Tag: Badass Teachers Association

President Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire businesswoman and champion of charter schools and vouchers, faced stiff opposition from Democrats, public school advocates, and even some Republicans. Among their criticism, detractors cited DeVos’s lack of experience in public education—having neither taught, administered, attended, nor enrolled her own children in public school. Supporters framed her lack of experience as one of her strengths, arguing the nation’s education system needed an outsider to fix it.

The incoming chancellor’s remarks—made the same day as the gathering at East Islip Middle School—consequently carry enormous weight. Education advocates therefore view her acknowledgement that she’d “opt-out” as indication of a historically seismic shift—an alignment, even—away from the state’s long-held support of Common Core, and toward what opponents term “common sense” education policy.

"This is political posturing to try to curry favor with parents who are fed up with his education reforms."

"It’s a remarkable and unusual movement, grounded in three powerful motives: parents’ fierce protectiveness of their children, teachers’ drive to protect the classroom from a culture of fear and senseless unusable tests, and the public desire to protect our democracy."

“It is very hard to change the education system. When you think about it, it’s probably the single-largest public monopoly in the United States of America.”

“Our children need that joy! They deserve that joy! And our teachers need to be freed to convey it to them!”

“The moment a choice is taken away from a parent, that’s the moment when public education is destroyed. The moment when choice is taken away from a teacher, then public education is destroyed.”