As Pence and DeVos desperately tried to rally “Women for Trump” in the commonwealth, Pennsylvania Democrats exposed the Administration’s failure to deliver for our students and their families. Check out some of the coverage below.
Statewide Dems and national education leaders struck preemptively, calling out the Trump Administration’s attempts to gut funding for public education, including teacher training, after school programs, and resources to help disadvantaged students prepare for college:
PennLive: “Earlier Wednesday, state Democratic leaders argued during a conference call that Trump’s record is dominated by “broken promises” to working people. They took special aim at what they characterized as the Trump administration’s support for “predatory” for-profit colleges, rolling back protections for sexual assault victims on college campuses, and undermining loan forgiveness for college debt.
“Trump and DeVos’s record on education is just like every other part of the Trump agenda. It works for their rich friends and big corporations while students and working families get left behind,” said Nancy Patton Mills, the chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
Mills further promised a historic campaign effort to “to ensure we are not taking anything, anyone or any community in Pennsylvania for granted.”
Carlisle Sentinel: “Pennsylvania Democrats and their allies anticipated the attack, holding a press call earlier in the day to critique DeVos’ promotion of school vouchers and corporate tax credits for donations to private schools.
“What she tried to do in Michigan was defund and destabilize public schools, and that’s what she’s trying to do all over the country,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said of DeVos’ previous tenure as a Republican official and charter school promoter in Michigan.”
Associated Press: “Democrats and teachers’ union leaders criticized Trump’s education policies. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who was in Philadelphia on Wednesday to discuss efforts to deal with lead, asbestos and other environmental hazards in aging school buildings, said Trump has “destabilized, demoralized, decimated, defunded and denigrated public schools.”
Councilwomen pointed to the Trump Administration’s attacks on public education ahead of Pence’s pit stop in Philadelphia:
“Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos have worked to undermine public education at every level since their first days in office. They’ve proposed cuts to teacher training and after school services and attacked vital programs that help disadvantaged students prepare and pay for college.
“Nothing Mike Pence says today will erase the Trump-DeVos record of broken promises. We condemn the Trump administration for putting the needs of wealthy special interests before those of our youth and we will continue to hold Trump, Pence and DeVos accountable for their failure to deliver for Philadelphia’s students,” said Philadelphia City Council Education and Children & Youth Committee Chairs Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez and Helen Gym.
Following Pence and DeVos’s Camp Hill event, Chairwoman Mills issued a response highlighting Trump’s broken promises on education:
“Nothing said tonight changes the fact that the Trump-DeVos education agenda sells out Pennsylvania’s students for the benefit of special interests. The Trump administration continues to hand massive tax cuts to the wealthiest and well-connected, while going after vital resources for everyday students.
“Trump, Pence and DeVos have worked to gut public school funding, eliminate resources for low-income college students and have undermined programs that help survivors of sexual assault seek justice. Pennsylvania’s students and their families deserve better than Trump administration’s broken promises. Democrats will continue to fight for quality education for all children and work to make sure college is affordable for every American.”