NPE furious that DeVos was approved: Campaign to thwart privatization efforts begins
The Network for Public Education furious over the approval of Betsy DeVos. Begins campaign to thwart any attempts to privatize schools.
The Network for Public Education (NPE) announced its campaign to oppose any attempts by the newly appointed Secretary of Education to privatize public education. In a letter to its 316,000 members, NPE vowed to continue the fight against the DeVos agenda at both the state and national level.
“Betsy DeVos put a spotlight on the ongoing threat to our democratically governed, community public schools. Public school advocates across the nation spoke out. Our campaign against DeVos generated over 600,000 emails and thousands of phone calls and letters to the Senate. Americans do not want an unregulated, privatized school system paid for by American taxpayers. They do not want public school funds taken from their neighborhood schools for profiteers, charters and vouchers. That is what DeVos represents,” said NPE Executive Director, Carol Burris.
NPE President, Diane Ravitch, believes the De Vos family’s massive political donations were the driving factor behind her Senate approval. “We are disappointed but not surprised that Betsy DeVos was approved, despite the fact that she is completely unqualified for the job by experience or knowledge or any other criteria. As she has acknowledged, she and her family have given millions of dollars to the Republican party, including to members of the senate that just approved her. We weep for the children of America, knowing that this woman will launch an assault on their community public schools, as she did in Michigan. Since her choice theology was implemented in Michigan, that state’s rankings on national tests have plummeted, and Detroit–now flooded with charters–remains the lowest performing urban district on national tests. We will continue to fight her agenda of school privatization as it moves forward.“
The Network for Public Education will expand its Grassroots Network, and will roll out reports, advisories and toolkits to help policymakers and parents better understand the dangers of school privatization. In the months ahead, NPE will lead both state and national campaigns.
“When it comes to fighting for adequately funded, democratically-governed public schools, we make ‘no excuses’.” Our neighborhood schools made our country great. We will not allow them to be destroyed,” Burris said.
About the Network for Public Education
The Network for Public Education (NPE) was founded in 2013 by Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody. We are an advocacy group whose mission is to protect, preserve, promote, and strengthen public schools for both current and future generations of students. NPE has over 300,000 supporting members nationwide. For more information, please visit: networkforpubliceducation.org.
For Immediate Release: February 7, 2017
Media Contact: Carol Burris 718-577-3276
