Plea to DeVos: Don’t cut city $
DECLARING “I am a Muslim, too,” Mayor de Blasio and hundreds of protesters rallied Sunday against President Trump’s immigration policies that many say target members of the faith.
“An attack on anybody’s faith is an attack on all people of faith,” de Blasio told the crowd in Times Square. “I’m proud to say today I am a Muslim, too,” he said. “This is about defending everything the country has always been about.”
Trump, who said during the campaign he wanted to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., issued an order last month instead temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries, as well as all refugees. The courts have blocked his order, but he’s expected to issue a revised version soon.
The rally was organized by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton tweeted that she brought her daughter Charlotte for the tot’s first protest.
“Unlike many of you who have declared that today you’re a Muslim, too, I was born a Muslim and I’ve been a Muslim all my life,” said Daisy Khan, founder of the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality. “Muslims are viewed as the other, while we have to struggle with the rising tide of extremism. Now more than ever is the time for unity.” CITY SCHOOLS Chancellor Carmen Fariña urged President Trump’s new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, on Sunday not to cut funding for New York’s public schools.
Fariña, appearing on the John Catsimatidis radio show, said she’s ready to work with DeVos despite their ideological differences, but stressed that reducing the city’s federal funds would hurt the most vulnerable kids.
“I think certainly to keep the funding at least at the level that it is now — increase it if necessary,” Fariña said. “We have a tremendous amount of vulnerable children in our schools, and most of the funding that comes from the federal government is for those specific students.”
DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist who supports charter schools and vouchers for students to attend private schools at public expense, was confirmed with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Pence on Feb. 7.
DeVos drew a backlash after visiting a middle school in Washington, D.C., this month, where she described teachers as “waiting to be told what they have to do.”