Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVosNEA president says Azar and DeVos should resign over school reopening guidance The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - You might want to download TikTok now Former DeVos chief of staff joins anti-Trump group MORE said on Wednesday she regrets not being more forceful in her condemnation of the impact racism has on education in the United States.

She "should have decried much more forcefully the ravages of racism in this country," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Controversy surrounds President Trump's education chief over her comments in February calling historically black colleges and universities "real pioneers when it comes to school choice."

On Wednesday, DeVos acknowledged that in the past "racism was rampant and there were no choices" for African-Americans to pursue higher education.

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DeVos also told the AP that she has advocated on behalf of minority children for decades.

DeVos's previous assertion that historically black colleges and universities marked an early example of providing school choice drew widespread backlash from African-Americans, who noted that such colleges and universities — known as HBCUs — were established because African-Americans were not welcomed at other institutions.

DeVos was booed in May while delivering a commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University, an HBCU in Florida.