Nina Rees thinks Betsy DeVos is a great choice for US Secretary of Education. She would. She is the president and CEO of the National Alliance for “Public” Charter Schools and like DeVos, is devoted to privatization of community public schools.
I first met Nina when she worked for Vice President Dick Cheney as his education advisor. Before that, she worked for the extremely conservative Heritage Foundation. She subsequently worked for ex-felon Michael Milken, when he was entering the education industry.
What you will learn from her article:
The U.S. Department of Education has spent $3 billion on privately managed charter schools, through the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
What you will will NOT learn from this article:
That charter schools and vouchers have NOT improved education.
That education in Michigan has suffered because of DeVos’ zeal for the unregulated free market.
That the destruction of democratic public education is a crime against children, families, and our society.
That NO high-performing nation in the world has turned public funding for schools over to the free market.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Two anti-DeVos nomination letters in the NYT today by Adam Smith and Harper Jean Tobin, one pro by Kevin Chavous. Had to look for disinfecting agents after reading the latter.
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GregB: Yes, quickly–it’s apparently malignant.
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The scary thing is that most people will not look further than what she says, never checking to see that her references are to charter school proponents.
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Sickening!
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Please respond to this link!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGNRE0C6h_5gjf4r2O-GRrHt56jrkzdki59hJzZ2etmtvD5A/viewform?c=0&w=1
We need to educate Bernie Sanders! He can help us. Go Badass Teachers Association!
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There’s none so blind as those that will not see!
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She’s right about this, though:
“Second, DeVos will soon step into an agency that, thanks to Congress, has been one of school choice’s most reliable friends and allies. From President Bill Clinton to President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama, the federal government has been a driving force in helping to advance school choice through charter schools by injecting nearly $3 billion in funding to launch, expand and replicate high-quality charter schools around the country.”
Public schools are unfashionable in DC circles. Each successive President has done less to support public schools and more to promote and fund charter schools and vouchers.
Now that they’re adding vouchers to the mix I doubt public schools will merit any interest or support at all.
You-all listen to these folks. It’s a droning recitation of the horrors of “government schools” and then cheerleading for charters and vouchers. It is RELENTLESSLY negative towards public schools. They’re so far into an echo chamber they don’t even realize it.
There’s a columnist for the Toledo Blade who wrote that charters are “the darlings” of politicians. That’s true. They are madly in love with any school that includes the word “charter” in the name. The slightest criticism of charter schools evokes frantic pushback and angry demands for retraction. It’s a hard litmus test- if you want a job in DC you better be a cheerleader for charters.
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I am finding that most people, even in Michigan, don’t realize how differently education is funded in Michigan from most if not all other states.
Here’s a bit of history on the way it’s been in Michigan for the last quarter century.
http://bridgemi.com/2014/04/a-brief-history-of-proposal-a-or-how-we-got-here/
In effect, the Governor and Legislature now control where the School Aid money goes and if they decide to raid the education fund to give their Big Bizness Buddies a windfall tax break or buy a new hockey arena for a multi-billionaire who could easily build a couple out of his own petty cash, well, they will and have done so several times already.
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Ed reformers in Ohio are pushing the same thing. The state legislature will control all school funding and dole it out as they see fit.
People would be insane to direct all school funding to Columbus. They will never see that money again in their schools. I knew it would be an effective cut to public education funding if they got their hands on it and that’s exactly what happened.
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I looked at this bill. In addition to limiting citizen voice at the local level, the only other point for citizen voice would be that of selecting a small group of people at the state level who function as distrbutors of all money, much of it going to 16 regional service centers that function as fee-for-service contractors for everything from transportation to professional development.
Some of the language in HB 628 ”
to create a new system of funding schools where the state pays a specified amount per student that each student may use to attend the public or chartered nonpublic school of the student’s choice, without the requirement of a local contribution;
to eliminate the School Facilities Commission;
to eliminate the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program, Pilot Project Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship Program, and Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program;
to eliminate interdistrict open enrollment;
to require educational service centers to transport students on a countywide basis; and
to permit school districts to enter into a memoranda of understanding for one district to manage another
In addition to sending property taxes to the state for education, additional funding for education could be raised from local legislation to raise income taxes for various reasons, with no more than 25% of that increase used for education.
I have not done a close reading of the whole bill, including the definition of a “chartered nonpublic school.”
