The drama continues about who will lead Donald Trump’s Education Department.
Education Week wrote that he will meet with Michelle Rhee. Rhee claims to be a Democrat but is a fierce opponent of teachers’ unions and an outspoken advocate for charter schools and vouchers. She has been the public face of the “reform” movement since she became chancellor of the D.C. public schools in 2007.
However, she is a strong advocate of the Common Core standards, and a group of parent activists have spoken out against both Rhee and Eva Moskowitz for supporting the CC. They prefer Bill Evers of the Hoover Institution. Moskowitz has already removed her name from contention.
Whoever is chosen will have the job of using $20 billion in federal funds to promote charter schools and vouchers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The title of this article makes no sense. Don’t you mean “Common Core Opponents Oppose Her?” Am I missing something?
LikeLike
The title of your article makes no sense. Don’t you mean “Common Core OPPONENTS Oppose Her?” Am I missing something?
LikeLike
Thanks, Joanne. My error. I revised the title.
LikeLike
Michelle Rhee is a Trump type person so be prepared for the worst.
LikeLike
Please don’t generalize. Hillary supported Common Core. At least Trump SAYS he doesn’t. And many of us who oppose Common Core and also voted for Trump do NOT support Rhee! I wish you’d all stop with the politics unless it REALLY applies to schools (and often it doesn’t).
LikeLike
I was referring to Trump’s character and not his educational policies.
LikeLike
I think electing a racist,sexist xenophobe relates to schools.
LikeLike
Rhee and Trump share much in common. Both have invited television cameras to broadcast themselves enjoying firing people from their jobs. (Sociopathy.) One has abused women with little hands, and the other publicly, proudly claimed to have abused children with tape. (Sociopathy.) One is married to a statutory rapist and seems to be okay with that, and the other has gone backstage at beauty contests to view undressed, underage girls. (Sociopathy.) Neither has ever understood or respected teachers, families, or children. Both are racist. Both are cruel toward others. Both are narcissistic. Both are just plain mean.
It’s a perfect fit. Let Donald Trump and Michelle Rhee expose privatization and data mongering as the sociopathic, aristocratic, racist, rapacious, extreme right connivances they are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Public school teachers and principals have to create strong bonds with parents and enable parents to partner with teachers in guiding the learning and social,emotional development of our youth. To do less is to turnover the education of our children to charter schools organized by hedge funds, private profiteers and executives who grant themselves $567,000 plus benefits and entitlements to special services.
The charter school is the greatest threat to public schools and the greatest fraud imposed on communities in the USA. There is no evidence that charter schools serve the needs of students better than similar schools do in the public sector. There is evidence that charter school executives benefit personally at much greater financially outcomes than public school leaders. Hedge funds offer loans to charter schools with higher interest rates than banks offer and with easier terms because the hedge fund leaders know that they have guaranteed returns from municipal tax bases.
People who want good public schools should connect with local school leaders, teachers and school board members to build a coalition of public school supporters who will encourage deep partnerships between parents and classroom teachers. The public schools hold the very roots of our democracy and must be protected and cherished if our republic of the United States of America is to survive the 21st Century.
LikeLike
And, Ivanka just met Eva and toured a Success Academy. Think they’re looking for schools for trump’s grandkids?
I wish I could laugh…
LikeLike
No doubt Ivanka wanted to learn Eva’s secrets of training the children of the poor
LikeLike
Trump’s election has brought forth the loonies, fringe, and unbalanced. It’s like a bad scene from Rocky Horror Picture Show with a time warp in Trump Tower.
LikeLike
I suggest writing your Congressman (or woman). Don’t be shrill or over the top. Say why you care, and why Rhee is a bad choice. If your representative is part of the transition team – even better and all the more reason to speak your mind before the choice is made.
LikeLike
OK – where is our unified online platform to organize all of the parents and teachers (for instance, those who just successfully defeated the initiatives in GA and MA? We need a central spot.
LikeLike
Tamara,
Start with the Network for Public Education. We exist to unify parents, educators, and everyone else who wants to defend our public schools.
LikeLike
This is one more example of Trump betraying his supporters. He campaigned vocally against the Common Core. You wouldn’t think Rhee would be allowed across the threshold at Trump Tower!
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/10/501426803/can-president-trump-get-rid-of-common-core
LikeLike
I’m just curious why anyone believes Donald Trump “opposes” the Common Core.
He said a lot of things in his campaign. How many of them were true? Zero? 50%? Who knows?
He also said all public schools were “terrible”. Do his supporters believe that?
Here’s what we know so far about Donald Trump. He toured a charter school in Ohio and met with Moskowitz. That’s it.
