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For
Immediate Release
Jan. 31, 2017 |
Contact:
Janet Bass 301-502-5222 jbass@aft.org www.aft.org |
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AFT on Committee Vote to Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary |
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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
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