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“Whether it’s Success Academy’s robust teacher training program, the Basecamp open-source personalized learning platform developed by Summit Public Schools and Facebook, or Valor Academy’s restorative justice program, charter schools are serving as laboratories of innovation, and DeVos now has a platform to highlight what works and share it with other public schools.”
They’re really pushing the Facebook personalized learning platform. I hope public school leaders seek independent advice on these ed reform initiatives before signing on. Cast a wide net. Seek out people who are outside of the “ed reform movement”. Don’t automatically buy what they are selling. Don’t take Facebook’s word that a Facebook product is fabulous. It’s a business. They’re in business to make money. Use the same caution as you would with any other vendor pitching any other product.
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Well, try as I might I am unable to find a single ed reform piece that talks about what DeVos might do or not do for public schools.
Once again the unfashionable public schools are a low priority.
Which is pretty freaking amazing, since those are the schools 90% of US kids attend.
One would think out of 100 Senators public schools would merit ONE, but I guess not.
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Since most politicians are wealthy, they send their children to fashionable private and religious schools. This being the case, they need not be concerned with the education for the public, and therefore they show little interest in public schools.
Fact is, education, especially at the K-12 level, is primarily a state/local matter anyway. Our nation had tax-supported public education for over a century and a half, before the feds ever even got involved.
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Your comment (which I often see on comments to ed articles) is such a sad commentary on the state of politics today. The term “representative” has apparently lost all meaning to a public which senses its govtl “representatives” can represent only those whose life experience is similar to their own– & that therefore (since only rich people can afford to be politicians [“representatives”]), “representatives” elected by poor/ working/ middle-class folk cannot, and will not, actually represent their viewpoints, nor lobby for them, nor bring anything helpful to the table.
We have a long history of politicians who understood & fought for the public good regardless of their particular life experiences. I watch CSPAN & I know there are still such folks in both Houses (& not all Democrats). But that this cynical attitude prevails among so many citizens tells us that for quite a while, representatives voted in have not delivered the goods.
Partly– perhaps even largely– due to campaign law which requires the elected to pander to those who stuff their coffers. But also [equally?] due to Third Way/ neoliberals having taken over the Democratic Party & rendering it a mere shadow of the Republican Party.
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Just so you know, there won’t be any discussion of public schools at DeVos confirmation hearing.
It’ll be all charters and vouchers, according to this ed reform org:
https://www.the74million.org/article/your-devos-hearing-cliffsnotes-these-are-the-10-education-issues-sure-to-surface-in-the-senate
If the Senators are wondering why they’re completely irrelevant to the vast majority of their constituents, this is a good example. I have no idea how these people ended up spending the vast majority of their time “debating” charters and vouchers,but it’s really all they do.
It’s ludicrous. It’s as if they held a hearing to confirm a Social Security trustee and spend the whole time discussing the fine points of 401k’s and IRA’s.
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Ms Ravitch wrote…
That charter schools and vouchers have NOT improved education.
That education in Michigan has suffered because of DeVos’ zeal for the unregulated free market.
Facts:
“Detroit charters are low performing—only 19% of students are proficient in English—but they’re better than the alternative. Charter students in Detroit on average score 60% more proficient on state tests than kids attending the city’s traditional public schools. Eighteen of the top 25 schools in Detroit are charters while 23 of the bottom 25 are traditional schools.
Two studies from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (2013, 2015) found that students attending Michigan charters gained on average an additional two months of learning every year over their traditional school counterparts. Charter school students in Detroit gained three months. ”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/whos-afraid-of-betsy-devos-1484352708
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From National Education Policy Center 4/27/15:
“For its analysis, CREDO again used its own, unusual research technique that attempts to simulate a controlled experiment: constructing “virtual twins” for each charter student. The “twins” were derived by averaging the performance of up to seven other students, chosen to match the charter students by demographics, poverty and special education status, grade level, and a prior year’s standardized test score.
“Maul points out that the technique isn’t adequately documented. He adds: “It remains unclear and puzzling why the researchers use this approach rather than the more accepted approach of propensity score matching.” The CREDO technique, he warns, might not adequately control for differences between families who select a charter school and those who do not.
“CREDO also fails to justify choices such as the estimation of growth and the use of “days of learning” as a metric.
“But regardless of concerns over methodology, Maul points out, “the actual effect sizes reported are very small, explaining well under a tenth of one percent of the variance in test scores.” The effect size reported, for example, may simply reflect the researchers’ exclusion of some lower-scoring students from their analysis.