I’d wait and see if he stands by or delivers on ANYTHING before I’d rely on something Donald Trump said.
LikeLike
Maybe ed reformers who support the Common Core are meeting with Donald Trump because Donald Trump can’t “repeal” the Common Core because the Common Core isn’t a federal law.
He could never “repeal” the Common Core. That’s impossible for him to do. It isn’t a federal law. The President can’t “repeal” state law. Is he planning on banning the Common Core nationally? He can’t do that, either.
Not much risk of Common Core supporters who also support charters and vouchers from aligning with Donald Trump since Trump can’t repeal state laws unless the state laws adopting the Common Core are found to be unconstitutional which will never happen because it isn’t unconstitutional for STATES to adopt standards.
I’m not getting why anyone believed this when he said it. It’s absolute nonsense.
LikeLike
“Ultimately, Cato’s McCluskey echoes the standards’ defenders: “Unless Trump tries to coerce states to dump the Core — make receipt of funds or regulatory relief dependent on ditching it — he can’t end the Core.”
True. So why did anyone believe his nonsense about repealing the Common Core?
It’s the easiest promise in the world to make. He CAN’T fulfill this promise. It’s impossible.
States were “coerced” into adopting the Common Core for a share of 4 billion dollars nationally? That’s not enough to “coerce” any state to do anything.
Our governors and state assemblies adopted the Common Core because they supported it- Republicans and Democrats. They lie about being “coerced” because their political base is upset with them and it’s easier to blame Duncan than take responsibility for it.
LikeLike
State lawmakers and governors will say the same thing about Trump’s voucher plan. They’ll say they wanted a share of the 20 billion Trump is dangling so they must change state law to adopt vouchers.
That’s nonsense too. Trump’s plan will give each private school student 1500 dollars. That’s not NEARLY enough to cover the cost to states and state lawmakers can add and subtract- they know it. They’ll have to pour state ed funding into vouchers, just like they poured state ed funding into Common Core.
When they do that will Trump’s conservative supporters be screaming about federal overreach and “coercion”? No. But it’s exactly the same thing! And 20 billion dollars is a heck of a lot more of federal “coercion” than the 4 billion dollar RttT funding.
20 billion dollars to change state law on vouchers is HUGE federal intervention. If they were upset about the Common Core they should be livid about the voucher plan, unless they’re absolute hypocrites. I’ll bet you 5 dollars they’re all hypocrites.
Trump can’t hand out 20 billion in federal dollars for vouchers and says he’s opposed to federal intervention in public schools. That IS federal intervention into public schools.
Because they spout this contradictory and nonsensical stuff doesn’t mean anyone has to swallow it.
LikeLike
I’m curious which version of Dr. Figlio’s research, Fordham will highlight. The real finding that Ohio vouchers are a failure or, the faux “finding” about competition benefit. It’s worth noting that the Fordham Institute (1) uses, Ohio monopoly newspapers, to communicate the pro-competition message and (2) is funded by the Walton’s, no strangers to monopoly.. .Oh, the irony or, should we say “hypocrisy”? l think I recall a recent posted example of the latter, cited by one of the Institute’s employees, in reference to the demographic profile of the Institute’s top management.
LikeLike
Trump’s voucher plan actually goes FURTHER on federal “coercion” of states because it’s not additional funding- he’s taking the voucher money from existing state funding for public schools!
Trump will be rewriting state law on vouchers thru federal funding of vouchers, and he’ll be doing it in a way that is MUCH more “coercive” because states will LOSE federal funding if they don’t adopt vouchers.
I guarantee every conservative in the country will forget all about “local control” when it comes to federal “coercion” on vouchers. Why? Because they support vouchers!
So much for the principles of federalism. Endlessly flexible, those “principles”. Thrown in the trash every time there’s a GOP President and then retrieved when it’s time to scream about “overreach” to win elections.
LikeLike
Did Arne Duncan do any more damage than Michelle Rhee would have done? RTTT effectively mandated VAM, reinforced all the worst elements of NCLB, and did nothing to discourage privatization. With 33 Republican governors, ESSA giving more control to the states, and creationists like Ben Carson under consideration for Secretary of Education what could possibly go wrong in the next four years?
LikeLike
He may like the way she fired a principal on camera.
LikeLike
Trump and Rhee share this philosophy: “You’re fired!”
LikeLike
More than supporting the Comon Core, Michelle Rhee exceeds expectation at being a yes-person and will be a loyal servant for Trump, representing his free market views.
Why, I can even see the Trump Foundation moving into voucher schools with Ivanka at the helm. It is a goldmine for their foundation once the right laws are in place. It will be a lot to stomach, hearing them in their respective pulpits.
LikeLike