Wyden, Merkley explain ‘no’ votes on DeVos confirmation

Oregon’s two U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, joined their Democratic counterparts in voting no Tuesday on the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as education secretary — part of a 50-50 tie vote that was broken by Vice President Mike Pence.

Tuesday morning on the Senate floor, Wyden voiced his opposition to her confirmation, joining his colleagues who spoke through the night against DeVos.

“Today I stand up for kids, parents and families who deserve education policies that will let them go after their dreams and secure their futures,” Wyden said. “I believe they deserve better.”

Wyden said he heard significant opposition to DeVos becoming the Secretary of Education at his town halls in Tillamook, Lincoln and Linn counties over the weekend.

Additionally, he has received more than 14,000 letters from Oregonians in the last two months expressing their concerns about DeVos. In past years, it has taken twice as long for him to receive that many letters.

But Patti Adair, chair of the Deschutes County Republican Party, does not share that concern.

“I really believe we need to save our public education system for inner city kids. They need a choice,” she said.

Adair said DeVos is an unconventional pick, but that’s what this country needs.

“(She’ll make) education more accessible and more fair to children,” Adair said “When only 2,000 students in Brooklyn can get into the charter school and 20,000 are applying, and those parents are broken-hearted because their kids didn’t make that transition, I think she’ll make it more fair.”

The Senate confirmed DeVos after Vice President Mike Pence was brought in to break a 50-50 vote.

Merkley released the following statement before the vote on DeVos:

“I know first-hand the powerful difference that a good public education makes. When I was growing up, my father took me to the doors of the schoolhouse and told me that, here in America, if I went through those doors and worked hard, I could do just about anything.

“The fact that, as the son of a mechanic, I was able to go to school and believe that I would have roughly the same opportunities as the son of a CEO says everything about the importance of our public education system and how central it is to who we are as a nation.

“Unfortunately, Betsy DeVos completely lacks knowledge, experience or appreciation of the critical roles that public schools play in America. She’s never attended a public school; she’s never worked in public schools; she didn’t send her children to public schools; I don’t know if she’s ever even volunteered at a public school.

“Her ignorance about public schools was on spectacular display in her nomination hearing. She didn’t know that federal law requires public schools to provide equal opportunity to students with disabilities. She didn’t know how tests were used to measure growth or proficiency. And furthermore, she has maintained an absolute disdain for accountability in private schools, despite the abysmal record of many private schools in her home state of Michigan.

“I will vote against Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary because America needs a Secretary who will fight to improve public schools, not a Secretary dedicated to destroying them,” Merkley said.