In a late night tweet, one of New Jersey’s most powerful union bosses stated that she hopes Education Secretary Betsy Devos “dies a horrible, horrible death.”
As head of the state workers’ union, New Jersey’s Hetty Rosenstein is arguably one of the most powerful union bosses in the state.
As a result, Rosenstein’s words carry some weight—especially to her 32,000 members and especially when she decides to go on a late-night twitter rant hoping that the Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, “dies a horrible, horrible death.”
Rosenstein, the state director of the Communications Workers of America, tweeted the comment on Wednesday night, “linking a story about the $18 million in proposed special education cuts, which are themselves part of almost $7 billion in cuts to the country’s federal education budget,” reported the New Jersey Globe.
On Thursday, after locking her twitter account, Rosenstein reportedly stated that she now regrets the late-night tweet.
“I don’t know the last time I heard such horrible news or felt such despair. I had just posted that I couldn’t sleep. And so I said something out of that despair that I regret. I should not have said it,” she said in a statement Thursday.
“I am a leader and I should have mustered something to help to inspire others to continue to fight for justice and to fight the power and privilege and immorality of the politics of DeVos. Instead I carelessly gave in to my own pain.”
“Every day, each and every minute of my life, I will continue to fight for justice, equality and peace and I will do better in my constructive resistance to evil and injustice in the future,” she continued.
Some on Twitter are calling for Rosenstein’s resignation.
The CWA's Hetty Rosenstein should resign. Immediately.
h/t @NikitaBiryukov_ for breaking this story. https://t.co/Ulz7UjJNFw
— Matt Rooney (@MattRooneyNJ) March 27, 2019
Remove her from office
— Kim Becker (@CICKB) March 28, 2019
Others are asking why her union, the Communications Workers of America has not denounced her statement.
Sounds like @CWA_NJ has no issue with this. Have they denounced it yet? How about the national @CWAUnion? This is their stand until they denounce it, fire her and make a donation to a pro-DeVos c3. Aren't those the rules the left wrote? #Alinsky
— Rick Shaftan (@Shaftan) March 27, 2019
Although Rosenstein’s criticism was with regard to budget cuts at the Education Department, Devos responded to general criticisms with a statement on the Department’s website:
“It is unacceptable, shameful and counterproductive that the media and some members of Congress have spun up falsehoods and fully misrepresented the facts.
“Make no mistake: we are focused every day on raising expectations and improving outcomes for infants and toddlers, children and youth with disabilities, and are committed to confronting and addressing anything that stands in the way of their success.
“The President’s budget reflects that commitment. It supports our nation’s 7 million students with disabilities through a $13.2 billion request for IDEA funding, the same funding level appropriated by Congress. All of that money goes directly to states to ensure students with disabilities have the resources and supports they need. The budget also requests an additional $225.6 million for competitively awarded grants to support teacher preparation, research and technical assistance to support students with disabilities.
“The Special Olympics is not a federal program. It’s a private organization. I love its work, and I have personally supported its mission. Because of its important work, it is able to raise more than $100 million every year. There are dozens of worthy nonprofits that support students and adults with disabilities that don’t get a dime of federal grant money. But given our current budget realities, the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations.”
