Once again Betsy DeVos tried to visit a school without informing parents, and once again they found out and a protest was planned.
Parents of students attending a Frederick, Maryland charter school were a bit curious when their children came home with permission slips to be photographed on Tuesday by the media – without any explanation as to why.
“We just would have liked to know who was visiting the school and what they were planning to do,” parent Eric Schobel, who debated keeping his child home, told The Frederick News-Post. “We didn’t want our child being used as a political football.”
Schobel’s instincts were right.
Students at the Frederick Classical Charter School would have been photographed with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who did not co-ordinate her visit with the Frederick County Public Schools or the Board of Education. DeVos was to appear as part of a joint visit with the Reading is Fundamental children’s literacy non-profit.
Somehow several parents learned that DeVos would be visiting on Tuesday, and some contacted the school to register their complaints.
They were not the only ones concerned that DeVos would be visiting.
“James van Kuilenburg, a transgender student at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, organized a protest for the same day as DeVos’ visit, due to the policy ideas DeVos has proposed and enacted. The protest has been canceled since DeVos is no longer visiting the school,” The Frederick News-Post notes.
Schools Superintendent Terry Alban in an email to a parent reportedly confirmed that DeVos was slated to vist, but a general email sent to all parents did not. It only stated that there would be no visit from the Dept. of Education. It did not mention DeVos by name.
It’s not the first time DeVos has tried to visit a school by surprise. And it’s not the first time she’s canceled because of scheduled protests.
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license