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<div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/devos_approved.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Vice President Breaks Senate Tie to Approve New Secretary of Education' data-article-id='2189'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='8833'>The United States Senate has narrowly approved Betsy DeVos to lead the federal Department of Education.</span> <span data-start-time='8833' data-end-time='13979'>DeVos will join President Donald Trump’s new cabinet.</span> <span data-start-time='13979' data-end-time='19063'>Cabinet members are among the president’s closest advisers.</span> <span data-start-time='19063' data-end-time='26417'>The president nominates them, but they need congressional approval before taking office.</span> <span data-start-time='26417' data-end-time='32938'>As the secretary of education, DeVos will oversee the nation’s schools.</span> <span data-start-time='32938' data-end-time='39625'>She will also assist the president with education policy and legislation.</span> <span data-start-time='39625' data-end-time='48688'>If that job description sounds relatively simple, the path to DeVos’ congressional approval was not.</span> <span data-start-time='48688' data-end-time='56583'>She has been one of Trump’s most controversial cabinet choices if not the most.</span> <span data-start-time='56583' data-end-time='64813'>One reason is that DeVos says she wants to reduce the federal government’s involvement in education.</span> <span data-start-time='64813' data-end-time='73417'>Historically, the federal government has played a major part in directing the nation’s public school system.</span> <span data-start-time='73417' data-end-time='81521'>Public schools are free for all students and have a fairly standard education curriculum.</span> <span data-start-time='81521' data-end-time='88229'>About 100,000 primary and secondary schools nationwide are public.</span> <span data-start-time='88229' data-end-time='96042'>About 35,000 are private -- meaning students have to pay to attend classes.</span> <span data-start-time='96042' data-end-time='104625'>DeVos says she would like to give more power over education to states and to parents.</span> <span data-start-time='104625' data-end-time='118729'>At her confirmation hearing, she said she wants to move away from “what the system thinks is best for kids to what moms and dads want, expect and deserve.”</span> <span data-start-time='118729' data-end-time='134917'>For example, instead of the local public school, some parents may want to send their child to a private same-sex school, one that provides training a certain foreign language, or one based on their religious beliefs.</span> <span data-start-time='134917' data-end-time='140146'>DeVos seeks to use public school money to support the choice.</span> <span data-start-time='140146' data-end-time='147479'>Some supporters of DeVos say she will bring needed competition to public education.</span> <span data-start-time='147479' data-end-time='159979'>They say her vision for school choice will also give students from poor families the same opportunities as those from richer families.</span> <span data-start-time='159979' data-end-time='173125'>Critics say DeVos’ plans will harm public schools and the students who depend on them especially students in rural areas or those who have a disability.</span> <span data-start-time='173125' data-end-time='180250'>Critics also point to her lack of firsthand experience of the public school system.</span> <span data-start-time='180250' data-end-time='185813'>DeVos did not attend public schools or send her children to them.</span> <span data-start-time='185813' data-end-time='190563'>She has also never been a teacher or school administrator.</span> <span data-start-time='190563' data-end-time='207688'>Instead, she is a wealthy philanthropist, a major donor to members of Trump’s Republican Party, and a 30-year advocate for alternative choices to public education, especially Christian schools.</span> <span data-start-time='207688' data-end-time='214104'>The controversy around DeVos’ confirmation was clear in Tuesday's vote.</span> <span data-start-time='214104' data-end-time='227854'>After arguing against DeVos on the Senate floor for 24 consecutive hours, all 48 Democrats opposed her, along with two Republicans from rural states.</span> <span data-start-time='227854' data-end-time='231667'>The other 50 Republicans supported her.</span> <span data-start-time='231667' data-end-time='235354'>The final vote was split, 50-50.</span> <span data-start-time='235354' data-end-time='241625'>Fortunately, the U.S. Constitution has a way to deal with this problem.</span> <span data-start-time='241625' data-end-time='249458'>It says that if senators are “equally divided,” the vice president makes the deciding vote.</span> <span data-start-time='249458' data-end-time='258292'>In this case, Vice President Mike Pence supported Trump’s choice and voted in favor of DeVos.</span> <span data-start-time='258292' data-end-time='269854'>The Associate Press notes that the Senate historian says this is the first time a vice president has had to break a tie in a Cabinet nomination.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/devos_approved.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=8075 data-hint-location='48688' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/what_does_controversial_mean.m4a'>What does controversial mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='causing disagreement'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/lack_of_experience.m4a'><span>lack of experience</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/causing_disagreement.m4a'><span>causing disagreement</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/oversee_schools.m4a'><span>oversee schools</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/senate_confirmation.m4a'><span>senate confirmation</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=8076 data-hint-location='241625' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/how_does_the_senate_break_a_tie.m4a'>How does the Senate break a tie?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Vice President vote'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/vice_president_vote.m4a'><span>Vice President vote</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/donate_money.m4a'><span>donate money</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/flip_a_coin.m4a'><span>flip a coin</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/take_another_vote.m4a'><span>take another vote</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=8077 data-hint-location='140146' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/she_will_bring__blank__to_public_education.m4a'>She will bring <span class='blank'>competition</span> to public education.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='competition'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/leadership.m4a'><span>leadership</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/experience.m4a'><span>experience</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/poor_families.m4a'><span>poor families</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1670/competition.m4a'><span>competition</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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