Protest marks public school visit by new education secretary

WASHINGTON (AP) — Angry activists shouted "stand up, fight back" and one protester was arrested, as Betsy Devos made her first visit to a public school today as education secretary.

Several dozen protesters, some with small children, gathered at Jefferson Middle School, a predominantly African-American school in the nation's capital. At one point, when DeVos tried to enter the school, two protesters blocked her path, forcing her to return to her car. D.C. police said one man was detained for assaulting a police officer.

DeVos eventually made it inside the school, in a visit that was designed to help her mend fences with teachers and parents across the country following a contentious confirmation battle.

DeVos praised the school for its hard work and innovative approaches to teaching and vowed to strengthen public education. But she also had some tough words for the protesters.

"I respect peaceful protest, and I will not be deterred in executing the vital mission of the Department of Education," DeVos said in a statement. "No school door in America will be blocked from those seeking to help our nation's school children."

DeVos, 59, is a billionaire Republican donor who spent more than two decades promoting charter schools and school voucher programs in her home state of Michigan and other states. She faced fierce opposition during the confirmation process from teachers unions who fear that she intends to defund traditional public schools.