AFT on Committee Vote to Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

For Immediate Release Jan. 31, 2017

Contact: Janet Bass 301-502-5222 jbass@aft.org www.aft.org

AFT on Committee Vote to Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as U.S. education secretary:   “Along a party-line vote, the Senate HELP Committee moved forward the nomination of a person who has shown great hostility toward public schools, which educate 90 percent of our children. DeVos’ lack of experience, combined with her ideological zeal to put profits over children, has led to millions of Americans across the country—regardless of party affiliation—to ask their Senators to reject her nomination to become the nation’s education secretary. It is deeply troubling that the Republicans on the committee would move her nomination forward following a hearing that exposed her lack of qualifications and her troubling record. So many questions have been left unanswered about her views on our schools and how she will protect our most vulnerable students, and so many possible conflicts of interest are left unaddressed. “We hope the full Senate has a full airing of all these issues. Even Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted for her in committee, expressed reservations and the need for a full debate. Make no mistake: With this nomination, President Trump tried to reignite the education wars, using the aspirations of parents for their children to try to pit parents against their children’s teachers. It backfired. Millions of Americans across the country strongly believe in public education and have stood up to defend it. That’s why hundreds of groups and legislators have pleaded with Congress not to confirm DeVos, and why tens of thousands of Americans have jammed the Senate hotlines urging their senators to reject the nomination. “The senators who voted for DeVos today did so against that backdrop—seemingly forgetting the bipartisan consensus on education reached through the Every Student Succeeds Act. Those who voted to oppose her stood up for our kids, the educators who teach them, and our public schools. “If DeVos is confirmed by the full Senate, AFT members and those we serve will not be deterred from pursuing powerful, purposeful public education for all our children, and from ensuring that all parents have a safe and welcoming neighborhood public school as a viable choice for their children—a school that promotes children’s well-being and joy, supports powerful learning, provides parents and teachers voice, fosters cultures of collaboration, and provides the tools, resources and investments to accomplish this. “We will meet this ideological hostility toward public education by being fierce fighters for equity and excellence; for opportunity, democracy, tolerance and inclusivity; and for the tools educators and parents need to advocate for kids.” Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten ###