Read the Ethics Office Review of Betsy DeVos

By dianeravitch

January 24, 2017 //

This article in the Washington Post contains a link to Betsy DeVos’s government ethics filing.

It makes for interesting reading.

Categories Betsy DeVos

14 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

Gordon Wilder says:

January 24, 2017 at 5:00 pm

I fear ethics has no place in a Trump presidency.
Not only is democracy on a path to destruction but everything worth while in society also when ethics goes out the window.

Who said that truth is the first victim of ….

Yet once again
We must organize and fight back. Individuals by themselves will not get the job done. Teachers have their unions, should have their school boards and if organized well ala Chicago the community behind them
TRUTH should be the battle cry. Ethics also. A positive agenda, not just anti Trump seems to me to be the best course of action.

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Laura H. Chapman says:

January 24, 2017 at 6:01 pm

The Endnotes are fascinating. Checking all of that out cannot be done quickly. That is plain to see.

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- Ellen Lubic says:
  
  January 24, 2017 at 7:23 pm
  
  102 different investments and settings for Board participation….yes, Laura…this would take a large office of investigators many months to clear her veracity. Their leader has surely told all his choices for public office that they should stonewall, since he has been so successful in eliminating Congressional resistance. However, the volunteer lawyers like Tribe are the people who will outsmart him and them…but as this is happening in the courts, the country, the planet, could be destroyed.
  
  So far, not a single Drumpf choice, with the exception of Nikki Haley, has proven to have any ethical value system other than lying, obfuscating, and manipulating. So much damage has been done in just a week by this madman and his cohorts. He threw down the gautlet, and the Chinese today told the US to stay out of any interference with Taiwan…after the American dictator said the US will go in and clean up the One China mess.
  
  For the months or years to impeach, who knows if we will even exist until 2020.
  
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Ed Lettis says:

January 24, 2017 at 7:28 pm

And then there is this: Calvin alumni oppose DeVos by the hundreds.

http://www.calvin.edu/chimes/2017/01/23/calvin-alumni-oppose-devos-by-the-hundreds/

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- Duane E Swacker says:
  
  January 24, 2017 at 8:19 pm
  
  Interesting. Thanks for the link!
  
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GregB says:

January 24, 2017 at 8:52 pm

Not that we needed any more evidence in the case against Betsy DeVos, but this is really, really scary: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/betsy-devos-student-statesmanship-institute_us_58866464e4b070d8cad498d4?i7191dvo53vlkutyb9&

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Chiara says:

January 24, 2017 at 9:25 pm

I’d like to hear DeVos’ opinions of adults who attended public schools- the vast, vast majority of Americans.

Does she believe most adults also attended “dead end” public schools?

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Chiara says:

January 24, 2017 at 9:39 pm

There’s no real debate. She’ll be confirmed and they’ll surround her with people from ed reform lobbying groups. There won’t be a single person with actual experience in a US public school. I’ll be surprised if any of them attended a public school.

It’s an echo chamber, an exclusive club, and none of us are members.

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Doug says:

January 24, 2017 at 11:14 pm

How in the world did Alexander’s aide write glowingly about DeVos with a straight face?

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wgersen says:

January 25, 2017 at 6:56 am

I wrote a post on this a few days ago titled “The Fruitless Ethics Argument Against Betsy DeVos… I re-read it this morning and still think it’s applicable. The basic premise is summarized in the closing paragraphs: ….if anyone believes the Democrats have a corner on ethical conduct, I offer the vote on Bernie Sanders amendment on lowering pharmaceutical costs as Exhibit A: thirteen Democrats who received over $3,000,000 in campaign contributions from Big Pharma since 2011 opposed the amendment.

We are now witnessing why it is important to get money out of politics. MAYBE if we get the money out we can get ethics back in.

https://waynegersen.com/2017/01/13/the-fruitless-ethics-argument-against-betsy-devos/

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sarah5565 says:

January 25, 2017 at 8:34 am

Saw that alumni of Calvin College are writing an open letter against DeVos. Letter and link in the Washington Post.

Concerns copied from the letter:

Here are those concerns from the letter:

1) While many of us were inspired by our time at Calvin College to make education a professional commitment, Mrs. DeVos was not. She has never worked in any educational institution as an administrator, nor as an educator. If the position of the Secretary of Education requires the individual to have an intimate knowledge of the tools used by educators, which we believe it does, Mrs. DeVos does not qualify.

2) Many of us entered Calvin College directly from Christian high schools and spent our entire elementary and secondary school years in these institutions, as did Mrs. DeVos. While we appreciate the opportunity to thrive and learn that is provided by these educational systems, we recognize that the vast majority of K–12 students are educated in the public school system. Because of this, we believe that any individual who is nominated to be Secretary of Education should have a strong commitment to public education, which Mrs. DeVos does not.

3) We believe that Mrs. DeVos’s commitment to education is limited to her advocacy of and financial contributions to religious and charter schools. Having the financial resources to promote one’s ideological point of view and endorse elected officials who share that ideology is not equivalent to the preparation that comes from being an educator or educational administrator.

4) Finally, in the first day of her confirmation hearing, Mrs. DeVos indicated a lack of support for federal policies regarding educational systems that receive public funding. This is especially concerning given that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title IX, which ensure that all students’ educational experiences are free of discrimination that impedes learning, are not of value to Mrs. DeVos.

Our undergraduate education prepared us to be engaged and informed citizens who support public servants who seek to serve effectively and competently. This is precisely why we oppose the nomination of our fellow alumna, Betsy DeVos, for the position of United States Secretary of Education

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/24/hundreds-of-students-alumni-from-devoss-christian-college-oppose-her-selection-as-education-secretary/?utm_term=.f912073105e7

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rbeckley58 says:

January 26, 2017 at 1:29 pm

So, DeVos plans to rewrite No Child Left Behind (she doesn’t even know about ESSA). Doesn’t congress still have a say? How do they feel about slogging through that whole process again of hearings, rewrites and Rulemaking Committees?

And she wants to help low-income children? She’s either a liar or ignorant of simple economics.

If she supports vouchers only sufficient to cover poor schools, then the poor can’t afford the co-pays for better schools. That’s not fair; that’s economic and racial segregation. That’s not free education; that’s education on the cheap, so Trump can subsidize his business cronies’ lower taxes.

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Bill says:

January 26, 2017 at 1:57 pm

Some of the Senators on the HELP committee, have sent their children to private schools. Sen. Al Franken’s children go to a school with over $44,000 per year tuition.

see

http://dailysignal.com/2017/01/09/senate-dems-set-to-scrutinize-trumps-ed-secretary-pick-attended-private-schools/

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- dianeravitch says:
  
  January 26, 2017 at 2:46 pm
  
  Bill, people who choose to send their children to private or religious schools have that right so long as they pay for it themselves.
  
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