ICE PAC

As reported previously in this newsletter, President-elect Trump has chosen Betsy DeVos as his pick for federal Secretary of Education. DeVos's pro-privatization, anti-public-education views have sparked growing resistance to her nomination. Just this week the Buffalo PTA wrote a letter condemning her and a Board of Education on Long Island passed a resolution--expected to be copied by other districts--opposing her confirmation. We need all hands on deck for this one. You too can speak up to protect public education. Here's what you can do, if you haven't already:

1) Send this letter; it takes 2 minutes, if that: http://networkforpubliceducation.org/2016/11/tell-your-senator-to-vote-no-for-betsy-devos/ (Share this link with others!)

2) Call your senators to ask that they refuse to confirm the DeVos appointment: Gillibrand (212) 688-6262 and Schumer (202) 224-6542).

3) Write a letter to the editor or visit your senators' offices.

Models or scripts to help you do all the above can be found on the Network for Public Education website.

Want to learn more about DeVos? After reading this New York Times piece, my friend Sarah Ferguson (a writer, not the former royal) commented, "I got the chills reading this account of how Betsy DeVos, Trump's choice for Secretary of Education, has made it her mission to literally destroy the public school system in Detroit. Not to mention the rest of Michigan. Her obsession with the free market is obscene. There's no other word for it." Read it for yourself and see what you think.

--submitted by Kemala Karmen, parent of 7th & 10th graders