Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod, executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, has issued the following statement in response to President-Elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education:
“For generations of new Americans, our system of free public schools has served as an effective vehicle for assimilation. The nation’s public schools continue to successfully prepare millions of young people to make positive contributions to the nation’s economy and our society.
“We urge Secretary-nominee DeVos and the incoming administration to take a balanced approach to the federal government’s role in educational policy and to support our public schools, which strengthen the nation’s culture and economy. Public education is a local function, a state responsibility and a national concern.
“In New Jersey, which historically has been a gateway to waves of new citizens, the critical role of public education cannot be understated. The New Jersey School Boards Association will remain resolute in its support of public education and its commitment to the advancement of learning for all of our state’s 1.4 million public school students.”