Later this month, President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 secretary of education will take office and confront a whirlwind of challenges. Just for starters, American students have continued to experience a worrisome decline in academic performance; meanwhile, the Department of Education is still struggling to recover from the FAFSA fiasco and has to restart student-loan payments for millions of borrowers. And that鈥檚 all before we get to programs, budgets, efforts to downsize the department, or anything else. To get a sense of the challenges awaiting the next secretary of education, I thought it worth seeking some insight from someone who鈥檚 been there鈥攏amely, Trump鈥檚 previous one, philanthropist and school choice champion Betsy DeVos. Here鈥檚 what she had to say.
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Rick: What鈥檚 the biggest challenge that confronts a secretary of education on day one?
DeVos: I think each secretary walks into a significant problem of some sort. For Linda McMahon, if she鈥檚 confirmed, it鈥檚 pretty clearly going to be the FAFSA and, more broadly, the total mess that she will inherit at Federal Student Aid (FSA). This hasn鈥檛 gotten nearly the attention it deserves. Not only did the Biden administration completely botch, if not break, the FAFSA form itself, but they鈥檝e also destroyed the underpinnings of the federal student-loan portfolio. Remember: This is supposed to be an asset for the U.S. government. I think there鈥檚 a real question as to whether the portfolio is worth much of anything at all. They haven鈥檛 made anyone pay back their loans in a serious way, which was the bedrock principle of the program. Consequently, the machinery of managing the loans is in disarray, and there鈥檚 no easy fix.
On top of that, there鈥檚 now a huge credibility problem at FSA. [Secretary of Education Miguel] Cardona鈥檚 failure to launch a functional FAFSA process undercut students and families鈥� trust. 69传媒 kept getting faulty data, breaking their trust as well. Their illegal student-loan 鈥渇orgiveness鈥� scheme broke the public鈥檚 trust. And that鈥檚 without even getting into the reputational damage colleges have done to themselves.
Rick: How long did it take for your team to take shape at the department?
DeVos: The whole process of onboarding a team was certainly an obstacle for me. I had numerous assistant secretary nominees who waited more than a year to be confirmed by the Senate. There was no good reason for that; none of them faced serious objections. Some of that is the nature of the Senate calendar, but much of that was Democrats鈥� continual objections seemingly for no reason but to spite us. Those kinds of delays impede your ability to get things done.
It鈥檚 also a process to get the White House to sign off on the right mix of people to populate the roles. There are a lot of competing priorities in making those hiring decisions.
Rick: Who can the new secretary look to for counsel as she鈥檚 settling in? Any lessons you can share about the risks of turning to the wrong sources for advice?
DeVos: I first sought the advice of those dealing with ED鈥檚 policies every day. I received great counsel from governors and state chiefs about what was and wasn鈥檛 working. I was also very fortunate to have two leaders in Congress who really knew the 鈥渋ns and outs鈥� of the place in Representative Virginia Foxx and Senator Lamar Alexander. Lamar, of course, had been secretary himself, so his advice was particularly salient. I鈥檝e been offering that same type of support for Linda since she鈥檚 likely to be the next secretary.
I think the biggest risk is taking counsel from the 鈥渆xperts鈥� that populate the alphabet soup of D.C.鈥檚 education lobby. Many are bought and paid for by the unions and will do anything to protect the current system and their power. Washington is full of people who will tell you 鈥渉ow things are supposed to be done,鈥� but that advice is almost always in the service of systems, not kids.
Rick: During your tenure, your team had concerns about leaks in the department and resistance from some career staff. What are the challenges of working with career officials, especially when you鈥檙e seen as a disruptor, and how can a secretary overcome them?
DeVos: They were more than concerns. They leaked everything they got their hands on. We saw it in the newspapers routinely. And many didn鈥檛 even hide their animus toward us. I recall one bureaucrat who proudly displayed every negative news article published about me or our team on her office door.
Our experience overcoming those challenges was twofold. First, be firm. They will put up a fight, but most of them will ultimately respect that they have a new boss and do what needs to be done. Second, seek out those who truly want to help kids. They may number less than 10 percent of the permanent workforce, but many鈥攅specially the long-time staff鈥攁re there for the right reasons. In our experience, having even a dozen really great career staff leaders who wanted to be partners with us made a significant difference.
Rick: What鈥檚 it take to establish a good working relationship with the White House and the other agencies?
DeVos: Time and effort. It鈥檚 no different than any other relationship. You have to work on it and invest in it. Trust is earned through consistency over time. I liken it to being a good teammate in sports. You have your own individual metrics and goals, but the team ultimately wins if you make the effort and learn to work together efficiently. You probably didn鈥檛 read about this in the news, but the Cabinet in President Trump鈥檚 first term had a very good working relationship. We all grew quite close, personally. The truth is working with the president wasn鈥檛 much different. He truly had an open-door policy鈥攚hich is an uncommon thing to say about the Oval Office鈥攁nd he cared deeply that each of us was succeeding.
Rick: In 2017, just like this year, you took office with unified Republican control of Congress. In that kind of environment, what鈥檚 it take to establish productive relationships with the Hill and get priorities moving?
DeVos: Yes, though it鈥檚 important to recall that the Republican Senate majority was very thin between 2017 and 2019鈥攕tarting at 52 and shrinking to 50 or 51 votes at various points. That required the vice president to tie-break a lot of things, as I鈥檓 acutely aware. The 2025 majority is much stronger in the Senate and hopefully will be in the House as well following some special elections.
