Why we are wearing red in protest of the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education:

We are public school educators.

We believe in all of our children.

We believe that each one of them can learn, can achieve, and will succeed.

We believe that each one of them can do those things here, in her town’s public schools, where her parents’ tax dollars are meant to go.

We believe that if Betsy DeVos is nominated, those tax dollars may go elsewhere, and so will many of our students, whose parents will believe in the myth of the bright shiny object called “choice.”

We have done the research.  We know that there is no evidence that charter schools or private schools will provide better results, better access, or more importantly, a better education than the public schools where we teach.

We understand that not every school is equal.  But we also know that Betsy DeVos will not make them more so.

The Detroit Free Press called Betsy Devos’ Michigan Charter School system “deeply dysfunctional.”  She “isn’t an educator, or an education leader. She’s not an expert in pedagogy or curriculum or school governance. In fact, she has no relevant credentials or experience for a job setting standards and guiding dollars for the nation’s public schools” (The Washington Post).

We have read the studies that say, “In districts that participate in choice, white and more affluent parents have fled as poorer, minority kids have come into their schools, exacerbating de facto segregation” (Bridge Magazine) and it terrifies us.

We know, that in order to maintain a civilized, empathetic society, our schools need to represent the diversity of our world.

We are against the nomination of Betsy DeVos, and hope you will be as well.