Al Franken baffled at Trump education secretary nominee’s inability to answer simple policy question

During her Senate confirmation hearing this Tuesday, Donald Trump‘s pick for Education Secretary found herself in a tough spot during Al Franken’s (D-MN) questioning of her, when she couldn’t answer a simple question about education policy.

The spectacle began when Franken  asked Betsy DeVos if students should be evaluated on their “growth” or “proficiency” — a concept DeVos didn’t seem to understand.

“I think, if I’m understanding your question correctly around proficiency, I would also correlate it to competency and mastery, so that each student is measured according to the advancement they’re making in each subject area,” she said.

“Well, that’s growth. That’s not proficiency,” Franken replied. “I’m talking about the debate between proficiency and growth and what your thoughts are on that.”

When DeVos asked Franken to “clarify,” he was dumbfounded.

“It surprises me that you don’t know this issue,” Franken said incredulously. “And Mr. Chairman, I think this a good reason for us to have more questions.”

Watch the clip below:

Featured image via screen grab

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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