Former deep pockets contributor to the Rethuglican Party and current failed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos learned that the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School aren't to be trifled with. After the massacre at their school which took 17 lives on Valentine's Day, the students have launched an inspiring nationwide campaign to change gun laws, which will have its first major rally in Washington, DC on March 24.
Yesterday, DeVos belatedly showed up at the school and, according to witnesses, engaged in no real dialogue with the students during her 90 minute photo op. When she staged a press conference, she walked off after being asked about her support of the insane NRA- inspired proposal to arm teachers. She also lied about having met with student journalists, declining to take questions and not permitting them to walk around with her. Some student reactions to DeVos capture the mood:
Secretary of education Betsy Devos spoke to me and only a hand full of students. She did not properly answer my only question. She did not sit down with any students and asked what we wanted. Douglas has 3,000 students. None of them were invited. pic.twitter.com/1RXYDZJtTb— Kyra (@longlivekcx) March 7, 2018
Kyra notes that basketball star Dwayne Wade visited the school and made a far better impression:
I was with both Devos and Wade today. Devos didn’t sit down with students and asked what we wanted. She gave us BS answers to the only few questions I was allowed to ask. Wade on the other hand, did more than she. He sat down with students and asked important questions. https://t.co/luVARWPqoR— Kyra (@longlivekcx) March 7, 2018
We don't need people to feel sorry for us just because it's their job to. If you're in a position of power and you're not doing anything to stop this from happening over and over again, you're part of the problem.— Carly Novell (@car_nove) March 7, 2018
Betsy Devos came to my school, talked to three people, and pet a dog. This is incase the press tries to say something else later— Alanna//#NEVERAGAIN (@AgCI3Cu2) March 7, 2018
I wonder how many teachers would instantly quit their jobs if they were forced to carry guns.— Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) March 7, 2018
They already aren’t paid nearly enough.
Stoneman Douglas ran out of printer paper for about two weeks this year.#NeverAgain #MarchForOurLives
We shouldn't be surprised at DeVos' dismissiveness and failure to engage. She's long been known as an enemy of public education and a theocratic wingnut. Her brother, the sinister Erik Prince, is the former executive of the mercenary group Blackwater, and is under scrutiny by the Mueller investigation over his attempt to set up a "back channel" to the Kremlin during the transition. Nice family. Maybe the students were lucky she didn't stay longer after all.
(h/t to friend P.E.C. for the lead)
