Here in Massachusetts and across the country, we've seen just this month that the millionaires and billionaires scheming to sell out our public schools will stop at nothing. 

Remember last year's fight to stop Question 2, which would have allowed for further expansion of charter schools in Massachusetts? The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance announced on September 11, 2017, that it had levied its largest fine ever to Families for Excellent Schools, a group backing the 2016 Yes on 2 ballot question, for “receiving contributions from individuals and then contributing those funds to the Great Schools Massachusetts Ballot Question Committee in a manner intended to disguise the source of the money.” Jobs with Justice called out FES on their dark money donations back in 2015 in our report, "Wall Street Money in Massachusetts Schools."

Now, it's clear that the source of one of those donations was Paul Sagan, Charlie Baker's K-12 education chair, who gave over half a million dollars to the privatization effort -- a serious conflict of interest for someone tasked with overseeing our public schools. While Sagan scrambles to justify his actions, our partners in the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance are calling for his resignation. You can sign and share the petition here. 

Meanwhile, in national news, Betsy DeVos, Trump's Secretary of Education, continues to push the corporate agenda for schools throughout the US. So far in her brief tenure, she has made a dizzying number of significant, disastrous changes to education policy -- doubling down on plans to run schools like businesses, encourage privatization, oppose affirmative action, and end protections for student loan borrowers, trans students, and survivors of campus sexual assault.

With students and teachers under attack, this is clearly a moment of crisis for public education, and we are going to have to take action to stop it.

Our first opportunity will be Thursday, September 28, when Betsy Devos will be speaking at Harvard. We, of course, will be there to meet her. Please join us, along with the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance and many others, to tell Betsy DeVos that Massachusetts is willing to stand up and fight for students! More info here.