DeVos and Public Education on January BUS Ride

UPDATED 1/5/17 10 p.m. with NEW IMPROVED AUDIO LINK thanks to Julian Vasquez Heilig!

The president-elect’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education has no experience in public education. From all appearances, she seeks to use her philanthropy to destroy public schools. The Senate “HELP” (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee on examines her (lack of) qualification on January 11. Tens of thousands of citizens, including educators of many backgrounds, have already contacted the Senate to ask that they #DumpDeVos. January’s BUS — BadAss Teachers, United Opt Out, and SOS March — discussion looks at what next?

Jitu Brown, National Director, Journey for Justice Alliance (J4J), argues that the next steps include local organizing, “building meaningful alliances in our communities,” and an “analysis of the failure of the progressive movement on education.” In particular, J4J plans a strong presence at next week’s HELP hearing and encourages activists to learn about and emulate grassroots organizer Ella Baker (1903-1986).

Julian Vasquez Heilig, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State Sacramento and leader with Network for Public Education, suggests making sure that leaders know — and cannot later deny knowing — what a DeVos education administration will do to our public schools and communities. (Related work at Cloaking Inequity)

To both ends, Denisha Jones, professor of education and national leader with BATs, UOO and SOS, encourages involvement in upcoming campaigns to increase awareness about DeVos’ background.

The Education Town Hall broadcasts from Historic Anacostia
in Washington, DC, Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern
on We Act Radio.
Listen live via TuneIn.
Shows are archived for convenient listening shortly after broadcast.

The Education Town Hall BUS is a monthly program
organized by BadAss Teachers, United Opt Out, and SOS March.
The program regularly airs on the 4th Thursday of each month.