The Republican Controlled Senate have set January 11th as the date for the confirmation hearing of Betsy Devos to be Secretary of Education. They have scheduled multiple confirmation hearings for cabinet positions on this date in an effort to rush through confirmations with little public scrutiny.

We are asking our supporters to contact Senators Rob Portman (202-224-3353 and 614-469-6774) and Sherrod Brown (202-224-2315 and 216-522-7272) and politely ask that they oppose the nomination of Betsy Devos.

While you are on the phone, you could also ask that they demand she pays the $5.3 million fine she owes Ohio tax payers after the Ohio Elections Commission found that DeVos violated state law by contributing $870,000 to an unregistered political action committee (PAC) in Ohio in 2008 from a PAC in Virginia that she directed.

Here are some of the reasons why we oppose billionairess Betsy Devos to lead the US Department of Education.

1. Simply put, she is unqualified. she has never worked in public education, and holds no public education degrees. She has never held any public office.

2. She has no public school experience. She and her children have never attended public schools. Instead they attended private religious schools.

3. She has invested millions of dollars lobbying to privatize public education though her American Federation for Children organization. In 2000, Michigan voters rejected a massive effort led by Betsy and Dick DeVos to change the state’s constitution to allow private school voucher schemes that siphon money away from public schools.

4. She believes Charter Schools should be unregulated.

The DeVos family, owners of the largest charter lobbying organization, has showered Michigan Republican candidates and organizations with impressive and near-unprecedented amounts of money this campaign cycle: $1.45 million in June and July alone — over a seven-week period, an average of $25,000 a day.

The giving began in earnest on June 13, just five days after Republican members of the state Senate reversed themselves on the question of whether Michigan charter schools need more oversight.

5. Over 90% of this country's students attend a traditional public school. The Secretary of Education needs to be a qualified individual who can handle a much broader agenda than privatization.

Call your Senators now.

Senators Rob Portman (202-224-3353 and 614-469-6774)
Sherrod Brown (202-224-2315 and 216-522-7272)