Katie Britt Asks Secretary Linda McMahon About Preventing Students From Being 'Trapped' In Failing Schools

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During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) spoke to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on expanding school choice.

Transcript

00:00Thank you so much for being here today.

00:01I want to start with talking about HBCUs.

00:04So Alabama has more HBCUs than any other state in the nation.

00:08We are proud of the work that is done on those campuses.

00:12We know that it helps strengthen student experience, our workforce, our communities, and our future.

00:18So if you look across coast to coast, there are about 285,000 individuals that are attending

00:23HBCUs, and the Strengthening HBCU program has about 300 million annually allocated to supporting

00:31the operations and student services and academic infrastructure.

00:35So can you walk us through, in the President's FY26 budget, kind of what you have put in place

00:41to continuing to make sure that our HBCUs can thrive and provide that educational opportunity

00:47for so many students that otherwise wouldn't have it?

00:49Well, in a word, or in a very short sentence, we are continuing the educational support and

00:56the budget support that have been for HBCUs.

00:58It's one of the promises that the President made, and that's exactly what we're going to

01:02continue to do.

01:03Good.

01:04And will you make sure that there are guardrails put up to whether it's, you know, assistance

01:08for grant administration or technical assistance, that those remain in place?

01:12Yes.

01:13Excellent.

01:15That when this department was founded, you said since 1980, we've had about, spent about

01:21$3 trillion, but yet student scores have not improved.

01:25One of the reasons I ran for the Senate is I want the unseen to be seen.

01:29I want to close the gap between the have and have nots.

01:32And that is why I am so excited and thrilled about your support and commitment to educational

01:37freedom and opportunity.

01:39When you look at a state like Alabama, we have the Alabama Accountability Act.

01:43And we are working to help families better have access to educational opportunities through

01:49scholarship, tuition, and tax credits.

01:52But we know that the demand is, it far outpaces the actual supply.

01:57So in your FY26 budget for charter school programs, you've taken it to $500 million, which

02:03is a $60 million increase.

02:06My question to you is, can you walk us through how these funds will be used to expand options,

02:13particularly in rural communities and underserved communities?

02:16So when we work to close that gap, these parents have an opportunity and a choice for their child.

02:22Well, thank you very much, Senator Brett.

02:25It's very important to the president that all students have access, equal access to a quality

02:32education.

02:33That's right.

02:34And one of the things that he has said time after time is that no child should be trapped

02:38in a failing school, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to expand the amount of dollars

02:43for charter schools.

02:45And I have visited several charter schools and public schools, too, already around the country.

02:50We can see how innovative that they are being, how creative they are being, you know, with

02:54their curriculum, with their content.

02:55They are, in most instances, they are outperforming the public schools in that area, in which when

03:01I talked to Governor Reynolds, I said, you know, there's always concern, you have charter

03:05schools or freedom of, you know, or choice for schools that public schools will go down.

03:09And she said, it's just the opposite in Iowa.

03:12She said, our public school levels are coming up.

03:14The competition is really great.

03:16Parents are more involved, and that's one of the requirements.

03:19Parents are understanding more that they need to be part of the school board or help to elect

03:23the school board members.

03:24They're attending the meetings, more conferences with teachers, understanding what it is that

03:29their child needs in their community to be successful to go on for their education.

03:34Absolutely.

03:34And I am a public school kid, and I am really proud of it.

03:37Don't mind.

03:37I want to make sure that where we have children who are trapped in a failing school, that they

03:43have an option and an opportunity and a pathway forward, because education is the great equalizer.

03:49As our colleague, Tim Scott, always says, it is the closest thing to magic that we have

03:53in America.

03:54So thank you so much for continuing to be committed to making sure that every child has that opportunity

04:00to thrive and grow.

04:01Last, in my last minute, I want to talk to you a little bit about literacy.

04:05Thank you for your commitment to that.

04:07I want to understand kind of what your vision is, and I also want to add Alabama to the list

04:11of success stories.

04:13So we passed in 2019 the Alabama Literacy Act.

04:17Since that time period, we have seen significant growth in our numbers and proficiency amongst

04:24our third and fourth graders.

04:26For instance, Alabama's national ranking for fourth grade reading improved from 49th in

04:31the nation.

04:32When we actually, the year that we put this into place, five years later, we've moved up

04:36to 34.

04:37We believe with intentionality and evidence-based reading instruction and early intervention,

04:43you can make a difference that changes a child's pathway forward and opportunity that will be

04:49in front of them.

04:50So just want to talk a little bit about that.

04:52If you can tell me what your plans are there and how we can continue to support great work

04:57that's being done in states like Alabama.

04:59Well, evidence-based literacy is number one on my priority list, and I want to make sure

05:08that we are providing the information and the tools to states for them to see the success

05:13that other states have had.

05:15I mean, other governors, just like you said, in Alabama have put in place kind of a return

05:19to basics or that science of reading, and they have seen incredible results, and that's

05:24what I want to continue to see across the country.

05:26We saw a nine-point tick up between 2023 and 2024.

05:32Obviously, we have a ways to go, and we're going to continue to be committed to that,

05:37but thank you for your commitment to making sure these programs thrive.

05:42Senator Shaheen.

05:43Thank you, Madam Chair.

05:44Welcome.

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