Cory Booker has a warm relationship with Billionaire Betsy DeVos. But an ambitious Democrat can’t admit his admiration for a member of Trump’s cabinet in waiting.
Booker loves school choice. He made a mess of Newark with DeVos’s ideas. He was trying to turn it into Detroit and things didn’t go well. Journalist Dale Russakoff wrote a book, “The Prize,” about Booker’s ideological folly.
What’s a guy to do? Follow his heart and vote for her? Or follow his head and stay in good standing with his party?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Unfortunately, too many politicians on both sides of the aisle are not well educated about education. Teachers and teacher educators who care about public education for all students need to meet face to face with these legislators and tell their stories as well as share research. Thanks for helping us become more political Diane Ravitch!
Get political or lose your profession
This is a great motto–short, to the point & the truth.
Get political or lose public education
Lose public education and lose our democracy
Two mottos, all Americans, who care about the nation, should heed.
LOL. Love your sense of humor, Diane!
It’s all about choice. For instance, while traveling, what fast food place do I stop at to use the bathroom while avoiding the unhealthy cancer causing, heart attack, addictive tasting food?
Absolutely correct, Diane. Cory Booker practically destroyed Newark Education with DeVos’ ‘philosophies’ which promoted charters and eliminated most arts programs, etc. He was busy in Manhattan raising$ for his U.S.Senate campaign. By the way, what ever became of the $100 Million FaceBook $ that Booker promised? When Booker ran for his 2nd term as mayor, it was amazing how many long time Newark residents had seen through his phoniness.
TFMcA,
1. Read Dale Russakoff’s The Prize to learn some aspects of $200 million ($100 Zuckerberg, $100 matching).
2. Also read Jersey Jazzman’s blog re Russakoff.
3. Bob Braun’s Ledger Dec 9, 2014 “Who says you can’t make big bucks in public education?” is a must-read. He cites fees paid by Anderson to Turnaround for Children consultants from the gift.
The Prize by Dale Russakoff
I’ve directly confronted Booker online—in a respectful and professional way. The first time he claimed that I “must have completely misunderstood” who he was and what he was trying to do.
When I followed up and asked more questions, he ignored me—for over two years now, and counting…
No doubt that this upcoming vote will tell us a lot about where Cory Booker really stands on K-12 education.
Where he stands now. He’ll stand somewhere else if the political winds shift.
The political winds shift with money. Is there a wind storm of money, on the way from the richest 0.1%, that will shift course toward the common good?
Cory will vote against Betsy because it is a done deal. If the vote were a tie, he would vote for her.
Yes.
It’s not about “heart”, it’s about dollars.
Politicians are addicted to D.C. For the majority, serving the people and democracy, aren’t objectives. The proof is school privatization.
Sen. Booker wasn’t the first with the idea, former Georgia Gov./Sen. Talmadge made the proposal when faced with the court ruling for integration.
dianeravitch
That is the sad reality of much of Democratic party politics. It is easy to propose or support the grand programs that offend your donors, when there is not a pigs chance in hell they will pass.
However what we see time after time ,there will always be whatever the required number of democrats to cross over and vote with Republicans, to pass destructive legislation or block progressive legislation. We saw this last year on Fast Track trade authority which rose from the grave twice. The cross overs in safe districts provide cover for the party .
It is not a matter of educating our Representatives, most know exactly what the issues are. It is who is picking up their tab while in office and once they leave.
We already know where Booker stands on education. This vote is window dressing.
Booker does everything he can to promote charters despite the fact he attended very good public school system. Hypocrite! He should know better. If he thinks charters are a “win” for urban schools, he should open his eyes to reality. Charters undermine communities as they destroy public schools. They are no solution. He should put his efforts into equitable funding for urban schools to create community schools along some plan to incentivize integration.
I wouldn’t throw a pity party for Booker!
As I said, let’s not do a repeat of Obama when Cory Booker shows up.
Amen, Ed…no drinking the Kool Aid.
Hoping Cory goes bye-bye (nationally) like Christie (&, New Jersey, hope you’ll soon be rid of C.C., as well!).
Cory Booker is just another pro-choice, pro-pritzation, pro-education reform neoliberal, just like Obama, arnie dunkin, bill gates, hillary, my Colorado US senator michael bennett, rahn emanuel etc… Teacher and our unions, NEA, AFT, need to abandon the Dems and of course the republicans and go Green Party or some other progressive third party! This dinosaur two Party stupidity is killing the public school system and our profession! Or we can keep supporting the same clowns and wonder why we keep getting crapped on! Just sayin……
Those who can’t teach, make up laws about teaching.
Idiots are in charge.
Like! (very much)
I feel as if it’s a problem for Democrats in general. What distinctions do they draw between Democrats and Republicans on K-12 education?
Democrats support standardized testing in public schools slightly more than Republicans do.
Yippee! That’s a heck of platform- “exactly like Republicans except with more standardized tests”.
Or this: Republicans want a deregulated privatized system and Democrats want a regulated privatized system.
“Vote for Democrats- a slightly different version of privatization!”
This is a very exciting “debate” I must say- I can hardly stand the suspense.
