President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet is under the Senate's scrutiny this week as the confirmation hearing takes place. Apart from Betsy DeVos, who has been nominated as head of the Departmet of Education, a few other nominees are likely to affect the education sector as well.
Who are these cabinet nominees, what are their roles and why will they impact education? The Atlantic picks out five important names.
Top on the list is Jeff Sessions, who has been nominated as U.S. Attorney General. His appointment could impact the Education department because of his stance against special needs education and the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Sessions also expressed objections to some policies under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protects the rights and opportunities of undocumented immigrant students in the U.S.
Tom Price, who is nominated for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will handle issues and policies of the Administration for Children and Families, Head Start (early childhood education) and Children's Bureau (foster care and adoption). It is believed that he has a conservative stance against welfare that could affect the funding of some of these organizations.
The nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will oversee the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). The agency provides study grants and education improvements for Native Americans.
Rex Tillerson, the nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, is for Common Core, according to The Washington Post. Trump, DeVos and Zinke are reportedly for removing this. It's still unclear, however, how much influence will Tillerson have over this in the cabinet meetings.
If the dynamics from the previous administration would be the gauge, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development nominee Ben Carson will be expected to work closer with Education's DeVos. Issues on housing impact families that then affects the needs of the children, including education.
ABC reports that the confirmation hearings of Trump's cabinet nominees will end on Jan. 20. The results, however, could come even after the new president takes office in the White House.