Congress is perhaps the most change-averse entity I鈥檝e ever dealt with. Many members of Congress talk a big game, but when it comes time to vote, many are more comfortable with maintaining the status quo. That requires employing change-management techniques, including spending a lot of time talking through benefits and ways to mitigate risk. I spent an immense amount of time on the Hill during my four years. Prioritizing students over systems forces people to rethink long-held assumptions, even within the party and especially within the appropriations process.
Rick: What are a couple of those assumptions that need to be rethought? And what would it mean for legislation or appropriations?
DeVos: The biggest assumption is that the programs are working. They鈥檙e not, and when being honest, most people acknowledge as much. I recall our first internal budget meeting in 2017, where the career staff pointed out that the only federal program that had empirical research its success was the charter school program. Similarly, I had numerous discussions with teachers and administrators about how poorly Title II鈥攖he funding for teacher professional development鈥攆unctions. The list of examples goes on. This was one of many reasons we ultimately proposed block granting the funds to the states鈥攊n most programs, the money is thinly spread with too many restrictions for it to really be productive.
Rick: I鈥檝e long held that the coverage of your tenure was . Given your experience, any advice for the next secretary when it comes to navigating the media?
DeVos: Your critiques of this have been really spot-on, and I don鈥檛 just say that because they accrue to my benefit. The education press corps is a truly agenda-driven group. Most of them assumed the worst of us, with very few putting in any effort to understand where we were coming from on policy decisions.
What I learned is you can鈥檛 let that distract you. If you鈥檙e pushing for meaningful change, those whose apple carts you intend to upset will come after you. It鈥檚 the cost of doing business. I also learned that you can counter slanted coverage by going around the legacy media. There are so many ways to talk directly to the American people. That includes talking to local news, which is often much more fair-minded than national outlets. I didn鈥檛 hold many press conferences in D.C., but I did one in almost every town I visited.
My advice to Linda, if confirmed, and to anyone stepping into a public leadership role is to stay focused on your mission. Know why you鈥檙e there and keep your eyes on the people you serve, not the chattering class or legacy media. For me, the louder the media noise became, the more I knew we were hitting nerves and making a difference.
Rick: When it comes to education, Republicans have long suffered from a thin bench of potential appointees. When you left office, this was a challenge that you and some of your former deputies discussed pretty frankly. Have things changed since 2017?
DeVos: Dramatically so. There have been intentional efforts around this in D.C., but importantly, the states鈥攅specially those led by Republican governors鈥攈ave really dug into education issues and advanced reforms over the past several years. This has created a new talent pipeline that didn鈥檛 exist before. Similarly to the 鈥�90s, we again have 鈥渆ducation governors鈥� like Iowa鈥檚 Kim Reynolds, Florida鈥檚 Ron DeSantis, and Arkansas鈥� Sarah Sanders today. That changes鈥攁nd improves鈥攖he landscape significantly.
Rick: During your tenure, the teachers鈥� unions were extraordinarily critical of you. How much did that matter? And, given that McMahon is already being fiercely attacked by union leaders, any suggestions on how she should respond, if confirmed?
DeVos: It was to be expected, so I鈥檓 not sure it was that impactful. I was unapologetically for empowering parents, and they were unapologetically for protecting the system. We were diametrically opposed on our priorities.
The only place I think the unions鈥� opposition mattered was the tone they set and the millions they spent amplifying that message, both with their allies in the Democrat Party and in school communities. I think their shrill, over-the-top criticisms served as a permission slip for others to assume the worst about us.
I think of our work on Title IX as an example. Randi Weingarten that I wasn鈥檛 serious about combating sexual assault. My response was that I approached the issue first and foremost as a woman, a mother, a grandmother, a person of faith, and really just as a decent human being. Her accusation was just absurd. But the language took hold and created conditions for others to say even more vile things.
With any such criticisms, I鈥檇 urge the next secretary to fight back twice as hard. I think the tides have turned, following how the unions overplayed their hands during COVID. The public is much more attune to their games.
Rick: What鈥檚 the best piece of advice you got after you were nominated by Trump?
DeVos: It was something that ended up being a motto of sorts in our office: Focus on doing something good for kids every day. There are going to be endless distractions, problems, hiccups, frustrations, and the like, but if you come to work every morning with fresh eyes and that posture, it鈥檚 easy to keep moving forward.
Rick: What鈥檚 one thing you wish you鈥檇 known on your first day that you learned later?
DeVos: It may be a bit clich茅, but the time does go fast. When you start, four years seems like a long time; the truth is it goes by incredibly quickly. I wished I鈥檇 pushed harder and faster from the jump, appreciating this phenomenon fully.
Doing anything in Washington is hard and slow. There were policies we advanced that had broad, bipartisan support, like expanding career and technical education options, and even those were painfully slow to move forward. Some of that legislation is still stalled in Congress today. In that sense, every minute counts.
Upon reflection, I think we also spent too much time talking to people who had no interest in listening to what we had to say. So much of Washington is entrenched in their positions, perspectives, and ways. You really have to focus on those who are intellectually curious enough to consider there might be a different and better way to do things鈥攁nd who are self-assured enough to say so.
