Jesse Hagopian has written a letter to Betsy DeVos, who will be in Seattle tomorrow:
It starts like this:
Dear Betsy DeVos,
My name is Jesse Hagopian and I teach ethnic studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. I hope you didn’t just stop reading this letter after you heard the subject I am teaching—I urge you to keep reading.
I am writing in regards to the Washington Policy Center’s $350-a-person fundraising dinner you will be addressing on October 13 at the Hyatt Regency in the nearby city of Bellevue. Thousands of my colleagues and I will surround the building to make sure the world knows your message of division is not welcome here.
Given the recent protests of your speeches at Harvard, at historically black Bethune-Cookman University, and many other places, you must be getting used to this by now. But just so there are no surprises, let me tell you what to expect.
There will be bull horns, signs, speeches, and I bet some of the more creative teachers—perhaps the few art teachers your proposed budget hasn’t cut yet—will show up in grizzly bear costumes, referencing the asinine comment you made defending the use of guns in schools to “protect from potential grizzlies.”
There will be students there questioning your qualifications to serve as Secretary of Education, given that they have more experience with the public schools than you. They might point out that you never attended public schools and neither did any of your four children.
There will be black people and civil rights organizations because you refused to say if the federal government would bar funding for private schools that discriminate. These anti-racist activists will protest your claim that Historically Black Colleges and Universities are “pioneers of school choice” as a way to promote privatizing public education—as if the segregation that forced African Americans to start their own colleges was a magnificent choice.
There will be feminists protesting your outrageous dismantling of title IX protections aimed at reducing sexual assault on campuses. Your decision to meet with sexist so-called “men’s rights” groups to decide on your approach to Title IX policy shows just how little regard you have for protecting victims of sexual assault. As Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said recently, “She’s meeting with groups and individuals today who believe that sexual assault is some sort of feminist plot to hurt men.”
There will be transgender people and others in the LGBTQ community protesting your decision, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to pull back public school guidelines allowing transgender students to use bathrooms for the gender they identify with. And while you have stated you don’t support gay conversation therapy, according to the Washington Post, you served from 2001 to 2013 as vice president of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation (founded by your mother) which donated to anti-LGBTQ groups that do.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Magnificent letter. Loaded with truth.
LikeLike
Standing ovation!
LikeLike
Yay! Kudos to Jesse!
LikeLike
This is what she’s spent close to a year working on:
“In his first address to a joint session of Congress on February 28, 2017, the President underscored the importance of educational choice and providing families with access to quality Start Printed Page 47485educational options, noting that families should be free to choose the school that is right for their children. Likewise, the Secretary believes that every child, regardless of his or her ZIP code or family income, should have access to a high-quality education. A family should have the chance to select the educational path that best meets a child’s needs, regardless of where or how instruction is delivered. The Department is committed to improving access to high-quality preschool through 12th grade (P-12) and postsecondary educational options, offering meaningful choices for families, and providing families with the information and tools they need to make these important decisions.
In 2012, approximately 78 percent of kindergarten through 12th grade students attended the public school to which they were geographically assigned, about 14 percent attended a public school of their choice, and almost nine percent attended a private school.[1] In addition, among all children ages 5-17, approximately three percent were homeschooled in 2012.[2] Satisfaction levels are the highest among private school parents, with more than 80 percent of parents saying they were “very satisfied” with their children’s school. Parents of children at public charter schools and public schools of choice also showed levels of satisfaction that were significantly higher than parents at geographically assigned district schools.[3]
Boo, hiss, public schools are terrible! Charter schools and private schools are better!
The best part is the “78%”- that’s 78% of families she rejects. The vast majority. No federal support for you, public school families!
She does 22% of her job.
LikeLike
I bet you can add to 78% more than half of that 14% attending “a public school of their choice”, as most of them would be part of a magnet or other regional program allowing students to choose a public school outside their immediate geographic zone. Those “school choice” set-ups are coordinated/ run/ voted on locally/ regionally, as opposed to charter/ voucher systems imposed on locals by tainted state actors. Even giving charter enrollment [& the miniscule number of voucher attendees] a generous over-estimate of 6%, that’s another 8% for “our side”, = 86%.
She does 14% of her job.
LikeLike
I go through Grand Rapids Michigan quite a bit- the DeVos family own the place.
You really get a sense for her “vision” in the city she owns- there are billboards and ads for private schools and charter schools galore, but it’s as if the public schools don’t exist.
Nary a mention. They’ve been disappeared. CLEARLY not a top priority. Sort of an invisible “backup” to the preferred schools.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome to our new “great” America where we now not only disappear our nation’s experienced teachers, but our actual public schools.
LikeLike
Patty Murray (Senator, Washington) suggests:
Yesterday we told you about U.S. Secretary of Education Bety DeVos’s first visit to Washington state, and asked for your help in sending a message to her: public education matters.
