, a former assistant secretary for communications and outreach under Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in President Barack Obama鈥檚 administration.
鈥淚 think the important thing is for her to figure out the landscape and the audience she is addressing,鈥� said Cunningham. 鈥淚s it parents, unions, civil rights groups, Capitol Hill? The sweet spot is how to figure out how to talk about her agenda.鈥�
Public Relations Blowback
No question that DeVos experienced some fierce public relations blowback in her first few weeks in office.
One example: the reaction to her comments in an interview with a conservative columnist after her protester-marred visit to Jefferson Middle School Academy in Washington, where she initially retreated to her large government SUV. DeVos later said teachers at the school seemed to be in 鈥渞eceive mode鈥� and are 鈥渨aiting to be told what they have to do, and that鈥檚 not going to bring success to an individual child.鈥�
The comment was not well-received by teachers or the secretary鈥檚 critics. DeVos took to Twitter to emphasize she was urging more empowerment for teachers, tweeting, 鈥淵our teachers are awesome! They deserve MORE freedom to innovate and help students.鈥�
On Feb. 27, DeVos called the nation鈥檚 historically black colleges and universities 鈥渞eal pioneers of school choice,鈥� setting off a firestorm over her perceived lack of understanding of the roots of such institutions in state-mandated segregation. The New York Times editorial page called the remark 鈥渁 positively Orwellian explanation.鈥� In later remarks to HBCU leaders, DeVos acknowledged the history of segregation that 鈥渇ailed to provide African-Americans access to a quality education鈥� and the role of black institutions in 鈥減roviding an alternative option to students denied the right to attend a quality school.鈥�
There have been other comments and missteps that鈥攆airly or not鈥攎arred DeVos鈥� early weeks. An Education Department posting on Twitter last month misspelled the name of civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois. And even an offhand remark by DeVos using the expression 鈥渘o such thing as a free lunch鈥� prompted mistaken claims that she was suggesting cuts to the National School Lunch Program鈥攕omething her department doesn鈥檛 even run.
DeVos is hardly the only secretary of education to have made notable verbal gaffes. Duncan, for example, sparked outrage for comments suggesting that Hurricane Katrina was a blessing in disguise for sparking an overhaul of New Orleans鈥� troubled school system, and that 鈥渨hite, suburban moms鈥� who were put out over more-rigorous expectations for their children were a force in the opposition to the Common Core State Standards.
And DeVos is not the only one to stumble among Trump鈥檚 cabinet: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, himself an African-American, recently referred to slaves as among the 鈥渙ther immigrants鈥� who came to America with dreams for their descendants.
鈥淲e all make mistakes,鈥� said Cunningham, who is now the executive director of Education Post, a Chicago-based website focused on school policy. 鈥淎rne made mistakes. That鈥檚 a big part of the job.鈥�
Clear Signaling
Going forward, Emily Lampkin, a former political and communications aide to Spellings, said that DeVos should set a clear public platform of her goals and a communications strategy and agenda to work toward those goals.
鈥淭he more that people see that she is driven by a positive agenda, the better off she is going to be,鈥� said Lampkin, now a principal at the Washington public-affairs firm the Lampkin Group.
Spellings stressed the importance of support staff.
鈥淭he first thing you do is get yourself some good help,鈥� said Spellings, who was secretary during Bush鈥檚 second term. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e nothing without your team, especially given how complicated the job is.鈥�
Thomas Toch, the director of the new Future-Ed think tank at Georgetown University鈥檚 McCourt School of Public Policy, agreed with others that DeVos needs to ramp up her communications help and refine her message.
鈥淗er speeches are substantively thin and wooden in tone,鈥� said Toch, a former education reporter at 澳门跑狗论坛 and U.S. News & World Report who has had a breadth of other communications and policy experience in the field. 鈥淚 would say her problem is a function of filtering every topic through a simplified commitment to markets and local control.鈥�
Citing interviews DeVos has given to a handful of conservative radio-talk-show hosts, Toch said the secretary needs 鈥渢o engage more broadly.鈥�
鈥淪he needs to make the case for her agenda not just to conservative radio hosts,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey may be a safe interview, but they鈥檙e not going to broaden support for her ideas.鈥�
And part of the challenge simply may be the learning curve for someone new to cabinet-level publicity.
Toch said that one of the most impressionable moments from DeVos鈥� first weeks in office was the protest scene outside Jefferson Middle School Academy.
鈥淭he scene of her running away from a few protesters at a D.C. public school was telling,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 good politician would have engaged with the group, extending a hand, or trying to charm and disarm them. Instead, DeVos hustled into a black government car with tinted windows.鈥�
Making the Rounds
In more recent appearances, the new secretary has avoided further missteps. She was largely in Trump鈥檚 shadow during her March 3 visit to St. Andrew Catholic School near Orlando, Fla. On March 13, members of the Council of the Great City Schools gave DeVos a polite but subdued reaction as she discussed new regulations under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
On March 15, DeVos got a more enthusiastic reception鈥攁 standing ovation鈥攆rom the GOP-dominated National Lieutenant Governors Association at a Washington hotel.
鈥淔ederalism isn鈥檛 an antiquated idea,鈥� DeVos told the group. 鈥淥ur nation鈥檚 founders reserved most powers, including education, for the states to exercise because they knew all too well that a distant central government cannot adequately address the needs of its people.鈥�
It was a noncontroversial, 12-minute speech to an especially low-key group. And after a few minutes of glad-handing with the state officials, DeVos was on to her next appointment.
