Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lily Eskelsen García, the president of the National Education Association, shared their thoughts with Education Secretary Betsy Devos in the most appropriate way: a report card. Specifically, 80,000 reports cards, all F’s, from educators across the country.
Images from the New York Times show them carrying the boxes outside the Department of Education building. One gives her F’s in the criteria “Providing opportunity for all students,” “Protecting the safety of students”, “Investing in the success of every public school student”, and “Making higher education accessible and affordable.”
When they arrived, they found the doors were locked as guards said they did not have an appointment (like you never hid your bad report card from your parents). However, Weingarten stated they had been asked for an appointment and did not arrive unannounced. She said, “This is a remarkable moment…They knew that teachers and parents and students from all over the country have actually taken their time to say what is going on in their schools. And here on Betsy DeVos’s anniversary, this is the first time that I have ever been to this building where we were not let in — where the educators, where the students, where the parents of America were locked out of the federal Department of Education.”
LOCKED OUT!!!!We just tried to deliver 80k #Comments4Betsy to @usedgov. We told them we were coming. We asked for an appointment. Instead they locked out educators, parents and students – @BetsyDeVosED refusing to even accept the comments much less read or respond to them. pic.twitter.com/9eIC9ul62p
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) February 8, 2018
Department spokeswoman Liz Hill called the protest “unfortunate” and “a two-hour political publicity stunt.” Hill added, “If they would like to send a representative to the department to deliver their feedback, we’d be happy to accept it.”
The reports cards were based on Devos’ progress for her first year, as she took the oath of office on February 7th, 2017 despite having no professional experience in government or public education—a fact that was blindingly clear from her confirmation hearing that brought us the infamous comment about how teacher might need guns for bears, among other misinformed responses.
In a statement to media outlets that you can read on Politico, Devos spoke about several of her policies and responded to her critics. On her work in dismantling guidelines implemented by the Obama administration, including a directive on campus sexual assault, she said she would “hate to think” that it discouraged survivors from coming forward. “There’s nothing about the guidance that would suggest or encourage that”, said Devos. The secretary also said, it’s “hurtful to me when I’m criticized for not upholding the rights of students, the civil rights of students,” arguing, “nothing could be further from the truth.”
Anyway, in honor of her one year anniversary (we’d send an F cake if we weren’t sure it would be turned away), here’s a reminder of just a few of the ways that Devos has been “hurtful” to us in her first year:
- Calling HBCUs “the real pioneers when it comes to school choice” as if segregation didn’t happen.
- Withdrawn memos that protected borrowers when it came to loan debt.
- Literally saying that she wouldn’t stand up against discrimination.
- “Scaling back” on civil rights investigations in the Department.
- Meeting with men’s rights activists groups whose entire aim is to limit the rights of survivors, and rolling back Title IX protections for assault survivors.
- Rescinding 72 guidance documents from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services that protect the rights of students with disabilities.
Report card time isn’t always fun, but it’s important for improvement. And if you’re getting 80,000 F’s? You definitely need to read your report card.
(via NY Times, image: a katz/Shuttershock)
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