QOTD

Karen Carter Peterson:

The Louisiana Senate is urging new federal Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to tour the state's public schools.

A resolution asking her to visit passed 24-0 Thursday (Feb. 16). Fifteen members of the state Senate were absent.

DeVos has raised unprecedented opposition on the left and center, in part, as a result of her limited experience in traditional education and emphasis on providing private school vouchers to students in sub-par public schools. U.S. Senate Democrats opposed her nomination across the board, joined by two Republicans. Her first visit to a public school was met by protests.

State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, head of the Louisiana Democratic Party, was wary of the resolution. She asked, acerbically, "Is it commending her for all the great work that she might have done that I'm not aware of?"