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Sen. Al Franken to vote against Trump's education secretary nominee

Sen. Franken to vote against Education Secretary nominee

By Allison Sherry

January 19, 2017 at 4:31PM

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) listens to Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump�s nominee for education secretary, at her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Jan. 17, 2017. DeVos defended her work steering taxpayer dollars from traditional public schools at her hearing, arguing that it was time to move away from a �one size fits all� system. (New York Times/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Al Franken said late Wednesday that he was going to vote against Betsy DeVos, president-elect Trump's pick for Education Secretary.

Franken was critical of DeVos on Tuesday during her confirmation hearings, saying it was unacceptable that she couldn't adequately talk about whether she preferred proficiency or growth models when measuring student success.

"After a full examination of Ms. DeVos' record, and based on Tuesday's hearing ... it's clear to me that she is not qualified for the demanding job of education secretary," Franken said, in a statement. "which bears responsibility for schools and students in Minnesota and across the country."