Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has reiterated during a town hall in Iowa that her Secretary of Education will have to be vetted by a 9-year-old trans child.
The child, born female, identifies as “Jacob” and asked Warren a question about inclusive schools during a CNN forum about gay and transgender issues in October.
Warren says that she will have a "young trans person" interview her future Secretary of Education and only hire this future secretary if the young trans person approves.
This in reference to a question about sex education/LGBTQ history in public schools. pic.twitter.com/txyt6OI6FX
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 30, 2020
Speaking in Cedar Rapids last week, Warren was asked, “how would you make education inclusive for all backgrounds?”
“I love this question. And the answer is: We need a Secretary of Education who believes in public education. In fact, I have two qualifications that I talk about over and over for my Secretary of Education. The first: It has to be someone who’s taught in a public school, hello?” Warren responded. “And part two, because it came from a young trans person who asked about a welcoming community and I said it starts with a Secretary of Education who has a lot to do with where we spend our money, with what gets advanced in our public schools, with what the standards are, and I said, ‘I’m going to have a Secretary of Education that this young trans person interviews on my behalf, and only if this person believes that our Secretary or Secretary of Education nominee is absolutely committed to creating a welcoming environment, a safe environment, and a full educational curriculum for everyone will that person actually be advanced to be Secretary of Education.'”
The child Warren referred to had asked what Warren would do to make children like them feel safer at school.
“Oh, I like that question, Jacob. We’re going to do this. So let me start by saying I want to have a secretary of education who both believes in public education and believes in the value of every one of our kids and is willing to enforce our civil rights laws. It turns out that when the Department of Education was set up many years ago, the Secretary of Education was given a whole lot of power over the public schools and over the rules and how they’re enforced. And we’ve had some Secretaries of Education who’ve been better, and we’ve had one that’s been a whole lot worse. Her name is Betsy DeVos,” Warren replied during the forum.
“So, when I’m president, she’ll be gone,” Warren continued. “And here’s my plan, Jacob: I’m gonna find just the right Secretary of Education, but here’s what I plan to do. I want to make sure that the person that I think is the right Secretary of Education meets you and hears your story and then I want you to tell me if you think that’s the right person and then we’ll make the deal.”
