Oh No She Didn’t!

Cross-posted from RestoreReason.com.

AZ Capitol Times reported today that in response to a Save Our Schools suggestion that voucher expansion should be “sidelined” while the battle for public education funding continues, Kim Martinez, a spokeswoman for the American Federation For Children, said she was “unimpressed”. Martinez also said that, “It is unfortunate that Save Our Schools continues to take a stance against children who need ESAs, a program that helps disadvantaged students who are slipping through the cracks at their neighborhood schools. It is short-sighted to put funding concerns above children whose learning requirements have to be met today.”

Bravo Ms. Martinez, I couldn’t have said it better myself, at least not your words about the urgency of meeting children’s learning requirements. It totally IS short-sighted to put funding concerns above children whose learning requirements have to be met today. It IS totally unacceptable that public school students entering high school next year, have yet to be in an adequately funded classroom. It IS totally unacceptable that the Arizona Legislature continues to favor corporate welfare over ensuring our public schools are adequately funded.

As for your swipe at Save Our Schools for their “stance against…disadvantaged students who are slipping through the cracks at their neighborhood schools”, give me a break! We know that Save Our Schools is fighting for exactly these children and all one million Arizona public school students. We also know that you are fighting for Betsy DeVos and her privatization movement. Neither Save Our Schools, nor our public schools at large, are responsible for “disadvantaged students who are slipping through the cracks. The enemies of these students are 1) poverty and 2) our failure to deal with it.

Our children cannot continue to wait for the adults to understand that education is not an expense, it is an investment. They cannot wait for us to realize that every child matters and deserves the opportunity to succeed. Every day that passes without this as our driving force, is another day of lost opportunity for us all.

2 thoughts on “Oh No She Didn’t!”

  1. I wonder what part of No, do the Betsy DeVos clones not understand. They may be unimpressed, but the voters voted overwhelmingly with 65% saying No to vouchers. The vote doesn’t mean that there’s some hair splitting in the vote, some hidden nuance they can try to pick up, some straw party, poor kids they can claim. It means no to vouchers, Period. And Ducey and Kavanaugh, and Bowers, and Cobb should leave the issue dead. But we can expect the DeVos, or Koch organizations’ money will be expecting pay back, regardless of the voters clear statement.

    • I’m afraid you are correct Frances! I’m already steeling myself for the next legislative session and I hope others will stay tuned and engaged as well.

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