Forgive us our delay, but we had to fully digest what we saw at the anti-Betsy DeVos rally yesterday. Several hundred protesters gathered to protest…something about Betsy DeVos. We’re not really sure what.
Prior to the rally, the Colorado Education Association sent out a statement about DeVos that was grotesque and simply untrue. Here’s what Christina Medina, a DCTA member-teacher at Academia Sandoval, who also sits on the CEA Board of Directors as chair of CEA’s Equity Council on Race and Culture, said:
“The policies championed by DeVos have a negative impact on all students, but are especially harmful to students living in poverty and students of color.”
What is she talking about? What really harms students living in poverty and students of color is forcing them to attend a failing school simply because of their zip code. School choice has done incredible things to lift kids out of poverty. What she really means is that the policies championed by DeVos have a negative impact on unions.
Then, at the rally, some of the grossest signs we’ve ever seen at a rally – and a rally meant to be for kids, nonetheless. Here’s what one bystander wrote on Facebook about the event:
“The tenor was one of combativeness and conflict–and more generally of rage (I can’t think of a more appropriate word for what I saw) against Republicans and conservatives. They handed out nasty, sarcastic awards to Republican lawmakers I know personally and whom I greatly respect while holding their heads up on sticks. Sen. Merrifield doubled down on his comment that charter school supporters deserve a ‘special place in hell.’ People dressed up as conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices in order to mock them and accuse them of corruption. I’ve heard that someone in the crowd desecrated a flag, though I didn’t see it happen personally.”
Here are some of the photos from the event:
What are they even protesting? A question for PeakNation: Are these the people who we want teaching our kids…anything…?