CLEVELAND, Ohio — Teachers rallied Monday night outside the Cleveland office of Sen. Rob Portman to protest his support of Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education.
The Senate is expected to approve her appointment Tuesday afternoon in a tight and controversial vote. Backing her are 50 Republican senators, including Portman, while another 50 senators, almost all Democrats and including Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, oppose her. If the vote goes as planned, that will leave it to Vice President Mike Pence to cast the deciding vote.
Read more: What would Betsy DeVos mean for Ohio schools?
That has the Ohio Federation of Teachers organizing rallies against her across the state, including Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and here in Cleveland, where the Cleveland Teachers Union will participate.
“Betsy DeVos is so, so unqualified to be the secretary of education,” said Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke.
He said he hopes Portman will reconsider his vote by Tuesday.
Read more: 5 things to know about Sen. Rob Portman’s support for Betsy DeVos
DeVos, whose family founded Amway, is a major supporter of charter schools and state-funded tuition vouchers to help students attend private schools. That position, and her lack of experience as either a teacher or administrator in any school, has teachers unions and others lined up against her.
“The more people get to know how ill-equipped Betsy DeVos is to strengthen public schools, how disconnected she is from public schools, and how her record is focused on pursuing for-profit charters and vouchers and not on helping children, the more the people who believe in the importance of public education are joining to oppose her,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said last week.
The Ohio and National Education Association, the other large teachers union, has also apposed DeVos.
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