‘We fight back!’: Protesters in DC rally outside DeVos’s first public school visit

Parents, teachers and others gathered at a D.C. middle school Friday morning to show support for public schools as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited the campus.

The demonstration was a sign that DeVos, who took office this week, remains a polarizing figure for many of the parents and teachers she seeks to serve.

DeVos was at the Jefferson Middle School Academy in Southwest Washington, D.C., at about 10 a.m., according to two parents who said they shook her hand inside the building. The event was closed to the media. It was her first visit to a public K-12 school since she was sworn in Tuesday.

Shortly after 10 a.m., several dozen members of the Washington Teachers Union, parents and other activists had gathered in front of the school, some holding signs and shouting "We fight back!"

Elizabeth Davis, president of the union, publicized the DeVos visit on Twitter Thursday, calling on protesters to "say ‘NO’ to privatization of our schools."

Davis said Friday morning the union is supporting Jefferson teachers, who are concerned about the visit.

"We want to share the message that we love our public school system," Davis told reporters outside Jefferson. "Public education teachers believe that public education is the cornerstone, it’s the foundation of our society."

D.C. Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson, who just took office himself in recent days, entered the school without speaking with demonstrators or reporters.

A spokeswoman for D.C Public Schools declined to comment. Officials at the U.S. Education Department did not respond to The Washington Post’s inquiries about the trip.

According to several sources, teachers at the school were upset by her visit and planned to wear black to show their feelings.

Outside Jefferson Friday morning, a teacher from a D.C. charter school, who declined to be named, carried a sign that said: "Ms. DeVos: Our children are not props."

"Betsy DeVos does not represent our students or our families here in D.C.," the teacher said. "She doesn’t have our best interests at heart."

DeVos is a billionaire who has spent three decades lobbying for private school vouchers, charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools. She was one of President Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks and barely won confirmation. Her supporters call her a bold reformer, while opponents fear she will seek to undermine public schools by funneling taxpayer funding to private and religious schools.

DeVos Protest Maria Danilova / AP

Jennifer Ibrahim participates in a demonstration outside Jefferson Middle School in Washington on Feb. 10, 2017, as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos paid her first visit as education secretary in a bid to mend fences with educators after a bruising confirmation battle.

(Maria Danilova / AP)

She made a plea for unity on Wednesday, her first full day in office, saying in a speech to Education Department employees that "while we may have disagreements, we can – and must – come together, find common ground and put the needs of our students first."

On Thursday, DeVos visited Howard University, a historically black university in the District that receives special support through federal appropriations every year. But the reception at Jefferson shows the difficulty DeVos faces in winning the trust and confidence of those who opposed her confirmation.

Jefferson, a few blocks from department headquarters, is five years into a turnaround effort and is often cited as an example of the systemwide improvements in the city’s public schools.

D.C. Public Schools was once among the nation’s lowest-performing urban school districts, but in recent years has won widespread attention for making rapid progress as judged by scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The District has also been a laboratory for the philosophy of choice in education. The growing charter school sector now enrolls nearly half the city’s public-school students, and the nation’s only federally funded voucher program helps more than 1,000 children attend private and religious schools at taxpayer expense.

While many advocates believe that the competition has been fruitful, providing families with options and encouraging the school system to improve, others argue that the rapid growth of charter schools has undermined efforts to improve neighborhood schools and left parents scrambling to win citywide school enrollment lotteries.

Lyndsey Medsker, the parent of two students in Brent Elementary, which feeds into Jefferson, said it was the "perfect place for the new secretary to see first-hand a public school that fell victim to the chaos of charters and a fervor for school choice."

"Today, thanks to a dedicated administration, impressive teaching staff and community support, the school is rapidly improving," Medsker said. "But, to make public schools like Jefferson ‘great again,’ if you will, they need a commitment from Secretary Devos and support from D.C.’s mayor and city leadership. It’s time for all politicians to stop using quality schools as photo ops and to really invest in neighborhood public schools."

DeVos Protest Maria Danilova / AP

Protesters rally outside a middle school in Washington on Feb. 10, 2017, where Education Secretary Betsy DeVos paid a visit.

(Maria Danilova / AP)

Medsker did not plan to join the crowd as she didn’t want to appear to be protesting DeVos. She said now that DeVos is confirmed, she should be welcomed into public schools so she can learn why they are important and deserving of her support.

One staff member at Jefferson said that she and many of her colleagues are troubled by DeVos’s decades-long campaign to promote vouchers as a way to escape from public schools that work hard to serve all students. She said she feared that the new education secretary would use Jefferson students – most of whom are African American and come from low-income families – for a photo op to burnish her image.

"I was horrified," the staff member said of her reaction to the news that DeVos was coming to Jefferson, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to a reporter.

During the Obama administration, D.C. public schools were frequently used as backdrops for Education Department events and appearances by the president and first lady. But that felt different, the staff member said. "Obama was not rooting against the very essence of what we are," she said.

Another Jefferson staff member said she spent the first part of the week calling senators to urge them to vote against DeVos. It was surreal, she said, to know she was coming to visit Friday. "I really fear for our students’ future and the future of our schools and communities," she said. "Her belief in privatization without equal accountability leaves high-needs students behind."

She said she hoped Jefferson would show DeVos how positive, loving and strong a public school can be, and to show her that teachers care fiercely about their students. "It’s about letting her know that anybody seeking to jeopardize our students is going to have to go through us," she said.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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