DATE: 2/7/17
CONTACT: Ian Gavigan ([email protected]) 215-686-3408
Helen Gym Responds to DeVos Vote, Powerful Groundswell of Support for Public Schools
PHILADELPHIA—Councilmember Helen Gym (At Large), who helped lead the effort in Pennsylvania to oppose the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be United States Secretary of Education, released the following statement following the Vice President’s tie-breaking confirmation vote:
“Since the announcement of Betsy DeVos’ nomination, parents, teachers, students, and communities across the country rose up to defend a vision of public education that serves all children. Both the newly-activated and veterans of the struggle for quality public schools logged millions of calls, tens of thousands of faxes, and countless office visits to urge our senators to vote for their constituents, not their donors.
“Ms. DeVos’ unprecedented tie-breaker vote is a sign of our power—and it’s a signal that the nation has rejected the top-down, dark money agenda to close public schools, expand vouchers, and strip students with disabilities and students living in poverty of their hard-won civil rights.
“I’m proud of the work we have done in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and across the country. We’ve made an important fact quite clear to the new administration: Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump have no mandate to implement their extremist anti-public school agenda. Every step of the way we will be holding Ms. DeVos accountable as we push for the schools we need, not the schools she wishes to force on us.”
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