PBS高端访谈:特朗普提名德沃斯担任下一任美国教育部部长

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: A deeper look now into one of president-elect Trump¹'s key Cabinet picks today, and again to John Yang.

　　JOHN YANG: One of those choices that immediately drew a lot of attention was his pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos. It sends a number of signals about what Mr. Trump intends to do with his education policy, but it also raises some questions.

　　Alyson Klein of Education Week joins me now to talk about this.

　　Alyson, thanks for coming.

　　Betsy DeVos, not necessarily well-known nationwide. Who is she and what does she say or what does her — the pick say about a Trump administration on education?

　　ALYSON KLEIN, Education Week: So, on the campaign trail, Trump didn't talk much about cases — about policy, but, when he did, he talked about school choice.

　　And Betsy DeVos is a longtime school choice advocate. So we can expect that this administration is going to make good on its promise to make school choice a huge priority.

　　JOHN YANG: What can the federal government do on school choice?

　　ALYSON KLEIN: So, that's a great question.

　　On the campaign trail, Donald Trump proposed taking $20 billion in federal funding, which is almost a third of the U.S. Department of Education's budget, and using that for a school choice program.

　　It's unclear if a proposal like that could actually pass Congress. Senator Lamar Alexander, who will actually preside over Betsy DeVos' confirmation² hearing, put forth³ a similar proposal last year and it just didn't get the votes to clear procedural hurdles⁴. So it's unclear if they will be able to do their grand vision on school choice.

　　But certainly having somebody like Betsy DeVos talking about school choice from the bully⁵ pulpit of the Department of Education could really give some lift to the issue in states and districts.

　　JOHN YANG: Another thing that Mr. Trump spoke⁶ a lot about on the campaign trail was Common Core. He is against it. He doesn't like it. What do we know about Betsy DeVos' position on Common Core?

　　ALYSON KLEIN: Well, she's clarified her position on Common Core today, saying that she thinks it's a federal boondoggle.

　　She's also said that she's in favor of accountability and local control. Some school choice advocates had actually been worried that DeVos was a Common Core supporter because she's on the board of Governor Jeb Bush's organization, and obviously Governor Bush is quite a supporter of Common Core.

　　But she made it clear today that she stands with Mr. Trump in opposing the standards.

　　JOHN YANG: How does she compare, her background compare? She was a philanthropist. She was a chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. How does her background and her experience compare with previous education secretaries?

　　特朗普提名德沃斯担任下一任美国教育部部长

　　ALYSON KLEIN: It's unusual background.

　　We have never that I can think of really had an advocate at the helm of the department. Our last couple education secretaries, Secretary John King, who is in the post now, Arne Duncan, Obama's first education secretary, had both worked in school districts, had been — John King was the state chief in New York. Arne Duncan was a school superintendent⁷ in Chicago.

　　Other education secretaries, like Lamar Alexander, actually, have been governors. So it's unusual to have somebody who has primarily been an advocate.

　　JOHN YANG: She's never worked in public education. She's never run a big bureaucracy or a big organization. Is that what you're saying?

　　ALYSON KLEIN: Yes, that's correct.

　　JOHN YANG: What's been the reaction to her being named as his nominee⁸?

　　ALYSON KLEIN: Depends on who you ask.

　　School choice advocates are really excited to have one of their own, one of their champions headed to the Department of Education. Teachers unions are really unhappy with the pick. They picked up on what you picked up on, that she doesn't have a background in a school district.

　　And they are also opposed to this idea of vouchers¹⁰, which they say siphon off money for public schools.

　　JOHN YANG: And that's been an issue for some time now in public education.

　　ALYSON KLEIN: Yes, absolutely.

　　The idea of creating a federal school choice program has been something that Republicans have wanted to do for a really long time. The closest they have come is a voucher⁹ program for the District of Columbia. But with DeVos in the Education Department, they may really be able to that vision further.

　　JOHN YANG: Any sense will she have any trouble getting confirmed, do you think?

　　ALYSON KLEIN: I would expect not.

　　Senator Alexander put out a very supportive statement on her confirmation today. She's certainly donated to a lot of Republicans. And so they may really look upon her appointment favorably.

　　JOHN YANG: Alyson Klein helping¹¹ us understand who Betsy DeVos is, thanks so much for coming in.

　　ALYSON KLEIN: Thanks for having me.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

5 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

10 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。