Thursday, February 9, 2017

SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT CRITICAL OF EDUCATION SECRETARY APPROVAL

Superintendent of Schools John Ramos criticized the confirmation this week of new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, saying her appointment will allow business interests to secure more of the "education sector."

DeVos has been criticized for her lack of education experience and comments against public education. And let's not forget her support for guns in some schools to protect from grizzly bears?

She and her family also donated nearly $1 million to 23 of the Republican senators who voted to confirm her, while also contributing more than $8 million to the Republican Party and GOP super PACs in the last two election cycles.

See Ramos' statement to Maplewoodian.com below:

The concern about this appointment is less about the person and more about the
guiding philosophy and the power behind it.  Her ascension to this post, confirmed
by a political majority in Washington, means that business interests will steadily
secure more and more of the educational sector; let's call it market share.  The
basic problem with that idea is that as public dollars are subsumed by private
interests, public schools as we know them will steadily lose more financial and
human resources and be further marginalized as will the students who remain in them.
 The critical civil right of a free and equitable public education, overseen by the
public that it serves, now officially  hangs in the balance.

To be clear, there is a place for charter schools, private schools, etc.  However,
public education must be prioritized.

Dr. John J. Ramos, Sr.
Superintendent

Ramos' statement follows similar comments by School Board President Elizabeth Baker at the last school board meeting on Jan. 30, the day before the Senate confirmation of DeVos began, in which she referred to the nomination as an "attack on public education."

See those comments below:

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