Warren promises to pick public school teacher as education secretary in response to 'terrible' DeVos

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2020 presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.): What to know

What to know about 2020 presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), including the major issues she advocates and what issue she may still need to overcome.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., made a surprise promise regarding her potential cabinet on Monday, in the midst of a tirade against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Warren blasted DeVos for her history of being in favor of for-profit colleges and lack of teaching experience. In contrast, Warren guaranteed that, if she wins in 2020, she will only consider hiring someone with public school teaching experience.

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"She doesn't really believe in public education," Warren said about DeVos in a video message posted in a Twitter thread targeting DeVos. "So here's what I promise: in a Warren administration, we'll have a Secretary of Education who is committed to public education. In fact, I'll double down on that. I will only appoint for Secretary of Education someone who has been a public school teacher."

Warren's remarks included a number of angry statements about DeVos, calling her "a terrible Secretary of Education" and "a symptom of a badly broken system." Under the current system, she said, "America's teachers are being crushed" by low budgets and salaries, as well as their own student debt. She said hiring someone with public school experience would be part of a necessary "big structural change."

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The Democratic senator added, "we need to make it easier to join a union," saying that would give them negotiating power that would be "good for making sure we put the resources we need directly into our schools."