September 15, 2019
“Betsy DeVos’s Visit and Policies Neglect 860,000 Kids in Public Schools,” Say Wisconsin Parents
Parents and taxpayers from Eau Claire, Fort Atkinson, Green Bay, La Crosse, Lake Mills, Milwaukee, Palmyra, Racine, Saint Croix, Sun Prairie and Wauwatosa want sufficient funding for their kids’ public schools and more transparency for taxpayers from vouchers schools
On the eve of a visit to Milwaukee by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, public school parents and advocates from across Wisconsin wondered why Secretary DeVos’s visit and policies neglect public school children. Secretary DeVos’s visit is occurring as parents in the Palmyra-Eagle School District attempt to save their kids’ school system from closure, and as voters across Wisconsin approved a record amount of school referenda to enhance aging facilities and/or maintain programming. Despite the calls nationwide for targeted support aligned with the needs of local students, Secretary DeVos proposed to cut $7.1 billion in federal funding from America’s public schools, while dramatically increasing funding to private and privately-operated schools.
While Secretary DeVos launches her “Back to School” tour Monday with a closed-to-public-school-parents meeting at a religious private voucher school in Milwaukee, advocates all over the state express frustration with her focus on expanding a program that has failed to deliver results in Wisconsin, diverting funds from public schools statewide and putting children at risk.
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 