Storm brewing: L.I. board slams Donald Trump schools nominee

The Patchogue-Medford Board of Education recently approved a resolution opposing the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education.

DeVos, a Republican mega-donor from Michigan, is a longtime aggressive advocate for charter schools and private-school voucher programs. She is also a declared convert against Common Core, saying the program for higher scholastic standards, which made sense at first, “got turned into a federalized boondoggle.”

Some hard-core anti-Common Core activists are still skeptical about the depth of her opposition.

National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said DeVos “has consistently pushed a corporate agenda to privatize, de-professionalize and impose cookie-cutter solutions to public education.”

The Patchogue-Medford board said in its resolution that DeVos is a “candidate lacking any credentials as an educator, experience in the administration and management of public schools, demonstrating a pre-disposition towards and a long history of support for charter schools and school voucher programs which eviscerate free and appropriate public education.”

The resolution urges the U.S. Senate to oppose her nomination. It also invites President-elect Donald Trump, DeVos, or representatives of the incoming administration to meet with them “to conduct a forthright and meaningful discussion about the future of education.”

By Joie Tyrrell

joie.tyrrell@newsday.com@JoieTyrrell

Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.