Our new Secretary-of-Education designate Betsy DeVos has an Ohio problem, writes Stephen Dyer of Progress Ohio.
“DeVos has a bad history here in Ohio. In 2006, she allowed David Brennan to launder campaign cash through her All Children Matter PAC. That led to the largest fine ever levied against a candidate or PAC by the Ohio Elections Commission — $5.2 million. By all accounts, that fine was larger than all fines put together.
DeVos is an avowed school choice champion. She has been politically active to elect pro-school choice candidates around the country. And there is little question she would continue to push for more vouchers and charter schools as Secretary.
However, there’s not a great track record with federal charter school investment. Just in Ohio, we found that about 1/3 of all the money sent to grow high-quality charters went to charters that closed shortly after receiving the federal funding, or never opened in the first place.
In all other federal grant programs, only 2% of the entities failed or failed to open.”
DeVos is an ideologue and extremist. She will destroy public education in four years as Secretary. She might be ignored as a garden-variety crank except for the fact that she is a billionaire and her family gives millions to Republican candidates and to their favorite conservative causes. The Republican senators will fawn on her at her hearings. Will the Democratic candidates stand up for public education and fight her nomination?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When these bullionaires start running up against campaign finance laws in Michigan, they just bribe and bully the Legislature to change the laws, recently doubling the cap on spending, for example.
http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-family-foundations-heritage-americans-prosperity-blackwater
this is a must read….
I pledge to what I can in Ohio. But win or lose, the last sentence of your post is the essential question.
“to do what I can”…please Diane, figure out a way that we can edit our comments. I’m a terrible proof reader of my own writing until it’s too late. I always see my mistakes after they’re posted.
This is a quote from Betsy DeVos found in the book Dark Money by journalist Jane Mayer.
To all bottomless greedy corporate:
There is an aphorism that “good deed returns good deed” and “evil follows evil.”
Please do not twist the sentimental ideology in order to LOOT TAX PAYERS’ money for personal gain.
From the beginning of the civilization in America, Americans prefer to work hard and to live with freedom. Most of all, America open its arms to welcome immigrants from all parts in the world.
Today, America is the multicultural country and with its well known Constitutions with definition of Republic :
re•pub•lic
rəˈpəblik/
noun
A state in which supreme power is HELD BY THE PEOPLE (= AND MORE THAN 70 YEARS, more Americans are DEMOCRATS, according to PEW research) and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
archaic
a group with a certain EQUALITY between its members.
Here is the link:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-republican/485486/
“…As Pew put it: “For MORE THAN 70 YEARS, with few exceptions, MORE AMERICANS have identified AS DEMOCRATS than Republicans.”
In short, I hope that by now Americans can see the true color in all “bottomless greedy” business corporate with twisted mind. Back2basic
Perhaps the ONLY silver lining in this is that the Democrats and the American public will wake up to what has already been happening under Bush and Obama. DeVos and Trump will surely speed up the privatization process. Perhaps the Dems will now condemn what readers of this blog have been fighting for years. Let’s hope the Dems will fight for our kids and communities by preserving and supporting our public schools.
I’m going to enJOY family and turkey today. Tomorrow the fight begins anew. I have many blessings for which to give thanks. My public school educated son was just offered a full tuition scholarship to OSU Law and Salmon P. Chase Law. He is still waiting for other acceptances but is so far 4/4. Not bad for a PUBLIC school kid. I hope he runs for office some day and cleans the reformers clocks. Son #2 is 3/3 in undergrad acceptances so far. Again, too bad they attend America’s failing public schools insert eye roll here.
So this seems like enough information for her to be removed from consideration or removed from office if she gets approved.