Tea Party U.S. Senator (R. PA) has been facing a lot of pressure to reject Trump’s Education Secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos. U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D. PA) has already come out in opposition of DeVos nominee and Governor Tom Wolf (D. PA) Tweeted out his opposition highlighting how education funding is a crucial issue in Pennsylvania:
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D. PA) is even getting involved in putting the pressure on Toomey:
On the eve of the vote, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney penned an open letter to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey urging him to "vote no on Mrs. DeVos" and noting the progress that's been made in Philadelphia schools, which Kenney says will be jeopardized under DeVos' leadership.
"I urge you to deny her confirmation as Secretary of Education and do what’s right for our children and the future prosperity of our nation. We have made so much progress here in Philadelphia over the past year to improve our education system. We’ve created an affordable, quality pre-K program, a move that was urged and supported by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. We’ve implemented a Community Schools strategy to address our students’ non-academic needs, so that our hardworking teachers can focus on instruction."
Kenney went on to invite Toomey to join him on a visit to a Philadelphia school to "see for yourself."
Toomey’s constituents have been angry because they’ve had a hard time reaching him:
Lots of Pennsylvanians angry about President Trump’s cabinet picks, refugee/immigrant travel ban, plans to repeal Obamacare, or all of the above, say they can’t get Sen. Pat Toomey — who supports all of the above — to hear, read, or respond to their concerns.
There’ve been news stories about a group called “Tuesdays With Toomey” protesting outside one or more of the senator’s offices (there are seven in the state), and stories of always-busy Toomey phones and faxes, voice-mail boxes too full to take messages, and general unresponsiveness from Toomey.
Here’s a sample email I got on the issue:
“I am extremely frustrated in my attempts to contact Patrick Toomey (my representative in the senate). I have repeatedly tried to get through on the phone and have actually gone to his local office to try to voice my concerns to him. … I have not been able to leave a message (let alone speak to someone from his office). I have not even been able to get a fax through to his office! This is absolutely unacceptable.”
That came from Felicia Bloom, who, after I responded to her, said she’s a 54-year-old Montgomery County nurse, married to a physician and worried about people losing their health care. She says she’s not political but attended three protests in the last two weeks — “three more than I have ever been to in my entire life!”
I and other political writers got a steady stream of emails Monday about frustration/anger with Toomey.
They follow a pattern of complaints about unanswered calls or emails, and in most cases contain similar language about Toomey's failing to listen to constituents.
So they’ve taken the fight to his home:
A small group of protesters staged their own choreographed Super Bowl Sunday performance outside U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s Pennsylvania home.
"We won't stop callin,' stop callin.' How you gonna vote on the floor?" the sign-carrying crowd form the Caucus of Working Educators sang, inspired by the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s "Telephone" and her halftime performance during the Super Bowl.
They continued, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, she don't speak for me. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, vote no on Betsy." And the demonstration ended with a man dressed as a football referee tossing a yellow penalty flag in the air for "Pat Toomey dropping the ball on Betsy DeVos."
But this is the most creative way to call out Toomey:
Meanwhile, a Philadelphia teaching artist who started a crowdfunding campaign to “buy” Toomey’s vote surpassed her funding goal and was poised on Monday to raise $70,000, money she has pledged to Philadelphia charities that support children.
More than 4,000 people donated to Katherine Fritz’s cause, which has attracted national attention.
The backlash against DeVos, a Michigan philanthropist who has derided public schools and backed charter schools and vouchers, has been widespread. She is viewed with suspicion by progressives for never having attended or sent children to a public school, and her unsteady performance at her confirmation exacerbated their mistrust.
Fritz said she was flabbergasted to note that her GoFundMe campaign was almost at $70,000. Her goal was $60,000 — roughly the amount DeVos has donated to Toomey — but her expectations were far more modest.
“I thought I would raise $30,” she said. “I thought people would recognize it as a joke. It never really crossed my mind that somebody would see this and actually get their credit cards out.”
That such a staggering sum — more than double what she has ever earned in a year, Fritz said — poured forth in just four days means something significant, she said. Teachers have been organizing protests, and parents have been calling, faxing and emailing Toomey for weeks, rarely able to get through but still trying.
Fritz said she started the campaign out of frustration and anger that someone who couldn’t distinguish between proficiency and growth, who seemed confused about the federal law protecting disabled students’ rights, might be the top education official in the country.
And people responded, mostly in small sums — $5, $10, $25. Some left messages — “Our democracy is at risk,” and “My husband and I are both music teachers with two toddlers at home. If Betsy DeVos is appointed and our positions get cut, I'll be coming to you, Sen. Toomey, for a job and student loan money.” Fritz was riveted.
Click here to check out the GoFundMe campaign.
And Toomey is feeling the pressure because this message has been spreading on Facebook:
So keep up the pressure on Toomey. Below are all his office locations and contact information:
Washington, D.C.
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4254
Fax: (202) 228-0284
Scranton
538 Spruce Street
Suite 302
Scranton, PA 18503
Phone: (570) 941-3540
Fax: (570) 941-3544
Allentown/Lehigh Valley
1150 S. Cedar Crest Blvd Suite 101
Allentown, PA 18103
Phone: (610) 434-1444
Toll-free phone (for callers in PA): 1-855-552-1831
Fax: (610) 434-1844
Philadelphia
8 Penn Center
1628 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Suite 1702
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 241-1090
Fax: (215) 241-1095
Harrisburg
United States Federal Building
228 Walnut St.
Suite 1104
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 782-3951
Fax: (717) 782-4920
Johnstown
Richland Square III, Suite 302
1397 Eisenhower Blvd
Johnstown, PA 15904
Phone: (814) 266-5970
Fax: (814) 266-5973
Pittsburgh
100 W. Station Square Dr.
Suite 225
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 803-3501
Fax: (412) 803-3504
Erie
United States Federal Building
17 South Park Row
Suite B-120
Erie, PA 16501
Phone: (814) 453-3010
Fax: (814) 455-9925