News Clips

Birds of a Feather: Larry Hogan and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos

Mar 23, 2017

Annapolis, Md. – It’s no surprise that Governor Larry Hogan will host Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this morning in Montgomery County, given their shared agenda to weaken public schools.

“It’s fitting that the first Trump official that Governor Larry Hogan hosts in Maryland is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Birds of a feather get flock together. Both are very passionate about shifting taxpayer dollars away from neighborhood public schools to private and religious schools,” said Bryan Lesswing at the Maryland Democratic Party. “Whether it’s education, healthcare, jobs, or even the Chesapeake Bay, Hogan is showing that he won’t protect Marylanders from the Trump agenda.”

As a Republican activist and donor, DeVos has spent her career influencing politicians to help destroy public schools. She played a large role in pushing nearly half of Detroit students into charter schools, which are now failing to educate their students and the state’s school system is falling in rankings.

Governor Larry Hogan has sided against supporting Maryland’s neighborhood public schools while nominating hardline extremists to the state board of education.

In his first budget, Hogan wanted to cut $275 million from Maryland’s public schools. This year, he pushed to cut $30 million from new education spending that go towards after-school programs, college preparation, and teacher retention strategies. At the same time, Hogan proposed doubling taxpayer funding for private school scholarships. Hogan has also tried to take away local control of charter schools.

Hogan even took a page from the Trump-bullying playbook last year and called hardworking public school teachers “thugs.”