Mr. President:

As advocates of our nation’s children and of the American public schools that 90% of those children attend, we are calling for the dismissal of the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

Ms. DeVos’s request to cut funding for the Special Olympics Program horrified our nation. Her rationale that public funding is not needed because the program has philanthropic support demonstrates a disconnect between the will of the American people and that of the Secretary. American taxpayers want to financially support the goodness that the Special Olympics Program represents. They do not want the children who benefit from the program to be dependent on the favor of donations by the wealthy.

At the same hearing, when confronted by Congress with the enormous waste that is generated from the Charter Schools Program, Ms. DeVos expressed no desire to investigate the concerns raised by Congress. Instead she replied, “We need more charter schools, not fewer.” Ironically, her proposed $60 million dollar increase to create more charter schools, which would bring the program’s funding to a half billion dollars next year, would pay for Special Olympics funding more than three times over.

Throughout the hearing, Ms. DeVos positioned herself as one who would gladly cut funding for after-school programs and textbooks for disadvantaged students. She proposed cuts to school safety programs and counseling services. She even displayed an appalling lack of knowledge of the importance of smaller class size to promote student learning.

Since the beginning of her tenure, Ms. DeVos has focused her energies on promoting her extreme social and political philosophy in her quest for school privatization and the destruction of public education.

This week’s performance made it clear that she is not a responsible advocate for America’s children and taxpayers, but rather an ideologue who sees no place for public dollars and public institutions in the promotion of the public good.

We therefore ask that you request her immediate resignation.