“’To call such an effect ‘substantial’ strains credulity,'” Maul concludes. Overall, the report fails to provide compelling evidence that charter schools are more effective than traditional public schools, whether or not they are located in urban districts.’
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bethree5
Thank you for pointing to the justified criticism of the CREDO study. MOst claims about superior performance of charters come from CREDO. CREDO is funded by the Walton Foundation and it is part of the ultra conservative Hoover Institution. The research from CREDO is loaded with statistical fictions.
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Cynthia,
You haven’t been paying attention. Detroit has the lowest performing schools in the nation of all Urban districts.
Did you read The NY Times on Detroit?
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/us/for-detroits-children-more-school-choice-but-not-better-schools.html?0p19G=c
Detroit is “a fiasco.”
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“When Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary goes before a Senate committee on Tuesday, she’s expected to have a famous former senator make her case for confirmation. Only it won’t be a Republican ― it will be former Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, according to a transition source.
Trump’s nominee, the billionaire Betsy DeVos, has been one of the most prominent funders for “school choice,” which steers public funds toward charter and private schools. Lieberman, like plenty of centrist Democrats, was a booster for school choice and charter schools during his time on Capitol Hill.
The Washington Examiner first reported Monday that Lieberman, who was Al Gore’s presidential running mate in 2000, was slated to introduce DeVos at her hearing on Tuesday. ”
This is why it’s absolute nonsense that they’re somehow valiantly battling the “status quo”
Ed reform is packed with powerful and wealthy people. They so utterly dominate DC it’s ridiculous. This confirmation hearing will be a lovefest- they all know one another.
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Hi Diane – Take a look at this story:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/314292-trump-education-pick-to-face-warren-sanders
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Let’s hope that Bernie and Warren stick up for the 85% of kids in public schools
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Yet another ed reform piece that is about charters and vouchers:
https://www.the74million.org/article/petrilli-20-big-questions-for-education-secretary-nominee-betsy-devos?utm_content=bufferf6bf8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Public schools simply don’t exist in the echo chamber. I’ll be surprised if DeVos gets a single question on the schools 90% of kids attend.
I don’t know how you bust up this exclusive club. I think it’s hopeless anywhere other than at the local level. It’s not just that public schools are disfavored by those in power. They’re completely omitted.
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I’m not a fan of DeVos. Trump could have found better, but I have no specific suggestion. Does anyone else?
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Diane Ravitch. Carol Burris. Zephyr Teachout. Julian Vasquez-Heilig. Arthur Camins.
Just a few off the top of my head. Add more, folks.
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check out the connection between Hillsdale college, and Ms. DeVos
http://www.alternet.org/education/inside-donald-trumps-extremist-education-agenda-hillsdale#.WHv4euhrMAY.twitter
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Gore’s worst decision will not go away: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/joe-lieberman-betsy-devos_us_587cfa15e4b0e58057ffa361?5ccsdcxr
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Nina Rees is a poser. She has no experience whatsoever in public education. Zero. She has a bachelor’s in psychology for VaTech, and a master’s in “international transactions” (whatever that is) from George Mason. Rees sold her soul long ago when she worked as an aide to Dick Cheney, who is evil personified.
Rees heads up the National Alliance for Charter Schools, which is funded by the Gates Foundation and a host of other conservative organizations like the Donald and Doris Fisher Fund, and the Arnold, Broad, Kern, Robertson, and Walton Foundations.
The Alliance has a “Hall of Fame” for those who have “committed” and “contributed” to the growth of charters. The Hall of Fame includes former Ed Secretary Rod Paige, Chester Finn, Eva Moskowitz, Joel Klein, the KIPP schools, and the Walton Foundation (it must have coughed up lots of cash).
The good news is that at least Nine Rees went to college.
The bad news is that she apparently didn’t learn anything there.
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The National Alliance of Charter Schools was quoted in the Dayton Daily News, about a month ago. The subject was Ohio’s HUGE charter problem i.e. on-line schools with mostly truant students.
The Alliance quote, “Ohioans should be outraged…”
Isn’t that like Zuckerberg pronouncing, that his biggest-selling product is a contemptible fleecing of consumers, while continuing his all-out promotion of the product, Nina? But, what do you care about Ohio or, any other state’s future failure, right?
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Betsy DeVos lives online charter schools. She even invests in them. Conflict?
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