NJEA’s officers, President Steve Beatty, Vice President Petal Robertson and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Dare released this statement regarding Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s visit to Colts Neck:
“If U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wants to visit New Jersey, she should come here to learn why our public schools work so well. Instead, she is doing a fly-by visit as part of a 50-state propaganda tour supported by some of the most regressive, reactionary organizations in the country. Students in Colts Neck will miss a morning of learning to be used as props in a Trump administration photo op.
“As a newcomer to public education, McMahon is completely lacking in any qualifications for her job except blind loyalty to President Trump. In her nine-month career in education she has demonstrated that she has no idea what students need to succeed and that she doesn’t care whether they do. Her record during her few months in office tells the story: she’s working to eliminate the Department of Education, slash civil rights enforcement, and promote privatization schemes that divert resources from public schools. Her uninformed and ill-intentioned policies are denying New Jersey students access to the resources and programs they rely on, particularly those living in low-income communities and students with disabilities.
“In New Jersey, we believe public schools are places for asking hard questions and inquiry, not political indoctrination and whitewashed history. But Secretary McMahon’s promotional tour is supported by groups that advocate book bans and censorship and that campaign against honest and inclusive curriculum. It’s supported by groups actively working to rewrite American history to deny students the opportunity to know the full truth about our nation, its origins and its present challenges. It’s supported by groups that gleefully demonize LGBTQ students, students of color and entire immigrant communities. In one of America’s most diverse states, we don’t welcome that kind of hatred and exclusion.
“Fortunately for all of us, Secretary McMahon will be gone almost as quickly as she came, because once she has her photo ops and social media clips, she will go right back to not caring about New Jersey’s students or public schools.
“And in this 250th anniversary year for America, our members will continue teaching the full American story, including the triumphs and the struggles. We do it because our democracy is strongest when students learn from our history to build a better future.”