[Mr Sauer submitted the following response to Mr Howell’s 11mar17 critique of Mr Sauer’s Union column on renewing America’s public education system.  My own response to Mr Howell is found here.  gjr]

Norm Sauer

Rich Howell, a retired union member educator, attacked my column “Making Education Great” wherein I demonstrated by factual examples Democrat senators showing more concern for powerful teachers’ unions than poor minority children’s education in vetting Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.

Mrs. DeVos founded the American Federation for Children advocating all children, and especially minorities, are entitled to the same educational opportunities as their betters through school choice.  Democrat Senator Cory Hooker voted against Mrs. DeVos as Education Secretary, but in 2012 at a pro- American Federation for Children event publicly proclaimed, “I cannot . . . ever stand against a parent having options.  I am going to fight for. . choice.”

Howell’s piece argues: “It is not poverty, per se, that makes inner city schools inferior . . . statistics for the past century (show) that achievement scores follow socioeconomic lines.”  Continuing illogically, he accuses Republicans aren’t supportive of education for all.  So, why his criticism of Mrs. DeVos and 70% of Americans who favor good educational choices for all our children?

Rational minds boggle that Democrats like Hooker and Howell immorally support powerful teachers unions and continuation of our ghettos’ failing schools to lock minority children into poverty.