The part that’s baffling to me is how DC Democrats are completely ignoring what’s happening at the state level. If you look at the last 3 governor’s races Democrats won, people rejected the Republican partly because the Republican didn’t support public education. The public threw out ed reformers out in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and North Carolina- all of those governor’s races had public education as a central theme. You would think Democrats would get a clue from this, but they’re so far into the ed reform echo chamber they can’t see it.
Why would Pennsylvania, Louisiana or North Carolina Senators vote for DeVos? Voters in their states JUST REJECTED her approach when they elected pro-public school governors. These people don’t even know what’s happening with “reforms” in the states they represent.
How can Sen. Brown of Ohio, not know? He knows that Betsy DeVos owes Ohio $5 mil. for issues related to charter school advocacy. He knows there’s a difference between ECOT and Fordham’s schools. Doesn’t it seem likely, that he DOESN’T WANT to know, the bigger picture, plot of Bill Gates, DFER and, the Walton’s ?
I’ll be listening to see which Senators speak as advocates for existing public schools. I know there will be endless discussion of their favorite subject- charters and vouchers.
I’ll be listening to see if any of these representatives bother to mention public schools.
I’m sick of having no advocates in DC. I don’t want “agnostics”. I want an advocate for the schools 90% of US children currently attend.
Charter schools have advocates in DC. Vouchers have advocates in DC. Where are the advocates for public schools in government? How is it fair that charters and vouchers get zealous advocacy and public schools are stuck with technocratic “agnostics” who believe in nothing other than vague slogans about “great schools”?
Maybe the Dems will congratulate her for supporting charters but oppose her on vouchers.
Michigan has no vouchers, just overrun with bad charters, mostly for-profit and unregulated.
The DeVos way
I know Donald Trump is from NYC, but he may be surprised to learn the rural voters who supported him don’t actually hate their local public schools.
This is one of the delusions in the echo chamber- that Republican voters loathe public schools as much as DC ed reformers do. It simply isn’t true. In fact, in conservative areas Republicans RUN public schools, which stands to reason since they’re the political majority in a lot of these places. My local school board is nonpartisan, technically, but 80% of the members are Republicans. I would bet at least 50% of teachers are Republicans here and probably 70% of public school parents.
Local Republicans don’t hate their own public schools anymore than local Democrats do. In fact, support for public schools is one of the things we have IN COMMON.
Booker needs to read some books. I suggest Reign of Error. Perhaps Diane can send him a signed copy
I can promise you that Trump has never given one minute of thought to education issues. His own children went to private schools where tuition is $50,000 a year.
Trump doesn’t care about running the country. It is obvious his goal is to use the White House to increasing his wealth, and he will make deals with all the wackos with political power in the U.S. so they will ignore all of his double dealing while he is president.
When Gates left his meeting with Littlefingers and he said Trump could be the next JFK, it was probably because Littlefingers asked Gates what he wanted Trump to do as president for Gates to offer no resistance (turn a blind eye to) and support him instead while Littlefingers bullied and looted the world for his own gain.
“. . . he may be surprised to learn the rural voters who supported him don’t actually hate their local public schools.”
Exactly! Rural public schools are many times the hub of the community with us rural folk having great pride in the public schools. That public school connects generation to generation to generation in many different ways.
This guy is not a Democrat. He pretends to be one like so many others in Congress.
The Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans when it comes to education. I’m a New York teacher and all the horrible stuff that has happened to us occurred with a Democratic Party governor and Democratic Party control of the Assembly and the Board of Regents. From testing mania to abusive and absurd teacher evaluations, to adding a four year of probation for non-tenured teachers to enactment of Tier 5 and Tier 6 pension levels, which will seriously reduce the value of the pensions and cost members hundreds of thousands of dollars over their career.
The Democrats gave us Arne Duncan and John King in Washington. Democratic Party Senator Patty Murray gave us a new national education law that doesn’t obliterate some of the worst aspects of the previous one.
So I am sick and tired of hearing how bad the GOP is on education. Yes, it is horrible. But, the Democrats have gone along with all the nonsense and in many cases actually led the way.
I am in complete agreement Fed Up.
The Cory Booker’s of the world are major reason why we have the Trump phenomenon.
Hit the nail RIGHT on the head, as usual!!!,
” Follow his heart and vote for her? Or follow his head and stay in good standing with his party?
Aren’t those the same choice??
I am off the C, Booker bandwagon J. Hausman >
Your first line, telling us the Booker has a warm relationship with DeVos, reveals everything we need to know about his approach to education.
Let’s hope Cory Booker isn’t the candidate the Democrats run in 2020… Both he and Andrew Cuomo seem to be jockeying for that position and neither would be good for public education… Diane, it’s not too early to figure out who might be a candidate who would advocate against “reform” as we’ve known it for going on two decades!
Elizabeth Warren is a possibility. Wonder what Sanders might be thinking.
Wgersen,
If I find that candidate, I will shout out his or her name
Did you? When Bernie was running?
There is a lot to learn about Cory Booker. A place to start might be with a 2013 article by Yasha Levine titled, The Neocon, The Messiah, and Cory Booker available for 99 cents on Amazon.
Perhaps he should just switch parties!
It’s a good idea in terms of honesty. But, politically, Democratic votes tend to be more easy to come by, in the west and north central and eastern coastal states.
Excellent presentation regarding the corporate/foundation assault on public education and Mr. Booker’s role.
Glen Ford: Corporate Assault on Public Education – https://youtu.be/JdPACwRgw04