Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee requested another opportunity to question Betsy DeVos about her financial conflicts of interest, but Republicans quickly rejected their request.
She may may enhance her family fortune by holding on to stocks in her portfolio that her actions will affect. Please don’t believe that billionaires don’t care about making more money. Some do, some don’t. DeVos’s refusal to eliminate all her education investments shows which kind of billionaire she is.
DeVos was so ill-informed at her only hearing that her remarks turned her into a national laughing stock. Republicans are protecting her by not giving Democrats another chance to allow her to embarrass herself.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Here’s a great anti-Devo protest sign:
or this one:
Well, it will be up to school districts to resist buying snake oil pushed by the federal government.
They could start saying “no” to these sales pitches. Local people would be thrilled if someone somewhere along the line did some actual due diligence, and you know that ain’t gonna be DeVos.
I saw New Hampshire just purchased BUZZ. BUZZ was the garbage online platform that failed in Detroit. Why do they buy everything ed reform sells them? Say “no”. Send the sales team packing. We’re not hiring them to rubber stamp every ed reform fad and gimmick.
I guess I’m confused. What is it Democrats still need answered? Are there some still considering voting for her? Or do they think that by letting her embarrass herself again that any Republicans will change their minds and vote against her? Anyone, R or D, still planning to vote for her isn’t likely to change his/her vote just because she embarrasses herself again. If anything, it’s more likely that she could get better coaching and end up sounding better the second time around (it’s not like she could end up sounding worse).
I think she’s made herself plain enough already. Now is the time for all congresscritters to decide what their place in history is going to be.
I am putting my money on confirmation.
Me too, sadly. The only consolation is that even if she weren’t confirmed, it’s not like we’d get a better choice. I don’t think Diane’s number is in Trump’s rolodex.
Dianne,
He’s prolly got her number, but in his rolloverdex.
AS, yes, and the Ed Law Center folks will likely have longer hours.
You are both overthinking and rationalizing this. Even if she and others are confirmed, public shaming can shine a light on incompetence to make her a damaging symbol of this administration.
The strategy now must be to create as many Pyhrric victories as possible; to make each short term win a long term loss. Think James Watt or Dan Quayle. And for a recent example of how this can work, check out this recent incident with Pat McCrory. The cell phone video alone is worth it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pat-mccrory-lgbtq-video_us_588627aee4b096b4a23314f2?
I just said the same on the post about diagramming of Trumps speech. Nothing sticks until the armor develops some kinks , than everything sticks.
“Pyrrhic victories”—nicely put!
😎
I was sending you cosmic messages, Joel.
Maybe the Democrats need to have her policy on grizzly bears clarified.
For example, would she support shooting bears on the front steps? In the principal’s office? Or only in the classroom?
Good point. Grizzly bears are definitely a problem here in the Chicago suburbs.
Dienne,
I would like to see her come back for a second round. The Dems had not seen her ethics file when she was first questioned. Now they have. Typically the Senate committees have seen the ethics report before the interview, not after. I don’t think she will do any better on a second round. She knows nothing, and is proud of it. There is a sense of entitlement that billionaires have that is hard to explain. But not to worry. The Republicans will spare her any further questioning or embarrassment
I think the want to highlight her conflicts of interest. Her financial disclosure paperwork was not complete for her first hearing. It is important to get as much on the record as possible and highly desirable to have her respond on camera. They may vote her in but the more that is out in the open the easier it will be to derail her more egregious actions. A state may think twice about falling for enticements she might offer to follow her policy.
There will be no more high and mighty knights in teflon armor working in the government, taking away funding from public schools for corporations and private individuals and calling it the Civil Rights Movement of the 21st century. DeVos will have a hard time privatizing and profiteering after the HELP Committee’s Comedy Central Roast style hearings. The more we laugh, the more we oppose. Get that bear hater back in the hot seat, Lamar!
“Education is too important an issue, and the secretary of education is too important a position for the country and for this committee”…….hey! democrats! since when is this the case? whenever it was….why didn’t you act like it? Just shut up, and prepare to put up with another billionaire to continue wrecking public education.
Republicans have been the party of no for some time.
NOW – with Trump in the White House they may become the party of yes. [I would put it another way but do not wish to offend my African American friends.]
I wrote to Lamar Alexander. I hope others will do so as well.
Save your paper.
Ignore Shure.
As I’d commented on an earlier post, I fervently hope that Alexander will do the decent, moral, right thing, and he will be remembered for this. That having been said, & looking at the people & the numbers, it’s my thought that, perhaps, Rand Paul will vote against her, as he has “gone rogue” before. I’d have to look again (so, of course, I might be wrong), but if those two “nayed,” w/the Dem vote, perhaps it would work out in favor of the kids…because it’s all about the kids (well, to us).
Rebecca, not Betsy, on school choice, or “If you believe, like I do, that parents and not government should decide where your children should go to school, join the school choice movement!”
Rebecca Friedrichs, yes, that one, will give you a badge if you watch a video as she explains why teachers’ unions are bad and schools ought to be just like grocery stores.
https://www.prageru.com/courses/political-science/why-good-teachers-want-school-choice#.WIZiyUCiOGg.twitter
Dear Dr. Christine Langhoff:
I guess that Rebecca Friedrichs is being paid handsome cash amount to talk NONSENSICAL CHOICE.
I am so disappointed at her talk which did not mention a whole child education concept, national certified teaching credential and due process to protect teachers so that BUSINESS OWNERS cannot abuse their wealth to transform school choice into grocery store and transform joy of learning into stressful and suicidal learning environment – discard or devalue human being like garbage. May.
