Leaders of the Badass Teachers Association met in DC with the education staff of Senator Sanders (VT) and Senator Hassan NH).
They spoke for all of us who care about children and fighting back against privatization and standardization.
Please read the summary of their meeting.
Thank you, BATS!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
BATs have a lot of talent, savvy, and energy. Good to see them doing important on-the-ground work.
The meeting was a great opportunity for our nation! It’s unlike the Gates-funded Aspen, Senior Congressional Education Staff Network, which creates a “safe space” away from democracy?
I just read a summary of this Politico post. It should be widely circulated to stop the placement of bigots in the US Department of Education and to remove these people ASAP.
Begin quote:
TRUMP EDUCATION APPOINTEES UNDER FIRE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: Several of President Trump’s hires at the Education Department have used Twitter and Facebook to share their unfiltered opinions about African-Americans, transgender people and “fat chicks,” a POLITICO review of their social media accounts revealed.
Derrick Bolen, a former Trump campaign staffer, once tweeted: “Walking to class and this black girl goes shout out to all my n—– #ImWhite.”
Teresa UnRue, a former field organizer for the Trump campaign, shared a video on Facebook of an African-American man eating fried chicken and wondering aloud why other African-Americans are mad about slavery when “Y’all weren’t no damn slaves.” (UnRue’s name has already vanished from an updated list of political appointees at the Education Department.)
A third hire, former campaign worker Kevin Eck, tweeted about an all-black cast for “The Wiz Live!” on NBC. “There sure would be quite an uproar if it was an all-white cast.” He later tweeted an apology and made his Twitter bio repeat that apology, saying: “I am now informed.”
The social media histories of these hires have prompted questions about how thoroughly the Trump administration is vetting political appointees as it races to stand up a new government.
Jason Botel, Trump’s new senior White House adviser for education, said that Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos “is working with the White House to address issues that were brought to her attention involving social media posts and other behavior that is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by her or President Trump.” Botel said that DeVos, if confirmed, would “take expedient action to discipline any employees who are engaged in inappropriate and unacceptable activities.”
There is more here from Politico. I think Politico’s headline is a case of putting “lipstick on the pig” of outright bigotry.
“Several Trump appointees shared unflattering views of minorities, women on social media”
This is not empty chitchat about matters of fashion or appearances. These are ugly hardcore expressions of prejudice.
More here
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-appointees-minorities-women-234315
What a disgusting basket of deplorables!
Many thanks to BATS for reaching out to members of Congress. Parent groups, education and social justice groups should all do the same and request a face to face meeting with representatives or a member of their team. We need to put elected representatives on notice that concerned citizens are watching closely. These policymakers need to understand that most families want strong neighborhood, public schools, and they need to understand the destructive impact of privatization on public schools and classified students.
I hope it was productive. But, having a child enrolled in a NH middle school, Hassan has been in support of mandatory standardized testing practices in her state. We have opted out of these tests amidst much push back from the Superintendent if schools. The fight goes on…
Thanks to the BATS for taking direct action! Any response from the Senators?
Sereia – we are hoping to get them to hold legislative hearings on public education. We are working on that for now and we will only invite the experts NOT the corporate reformers. We will keep everyone updated –
~Marla Kilfoyle, Executive Director BATs