Tag: Mark Naison

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.

In a 49-40 vote Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s nominee for U.S. Department of Education secretary, former New York State education commissioner John B. King, Jr., inciting harsh criticism from education advocates across New York, as well as denunciation from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. New York’s other senator, Chuck Schumer, voted in favor of King’s confirmation. The split vote comes amid ever-growing protests against the controversial education reform Common Core by statewide education advocates, who had experienced firsthand the aftermath of King’s tenure. More than 240,000 students statewide “opted-out” of taking the exams last April. Sen. Gillibrand was the lone Democrat opposing the nod.

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

“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.”

"The adjustments are a sham."