INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Indiana State Teachers Association staged a protest Monday at the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke about an “ambitious expansion” of school choice at a nearby hotel.

DeVos spoke Monday at the American Federation for Children’s national policy summit about “a transformation that will open up America’s closed and antiquated education system” with the “most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation’s history,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

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Before the address, the Indianapolis State Teachers Association gathered anti-school choice interests in front of the Statehouse across the street to denounce the move and badmouth Trump’s education secretary.

The teachers union advertised the protest through Facebook and other avenues, but only a few dozen made it out Monday evening to put on a show. ISTA members chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho, Betsy DeVos has got to go,” while others toted picket signs reading “education is a civil right” and “equal education for all!”

ISTA President Teresa Meredith used the opportunity to take personal pot shots at DeVos, and attempt to paint those at the AFC conference as enemies of education.

“All of us here are parents, educators and advocates for kids and we are in strong opposition to national vouchers. Betsy DeVos lacks the awareness and understanding of even the most basic education issues, having never ever worked in a public school, attended a public school, or even sent her children to a public school,” Meredith said, according to a video posted to the ISTA Facebook page.

“DeVos came into office with the intention to promote voucher programs nationwide, as she did here in Indiana through her political action committee,” Meredith continued. “We in Indiana know that vouchers take scarce funding away from public schools and gives it to private, often religious schools that are unaccountable to the public.”

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Meredith, of course, did not discuss public schools in Indiana or elsewhere that have remained open for decades despite dismal academics, and churned out generations of uneducated students who can barely read their own diplomas.

Nor did she discuss how parents hold schools accountable through school choice, by sending their children to the schools that best serve their needs, instead of assigned public schools with long track records of failure.

Virtually all of the few dozen protesters who attended the ISTA rally depend on the public school system for their livelihood, and union officials undoubtedly fear that true school choice will create stronger competition with public schools.

The focus and message was much different inside the AFC summit, where DeVos told the Star the Trump administration is “focusing on what works for … students and focusing on that.”

DeVos said “the president is proposing the most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation’s history,” but the plan will be optional for states.

“ … If a state doesn’t want to participate, that would be a terrible mistake on their part,” DeVos said. “They will be hurting the children and families who can least afford it.”

DeVos played a critical role as head of the AFC when the group worked to push for Indiana’s voucher program, which is now the largest in the country with 34,000 students and more than 300 private schools participating, the Star reports.

DeVos said details on a nationwide school choice expansion will be coming soon, but stressed that she’s working with urgency to implement profound changes in the American education system that are long overdue.

“We must acknowledge that the future is bleak for millions of students if we only continue to tinker around the edges with education reform,” she said, according to The Washington Times. “We’ve had 30 years of ‘reform.’ Ad while we celebrate the progress that has been made, each year there are still far too many kids falling through the cracks.”

The AFC summit drew about 400 attendees and featured students who benefited from school choice opportunities in several states.

“Millions of families are currently benefiting from choice programs, and millions more stand to benefit from having further educational options for their child,” said AFC chairman Bill Oberndorf in a statement. “We look forward to more details about the school choice proposals and, ultimately, hope to see a federal education tax credit included in broader tax reform later this year.”