(CNN)Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sharply criticized opponents of school choice on Monday, calling them "flat Earthers" who have "chilled creativity" and held American students back.

DeVos provided no details of the administration's plans to promote school choice, an expansive term that includes expanding access to and promoting less-traditional education options, like charter schools or voucher systems. But she did say states that resist school choice innovations would be making a "terrible mistake."

"They will be hurting the children and families who can least afford it. If politicians in a state block education choice, it means those politicians do not support equal opportunity for all kids," DeVos said.

She told attendees at a pro-school choice conference in Indianapolis that it is important to provide not only options in education, but also "the widest number of quality options."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A senior at Hickory Ridge High School worries her college future is in jeopardy, and it's all stemming from a shirt she wore.

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Summer did not have a jacket, but a friend offered to loan her one.

"I pulled it up, put the jacket over it, zipped up the jacket," Summer says.

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Summer says neither she nor the principal was able to reach her mother. The period ended and Summer accompanied dozens of her friends to the auditorium. Shortly after, she says the principal entered the room and ordered everyone to leave except for Summer.

&quot The SRO) was within five feet of me, he had his hand on his gun. [The principal] said 'I'm gonna give you an ultimatum. We have tried to call your mother. You either come with me to the control room to change your shirt or we will arrest you."

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"It's just sad because I worked so hard for four years to walk across that stage," she says. "We have drug dealers walking across that stage, we have sex offenders walking across that stage and then the 4.4 student who showed her shoulders can't."

The senior is an honor roll student with a 4.4 GPA. She has a full scholarship to a major university. The official cause for suspension according to the letter sent home was "insubordination".

When four-year-old Madison turned reading time into an inquisition about why she was Chinese, unlike the characters in her favorite books, Madison's father knew something had to change.

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"I created the character Pepper Zhang because when Madison was a little over two and a half, I couldn't find any interesting, illustrated children's books that featured an Asian child as a main character or hero of the story," Zhang said in a Kickstarter video, explaining that many of the books he did find focused specifically on cultural experiences.

"I was really looking for books that followed just the story of a really cool and awesome child that happened to be Asian without the story completely being focused about the fact that she was Asian," he said. Zhang partnered with illustrator Trisha Hautea to produce the hardcover book.

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"While it's important for children to learn about their cultures through books," Zhang wrote on the crowdfunding page, "it's equally important for Asian children to see themselves represented in books as interesting and smart individuals rather than just products of their cultures."

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But now Whedon is tackling a real-life threat that could endanger millions of Americans. On Wednesday, he debuted a short film illustrating what might happen if Planned Parenthood shutters clinics across the country.

It would sound far-fetched if the House hadn't recently passed a healthcare bill that proposes revoking Planned Parenthood's federal funding for one year. If that provision becomes law, it would mean low-income women couldn't use Medicaid to access routine services from Planned Parenthood — and it would be a devastating financial blow to the nonprofit health care provider.

Whedon's three-minute film imagines what women's lives, and their families' lives, would look like without access to birth control, cancer and STD screenings, and sex education. While the fictional storylines can be confusing as they follow the fate of three women, the bottom line is that the future is pretty damn bleak. Research shows that's not an exaggeration.

Whedon didn't hold back in a statement about the project: "For so many, there’s an obvious tipping point between hope and despair," he said. "Planned Parenthood is a beacon of hope, and anyone trying to shut it down is committing an act of evil."