Written by Don Byrd

In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos responded to several questions about the administration’s proposed voucher initiatives. In one tense exchange, Senator Merkley (D-OR) pressed her to explain the administration’s view about whether discrimination – including religious discrimination – is allowed by federally funded private and charter schools.

DeVos repeated several times that federally funded schools must abide by federal law. But, as Merkley tried to point out, that assurance does not provide much insight into the administration’s policy on that question. Below is one clip from that conversation.

You can watch the entire hearing here.