Though Democrats probed where she stands on President Donald Trump鈥檚 plan to shutter the department, the former Tennessee education commissioner appeared to answer questions to their satisfaction. 

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire homed in on the administration鈥檚 move to end grants to train and hire K-12 school mental health professionals 鈥� part of a that passed with bipartisan support. 

鈥淒o you think that what the department did helps or hurts the communities that were counting on the funding that they were promised?鈥� she asked. 鈥淚f confirmed, do you commit to reigning in the chaos and operational failures that we are seeing at the department?鈥� 

Schwinn said the department will open a new competition for those grants and promised to 鈥渉ave an efficient, effective and outcomes-oriented department.鈥�

She voiced support for Trump鈥檚 ultimate goal to eliminate the department and repeatedly said states and local communities are in the best position to make decisions about education. As a charter school founder who served in the Delaware and Texas education agencies before leading Tennessee鈥檚 for four years, Schwinn has a reputation for working . She pushed for and using pandemic relief funds to implement a statewide tutoring program. A vote on her confirmation is expected in the coming days.

鈥淲hat we need to do is ensure that we’ve created a system that is going to drive outcomes,鈥� she told GOP Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana. 鈥淭hat is not going to happen from the federal government, whether there’s a Department of Education or not.鈥�

At the same time, Schwinn implied that there is a role for the department in ensuring states intervene in their lowest-performing schools. 

鈥淭here must be a commitment to ensuring that our most struggling schools improve because our students deserve that,鈥� she said.  

A from the Government Accountability Office found that less than half of states are meeting those requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Schwinn鈥檚 tenure in Tennessee, for example, included overseeing a state turnaround effort known as the Achievement School District. Considering it a failure, the state legislature and will try another approach. 

鈥淭here’s real tension there,鈥� Thomas Toch, director of FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University, told 社区黑料. 鈥淲ill the Trump administration make a meaningful commitment to school improvement? Or will [Education Secretary Linda] McMahon and her team dodge that responsibility in the name of local control?鈥�

Some observers have called Schwinn a smart pick for her focus on and her attempts to avoid some of the more divisive culture war debates of the post-pandemic era. But to others she has a troubled track record that includes contracts with vendors that gave the of interest. On Wednesday, 社区黑料 reported that after Trump nominated her, she registered a new business in Florida with a longtime colleague. While the venture was ultimately dissolved, Schwinn鈥檚 sister replaced her as a manager a few weeks before the nominee submitted her financial disclosure documents. 

Some parent groups have vehemently opposed her nomination, viewing her as more left-leaning than most Trump nominees. 

鈥淚t amazes me that President Trump would consider Penny Schwinn conservative,鈥� said Tiffany Boyd, a homeschool advocate who opposed Schwinn鈥檚 plan to conduct well-being checks on students during the pandemic. Schwinn nixed the idea after strong backlash. Boyd also cited a that focused, in part, on attracting more teachers of color 鈥� efforts that the department now says push 鈥渋llegal diversity, equity and inclusion.鈥�

But none of that surfaced during the hearing. Even Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who has the 鈥渓eft鈥檚 indoctrination of students,鈥� opted to skip direct questions to Schwinn and said he would submit them in writing. 

The committee interviewed Schwinn as part of a panel, along with Kimberly Richey, Trump鈥檚 choice to lead the Office for Civil Rights, and two Department of Labor nominees. In that format, the senators focused on issues most important to them 鈥� for example, Chairman Bill Cassidy emphasized better serving students with dyslexia.

鈥淎s the Department of Education streamlines educational funding, how can we ensure that resources are there to identify and address an issue, specifically speaking of dyslexia?鈥� he asked.

Schwinn touted Tennessee鈥檚 move to include 鈥渃haracteristics of dyslexia鈥� as a disability category in its state education funding formula and ramp up screening of students鈥� early reading skills. The federal government, she said, could do a better job of guiding states on this issue and sharing lessons from states that have posted the greatest gains in literacy, like and Louisiana.

Some advocates are eager to have an educator who prioritized reading instruction at the department. 

鈥淲e love her track record of improving student outcomes in Tennessee and talking a bit more technically about literacy and the science of reading 鈥� which we think having leadership on the federal level around is going to be key,鈥� said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Foundation. 

But she stressed that it was , now at risk under the Trump administration, that informed those improvements.

鈥淭he research and the funding for all these 鈥榮tate miracles,鈥� 鈥� she said, 鈥渃ome from regional and federal efforts 鈥� which I think a lot of folks are forgetting.鈥