Billionaire Republican donor Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, and anti-public education State Senator Scott Wagner want to take millions out of public education. In her hearing before the Senate HELP Committee last week, DeVos was unaware of basic policies, while pushing an elitist agenda to privatize public schools and slash billions in education funding.
Betsy DeVos’ biggest fan in Pennsylvania is Scott Wagner. Wagner claims she “is exceptionally knowledgeable on public school education,” which is unsurprising given their mutual agreement on billion dollar cuts to education. Wagner has even bent over backwards to defend DeVos, saying “money and special interests aren’t going to influence her,” despite the fact she’s earned millions lobbying to privatize public education.
“Scott Wagner’s high praise of Betsy DeVos should alarm Pennsylvanians who care about the quality of our schools and the education of our children,” said Brandon Cwalina, Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson. “The Wagner-DeVos plan would plan would take millions out of public schools and benefit the really rich like them.”
BACKGROUND:
Sen. Scott Wagner Voted Against The 2016-2017 Budget That Included $245 Million More For K Through 12 Education, $30 Million More For Pre-K, And $38 Million More For Higher Education. [SB 1073, Accessed 1/10/17]
ABC 27: Senator: Pa. schools not underfunded: “Scott Wagner (R-York) is sick of what he calls the myth of underfunded schools in Pennsylvania.” [ABC 27, 5/27/15]
Sen. Scott Wagner will propose school vouchers. [PennLive, 12/6/16]