Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Melanie Asmar on July 17, 2017
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is expected to have lunch in Denver Thursday with hundreds of conservative state lawmakers, lobbyists and business leaders from around the country.
DeVos is scheduled to speak at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting.
The group, which is best known for crafting “model” legislation advancing conservative principles, hadn’t previously released the details of DeVos’s appearance, explaining last week that the timing was still being worked out. The group’s meeting runs Wednesday through Friday. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver and is not open to the public.
DeVos’s public schedule shows she will be in Denver Thursday. An ALEC spokesman confirmed she’ll address the meeting during lunch.
She will be one of several speakers at that time. Others scheduled to appear include Colorado State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a potential candidate for governor, and former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett, who served during the Reagan administration.
A protest of DeVos’s ALEC appearance that is scheduled for Wednesday morning will go on as planned, a spokesman for the Colorado Education Association said.
The lineup of speakers expected at the protest include the president of the Jefferson County teachers union, teachers, students and a parent. Political candidates are also expected to speak, including state Sen. Andy Kerr, a Lakewood Democrat and teacher who is running for Congress.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
