Julie Vassilatos, an activist parent of children in the Chicago public schools, writes here about Betsy DeVos.
She begins by offering a round up of some of the best posts about DeVos. We all must get up to speed on who she is.
In addition to being a fervent advocate for vouchers and charters, she has given generously to anti-gay organizations and organizations that promote creationism. I am trying to imagine what the U.S. Department of Education will do under her leadership backwards.
Julie points out that Arne Duncan paved the way for DeVos. Duncan and his Department made school choice a priority, leaving an opening for the next step, which is vouchers.
She would not have been able to accomplish what she did in Michigan without the federal government’s encouragement of privatization efforts for the past 8 years. She would not now be poised to bring full privatization to the nation if the field had not been tilled for this for the past 8 years. Duncan’s Department of Ed absolutely created the conditions for Betsy DeVos. She may be different in emphasis, but not in kind from Arne Duncan. She touts charters, choice, and competition; Duncan’s Department of Ed touted charters, choice, and competition. She likes vouchers; the Department of Ed never definitively closed the door on vouchers. She has given millions to unregulated charters; so did the Department of Ed. Federal visa policy and the New Market Tax Credit created the conditions to make charters very big–global–business.
All that was settled years ago. Now corporate ed control is poised to succeed in a totalizing way; all that was needed was a billionaire secretary of education who knows absolutely nothing about public education, is purely ideology-driven, and is well-practiced at controlling legislators with her cash.
Don’t fool yourselves–DeVos isn’t the sudden end of the world for public education, like a bomb being dropped. She’s more like the result of a slow-traveling virus or a zombie invasion. Our schools have been in peril for years. Now I think we will be able to see it more clearly. It’s time to get to work.
You can start here, by signing your name to the Network for Public Education’s letter to legislators insisting they not confirm her.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane writes: “Don’t fool yourselves–DeVos isn’t the sudden end of the world for public education, like a bomb being dropped. She’s more like the result of a slow-traveling virus or a zombie invasion.”
Yes, but it’s becoming exponential? As your Democracy Now talk suggested? The “ALEC and the Oligarchs” (sounds like a children’s book) loose group of deplorables, working out of the Rove/Fox/Arendt propaganda playbooks, have made the lie into a reality in people’s heads just by repetition of the idea (branding); for instance, the idea that public schools are a horrible place to put your children; the awful teacher problem (they want to replace teachers with computers [teacher salaries are of course way too high or even unnecessary], like electric lights for candles or autos for horses); and government regulations are bad for all of us (???), even though they are about preserving basic safety?
The difference is technology and huge sums of money in the hands of ignorant (even well-meaning) people, and the smell of MORE-MORE-MORE profit, makes a small and manageable problem in a democratic system into a large problem that, in effect, and whether intentional or not, will kill that same system. They wanted change, they’re getting it.
LikeLike
Catherine, please excuse Diane from the quoted words–they are mine. I think it is a mistake to blame solely ALEC/Rove/Fox/generally the Right for the myths you outline above because we have been hearing them repeated ad nauseum by Democrats for many years. “Trapped in failing schools”? Uttered by Rahm Emanuel approximately 1000 times since his election as our mayor in Chicago. “Great teachers” saving our schools (as if there are thousands of awful ones)? A constant refrain from Duncan. Endless blather about school choice? Find me Democrats who don’t spout this. The real challenge about DeVos is going to be, which corporate reform Democrats will accept her; which will condemn her–and what will be their reasons? I can’t wait to hear. My point about DeVos is that she is really the logical end to the path we’re already on. It’s a bad end to a bad path. Folks who didn’t see this coming weren’t paying enough attention.
LikeLike
juliecv: I think you are right insofar as hoarding oligarchs are basically chameleons and identify with either party, or both/all, depending on who does their bidding on particular issues. I don’t think, however, or haven’t seen any evidence for a concerted effort on the part of democrats towards the dismantling and destruction of public institutions in general (including education) as is obvious, more now than ever, in the Republican and/or Libertarian camps.
LikeLike
juliecv: An addendum to my response to your note. About, as you say, the right–my own words were about the propaganda playbook that has come about since Rove and Fox came on the scene and, particularly, Fox and right-wing radio, like Rush Limbaugh–have you ever listened to what many people listen to, whose jobs are about driving, or just what’s available to drive home to. There is a kind of unreasoning, leering hate out there that has been “in the air” for a very long time. It’s propaganda pure and simple, calls itself Republican, identifies with all of the “isms” and biases of right wing extremism, and speaks to those who, now in their game-show mentality, have chosen the wrong door. I wonder when they’ll realize it.
It’s not all about divisions of education and, with it, an inability to understand when being conned. But this aspect of our “culture,” having listened for so long, are a good-sized part of it. It includes the woman at the hairdresser who thought Trump was going to pay to have her teeth fixed–because he has a lot of money.
Way too many don’t even understand the difference between Republican and Democrat, except to hate one and love the other, or what it means to themselves if everything is privatized and deregulated. That’s a product of well-developed propaganda; and a good amount of it is generated from the right wing.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
LikeLike
Signed and shared with colleagues. DeVos and her uninformed ideas need to be stopped.
LikeLike
Donald Trump can effectively be thought of as the significant part of Obama’s legacy.
LikeLike
Michael Fiorillo writes: “Donald Trump can effectively be thought of as the significant part of Obama’s legacy.”
Right. Like Hillary is responsible for all of the sexism she engendered, so Obama is responsible for all of the racism that, in good part, rests at the bottom of the Obstructionist Party Agenda. There are a whole group of people there who just don’t like it that Black people were eating off the plates and using the silverware at the White House. They wouldn’t be happy unless he finally said: “Yes Massah.”
LikeLike
Signing letters is good, but the phone calls to your senators need to keep happening as well. It has to be a constant effort, amd we have to get more people to commit to spending the few minutes a week it takes to just keep hammering away at this massively anti-qualified grifter who is poised to buy and leverage an agenda into place that the majority of Americans oppose.
LikeLike