The following press release was sent to radio stations, TV stations, and print media by the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Ravitch is author of many books, including Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools and The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. She is a research professor of education at New York University and served as Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to the Secretary of Education from 1991-1993 under the George H. W. Bush administration. She now blogs at dianeravitch.net.
She said today: “Betsy DeVos should not be approved by the Senate committee or confirmed by the Senate as U.S. Secretary of Education. She has no experience or qualifications for the job. She is a lobbyist for alternatives to public schools. Eighty-five percent of the students in the U.S. attend public schools. Her only plan is to weaken and destroy them by diverting public money to charter schools and vouchers for religious schools.
“DeVos is a billionaire who has never worked in a public school, never attended a public school, never sent her own children to public school. She has lived in a billionaire bubble of privilege. She has no understanding of the needs of our nation’s public schools, and she is in fact actively hostile to them. This is unacceptable. She is unacceptable.
“Our public schools are one of the cornerstones of our democracy. We have never had a Secretary of Education who was opposed to public schools. We should never have one.”
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
January 9, 2017
Institute for Public Accuracy
980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
Gang Busters. Hope the statement goes far and wide and makes a difference.
Diane, you ROCK!!!!!
Thank you so much for all you are doing and have done for our children.
Brava!
YES! I already put up something like that at Oped News. Glad to see you putting your credentials forth… no let’s see if annoys those creatures inourlegilature listen.
They are poised to confirm ALL his choices, even though the voting process in incomplete…these charlatans that would not confirm Garland, evenas the CONSTITUTION DEMANDS a judge be put on the court!
Congratulations!
Ryan Collay Director Education by Design Former SMILE director OSU
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Bravo Diane: I still don’t understand, however, how Congresspeople who have received money from DeVos can sit on her confirmation committee. That’s a real head-banger. But again, that post makes me feel like “we” are not so helpless as I feel sometimes.
What’s refreshing about DeVos is, she doesn’t pretend to have any interest in “improving public schools”:
“And that’s just in recent years. Over her three decades in education, Betsy DeVos has worked to build bi-partisan support for Michigan’s education policies, including school choice, charters, inter-district public school choice, public online programs, K–3 reading expectations, higher standards, and more.”
In other words she hasn’t done a thing for public schools other than put in unfunded mandates.
Is anyone ever planning on asking her how she “improved public schools”?
That was the original claim of ed reform. They told the public they would “improve” public schools. It’s only now that they admit to wanting to privatize all of them.
Is it ethical to tell voters you’ll “improve public schools” when the real goal is to eradicate them? I don’t think so. Why not just run on privatization? Afraid it will be unpopular?
I really hope the thousands of public employees in DC don’t spend the next 4 years trashing public schools in order to promote charters and vouchers.
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure the public isn’t paying them for privatization marketing efforts.
Are public schools even welcome in DC anymore? If not, can we get our federal tax dollars back?
Kudos and many thanks to Diane for all your efforts to preserve the public schools and our public school system.
“We have never had a Secretary of Education who was opposed to public schools.”
I think that is way too generous.
I can think of no Secretary of Education in recent memory who has not worked to undermine public confidence in our public schools, both policy-wise and with their rhetoric and fear-mongering. All I mention below have misled the American public and done harm to public education.
Arne Duncan. Margaret Spellings. Rod Paige. William Bennett.
YEP!
Tauna,
My wording was carefully chosen. Other secretaries of education supported choice but were not actively hostile to public schools.
Now let’s see what the media does with the press release…
Looks like 18 states are ready to eradicate public schools:
emma brown @emmersbrown 5h5 hours ago
Governors of 18 states (and Guam and N. Mariana Islands) voice support for Betsy DeVos, calling her an “inspired choice” to lead the Ed Dpt.
Shame no one told the kids in these states who attend public schools that their schools were no longer fashionable and would be wound down to make room for a new system.
Oh, well. All “revolutions” have collateral damage. I;m sure the new system will be super-awesome once it’s up and running.
Got your investments in do ya!
Terrific press release, Diane. Thank you for ALWAYS speaking up for students, public schools, and teachers.
Threatened Out West,
Huffington Post is interested in posting your letter about Streep but they need your real name. If you are willing, contact me offline or let me know how to contact you.
I’d love to have it out there. But I have to get permission from my district in order to publish anything, and probably the state if it goes out with something as big as Huffington Post. Otherwise, I would lose my job.
DIane: Where do I go to contact you via email?
Very well stated, Diane. You make a powerful argument. You remembered to give each committee member a contribution of no less than a quarter of a million dollars so you can pay to play, didn’t you? Facts and reason are lost on legislators.
I hope that all educational authorities in higher education, and all teachers will support Dr. Ravitch’s declaration.
Time is now, and the sooner is the better to take an action in order to save American famous democracy = American Public Education.
It will be much more difficult to gain momentum whenever unqualified officials abuse their “CORRUPTED” power AFTER January 20, 2017. Back2basic
We have reached that crucial political moment where we must push those who sit in government offices (salaries paid through OUR taxes) to SAY that they support public education; their elections/reelections must start to count upon it.