Last year, a caucus of teachers rose up in Oklahoma. Dozens of schoolteachers ran for public office in the Sooner State, out of frustration over low education funding levels and teacher pay.
In response, money poured into Oklahoma from out of state, funding the opposition to this so-called “Teacher Caucus.” Many of those teachers subsequently lost their races.
As Oklahoma Watch reports, it appears Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Education was the source of a good deal of the out-of-state money intended to stop these teachers from winning public office.
Betsy DeVos’s organization, the American Federation for Children, appears to have donated $180,000 to a super PAC intent on quelling the teacher uprising in Oklahoma. DeVos herself has also personally given almost a million dollars to a national super PAC dedicated to battling public-school advocates in races nationwide.
DeVos’s nomination has drawn criticism from teacher organizations, because of her outspoken support for privatizing public education.