St. Louis has a right to be proud of its Gateway Science Academy. They liked their test results so much that they decided they were no longer a charter. That way, they could count the stats. (they do not claim all the charters). test results…
gateway 63.4%
slps 31.4%
Missouri state average 55.8%
* Gateway Science Academy South does not discriminate in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities, on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other reason prohibited by law. We are open to ALL students. We serve students with special needs, limited English proficiency, or who are homeless/in temporary living situations.
Is my child guaranteed a seat if I submit an enrollment application?
As with all charter schools, we are a public school open to everyone. If there are enough seats available to accommodate all of the applications we receive, then your child is guaranteed a spot.
still, in some magical way, their enrollment includes 3.8 percent black students, and 83% white.
Corey Booker defended DeVos but Jimmy Dore is on the case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xtZ0fEzi3s&feature=youtu.be
Again, with Cory Booker?! Deformer DINO who must NOT be re-elected or elected to ANY office. Please, Cory, leave the national stage along with your friends, Bobby Jindal
& Chris Christie.
Booker will be relelected. Voters love his polished nuances.
It’s important to keep an eye on Gates, Broad, and the Waltons. The incoming Secretary of Uneducation is very distracting, and is just a sideshow compared to the dark actions of the philanthrocapitalists. Follow the money.
One of the rich producers from Hollywood used the Women’s March to plug Booker (son of the hedge funds).
If Tillerson got in DeVos will soon follow… we are in for some dark times…
And I hope you’ll comment on the happenings in NH where our Governor-elect has nominated a businessman who homeschooled his seven children and has no experience whatsoever in public education! NH readers should write to the Executive Council ASAP! Here’s a letter I sent:
https://waynegersen.com/2017/01/23/my-letter-to-nh-executive-council-members/
ESSA’s passage will require readers who live in Republican states to keep their legislators informed of what’s going down. This website provides a link to ALEC legislation that was proposed in 2015… variants of these bills are now showing up in NH…
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/03/13054/cashing-kids-172-alec-education-bills-2015
With email it’s as easy to alert your legislature as it is to leave a comment on this page!
I don’t want the Secretary of Education or anyone from the federal government coming to my son’s public school if they believe it is a “dead end”.
I really don’t need that, and neither does anyone else. Do us all a favor. Stay in DC and scold us from there. That way no one out here will hear any of you.
If these public employees plan on spending their work days actively working against the schools 90% of kids attend they should do us all the favor of not using our schools as PR venues to promote their agenda. Just leave us alone. You’re no help anyway.
You know I recognize that public schools are unfashionable and the entire echo chamber have to spend every waking moment promoting charters and vouchers, but one would think some of our SENATORS could find time to mention public schools occasionally.
It’s ridiculous that we have an entire federal workforce who never mention public schools unless it’s to bash them or test them. These people who are supposedly working on “education” but omit public schools aren’t doing their jobs.
The only way public schools get attention in DC is if they sign on with a charter school:
https://twitter.com/CRPE_UW
Public schools are an afterthought in ed reform. They’re the disfavored “status quo” that all these public employees are fighting.
It’s ludicrous and it has no connection to the reality in the United States. It’s as if the entire country is an all-charter place like New Orleans.
DeVos didn’t mention a single public school. She can’t think of ONE public school in Michigan that isn’t a “dead end”? I could find one in an hour right over the border and I live in Ohio.
This “movements” laser-like focus on “choice” deliberately excludes 90% of students. That’s fine if they’re privately paid but if they’re on the public payroll they probably have to drop their bias and discuss the public school sector. Why take a job setting policy for the schools you oppose? Would we ever hire an ed secretary who opposed charter schools? Why is it okay to oppose public schools?
I believe that a second round of questioning by the committee is in order. Nevertheless, Lamar Alexander was right ,when he said that the last two nominees for SecEd submitted by former Pres. Obama received one(1) round of questioning. The committee is treating the nominee, exactly as the previous two nominees were treated.
A compromise: Ms. DeVos could meet privately with any committee member, who chose to invite her. Also, questions can be submitted in writing, to the nominee.
Was I the only one, who saw Sen. Alexander just “fawning” over her? She is going to get a favorable recommendation by a majority of the committee, and receive confirmation by the senate.
“If a battle cannot be won, don’t fight it” Sun-Tzu, in “The Art of War”
see
http://thewisdomwarrior.com/2016/06/01/if-a-battle-cant-be-won-dont-fight-it/
Charles, if the abolition movement listened to you, we would still have slavery. As I recall from the hearings, most Cabinet nominees had two or three rounds of questioning.
“Politics is the art of the possible” – Otto Von Bismarck. The struggle to ensure a quality education for America’s children, goes on, regardless of who the SecEd is.
Now that this battle is over, it is time to put forward what is possible.
Charles,
A good course of action would be to impeach Trump and Pence, BOTH, for stealing the election with the help of Putin
If you believe that Trump and/or Pence have committed impeachable offenses, you should contact your congressperson, and ask him/her to submit articles of impeachment.
These battles, Charles dismisses, as unwinnable, make, inevitable, the war of the 99% against the rich, who have taken ALL of labor’s rewards, for productivity gains.
I believe that a second round of questioning is in order. I agree that some/most nominees got additional rounds, and this nominee should as well.
Should this nominee be treated the same way that ex-Pres. Obama’s were treated? Or given treatment similar to other of Pres. Trump’s nominees? The chairman gets the call.
Now that the battle against the nominee is over, it is time to move on, and to offer policies and programs which are proper for education, and oppose those which could be harmful.
Charles,
Tillerson and Sessions had more than one round of questions.
Agreed, and nominee DeVos should as well.