Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña urged President Trump’s new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Sunday not to cut funding for the city’s public schools.
Fariña, appearing on the John Catsimatidis AM 970 radio show, said she’s ready to work with DeVos despite their ideological differences, but stressed that reducing the city’s federal funds would hurt the most vulnerable kids.
“I think certainly to keep the funding at least at the level that it is now — increase it if necessary,” Fariña said. “We have a tremendous amount of vulnerable children in our schools, and most of the funding that comes from the federal government is for those specific students. Certainly our English language learners, our special needs kids, kids in temporary housing. These are vulnerable children.”
DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist who supports charter schools and vouchers for students to attend private schools at public expense, was confirmed with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence earlier this month to oversee education under Trump.
“I work with everyone,” Fariña said. “I will have conversations with anyone and everyone to ensure that the work we’re doing here is being celebrated and recognized, and we’ll see what time will bring.”
She also encouraged DeVos to visit city schools.
“Keep in mind that public education is a valuable resource,” she said. “Keep an open mind, I would say to her, about the value of public education. And also come and see what we’re doing here that is really in my opinion cutting edge and miraculous.”
DeVos drew a backlash after visiting a middle school in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, where she described teachers as being in “receive mode” and “waiting to be told what they have to do.”
The school, Jefferson Middle School Academy, responded with a series of tweets, writing, “We’re about to take her to school.”