Her big speech at a “free-market think tank” that has a history of attacking teachers and public schools is happening tomorrow night, which gives us time to keep raising our voices and let her know that the people of Washington state and the rest of the country demand high-quality public education and a safe learning environment for each of our students — no matter where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make.
Already, hundreds of you took to Twitter to share our hashtag #FlunkDeVos and tell Secretary DeVos why public schools matter to us:
Let’s get our message trending on Twitter ahead of her speech tomorrow and make it clear to Secretary DeVos: families in Washington state and across the U.S. want public education that works for every student.
LikeLike
Senator Murray may be the single-most important legislator behind ESSA, the greatest opportunity we had to end the dominance of testing in education. She may be unwitting, but she’s a huge part of this bipartisan problem, imo.
But glad she’s speaking out now.
LikeLike
“The leading Democrats on K-12 issues in Congress are not happy that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to make school choice a top priority when it comes to doling out federal grant money on a competitive basis.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., say that the move would help DeVos further “privatization” of public schools, without congressional approval.”
They’re referring to the “priorities” DeVos listed- charters and vouchers are the top priorities for federal grants.
This of course excludes +/- 80% of families, which they know at the US Department of Education because contained within their “priority” list is their own information that 78% of US students attend public schools.
Public schools need not apply for federal grants- not a priority in DC.
LikeLike
Brilliant letter.
The crowd should add to the protest that their health insurance costs, coverage of pre-existing conditions, and care for the most vulnerable children were just blown up by the president today.
Blame victims.
Convince people the press is bogus.
under-educate and under-fund those already in poverty
redraw congressional districts
Help the rich get richer – – education tax credits for corporate and family write-offs, decrease corporate and 1% taxpayers which decimates public services, vouchers for the wealthy,
LikeLike
You go Jesse Hagopian!
LikeLike
I love how they go to public schools and use the visits to promote charter and private schools.
Stop using our schools to push the “choice” agenda. It’s REALLY cynical and so clearly a strategy devised by political operatives.
There’s all this fretting over the fact that everyone hates politicians but why doesn’t anyone ask whether politicians EARN this disdain? People are tired of being used and manipulated by overpaid political hacks. This isn’t “policy”- it’s sales and marketing.
LikeLike
Chiara What better example do we need that presently privatization is a predatory movement. It’s become a parasite on all things public. Does Congress work for businesses, oligarchs, and their profit margins FIRST, and the public SECOND or, when in conflict, not at all?
LikeLike
If people are watching the chaos in Obamacare they should think about privatizing public schools.
The President just killed that market with an executive order.
Obamacare is a government-subsidized private contractor system, which is EXACTLY what ed reformers want to do to K-12 education.
It’s easy to sabotage and if they’d do it to your health care they’ll do it to your education subsidy. Those “backpack vouchers” they’re all pushing mean the end of stability and reliability in K-12 education. All you need is a reckless President or governor and you’re screwed.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
LikeLike
That’s what is needed: organized resistance at every stop of her tour. DeVos needs to feel the heat, and the legislature needs to understand that showing partiality to privatization will no longer go unnoticed. Their unpopular privatization game has been exposed.
LikeLike
Will there be some kind of actual analysis of whether the DeVos ed dept knocks public schools out of the running for federal grants?
I’m not supposed to just trust these people, am I? Is there an oversight section that isn’t crammed with political appointees and ideologues?
It hardly seems fair to exclude 78% of families from the federal grants they paid for.
LikeLike
Great letter! I hope your peaceful protest is heard loud and clear!
LikeLike
I agree. Key points are made for all who are opposed tot the Trump/Devos/ billionaire agenda.
LikeLike
Jesse is such an amazing advocate for students – so articulate! I had the pleasure and privilege of hearing him speak last year as part of the NM Opt Out group – such an inspiration to us all. And we can’t wait for Diane and Jesse’s visit to Santa Fe in the spring as part of the Lannan Foundation Series!!
LikeLike
Me too!
LikeLike
Would love to buy you and Jesse a glass of wine or a cocktail of your choice while you are in my home town!!
LikeLike
Margarita, please! No salt.
LikeLike
You got it! Seconds are on me too – I’ll be the designated driver. Smile…
LikeLike
This was a very well thought out letter that addresses many of the concerns that teachers have with Betsy DeVos. As an African American male teacher that works in the inner city of St. Louis, Betsy DeVos as the decision maker for my students is a very scary realization. For those that are not familiar with housing in St. Louis, it is important to understand that there areas of the city that are still very racially divided. With that said I would explore the idea that “Historically Black Colleges and Universities are pioneers of school choice”. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were not pioneer’s of school choice, those students had no choice on which Universities that they attended. Much like my current students, these school suffer from a lack of funding and resources. With the plans that Betsy DeVos has developed its seems that she has no concern or consideration with trying to decrease the achievement gap between families in poverty and upper class families.
LikeLike