Winsome Earle-Sears Takes $40K from Anti-Public School Betsy DeVos and DeVos Family

From DPVA:

BREAKING: Winsome Earle-Sears Takes $40K from Anti-Public School Betsy DeVos and DeVos Family

VIRGINIA – New reporting from the American Journal News details that Winsome Earle-Sears took $40,000 from anti-public school former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the DeVos family. This follows Sears’ long record of supporting legislation that would cut funding for Virginia’s public schools.

“Accepting money from anti-public school Betsy DeVos, her family, and her anti-public education group is yet another signal of Winsome Earle-Sears’ extreme agenda to defund public education. Sears must explain why she’s taking money from the DeVos family and why she’s willing to sell out Virginia students,” said DPVA Spokesperson Maggie Amjad.

American Journal News: Earle-Sears takes $40K from DeVos family

• Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, has accepted $40,000 in donations from former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her family.

• DeVos, who served in the first Trump administration, has dedicated her career to defunding and dismantling public schools.

• “[DeVos] has worked against the best interests of public schools,” the National Education Association said in 2020. “From proposing funding cuts to promoting privatization to rolling back protections for vulnerable children, she has ignored the voices of educators across the country about what students need.”

• Earle-Sears is also backed by the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group funded by DeVos. The group argues that public money should be allowed to fund private and religious school tuitions, typically through tax credits or vouchers.

• The group gave $1,500 to Earle-Sears’ campaign in March and previously donated $15,000 to Earle-Sears’ super PAC in 2023.

• Earle-Sears is a proponent of school choice policies and penned an op-ed for the Roanoke Star in January 2024 endorsing bills in the Virginia legislature that would’ve brought school choice to the state.

• Despite Earle-Sears’s claims, experts say that school choice diverts funds from public schools without expanding educational access.

• [Her opponent Abigail] Spanberger, who has three children enrolled in Virginia public schools, has made strengthening public education a centerpiece of her campaign.

• “As Virginia’s next Governor, Abigail will work aggressively to get schools the funding they need, address Virginia’s teacher shortage, and provide teachers with training and support,” Spanberger’s website says. “She will oppose efforts that seek to erode faith in our public schools or take public dollars out of public schools.”