Indiana teachers hold sit-in at office of senator linked to Betsy DeVos


On Thursday, a group of teachers held a sit-in at the office of Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), calling on the newly elected official to recuse himself from the vote on Betsy DeVos as education secretary.
The teachers say Young has a conflict of interest, because DeVos' family gave him more than $48,000 last year, WTHR reports. Young sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is scheduled to vote on DeVos' nomination next week. DeVos is a billionaire who has no experience with public education and has spent decades lobbying for taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools. "Why would she pay so much, with so much desire to have this job, if she were unqualified for it?" one teacher said to WTHR. "We have her own words stating the reason she has made these large donations is because she wants this job."
Young's staff told WTHR he has no plans to recuse himself, arguing that other senators have received donations from previous Cabinet picks.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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