A Short Interview about DeVos Today on the Real News Network

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1. GregB says:

   February 2, 2017 at 6:13 pm

   Great interview. Added the link to this to my Goodreads review comments. Hair was fine. Shows people you are a real Mensch in addition to being sharp.

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   • Ellen Lubic says:

     February 2, 2017 at 8:56 pm

     Great segment, Diane…you hit is all. So glad he featured both of your books…sent this on to my all my lists. Yes, Greg..a real Mensch.

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2. annpcronin says:

   February 2, 2017 at 6:16 pm

   I suggest that we not use the term CHOICE. Instead, it would be better to exclusively use the term PRIVATIZE and emphasize that charter schools use public money (taxes) but without public oversight or accountability. Everyone likes choice – choice of ice cream, choice of pizza – but no one likes to pay for what they can not require accountability.

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   • Ellen Lubic says:

     February 2, 2017 at 8:58 pm

     Could not agree more, Ann…I have always used privatize, sometimes charterize…but choice is the wrong message..it is as we all know, a false message.

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3. Laura H. Chapman says:

   February 2, 2017 at 6:20 pm

   Command of the facts and key talking points is amazing. The comments about Broad’s belated entry into the stop Devos movement were exactly right. Broad is anything but a friend of public education.

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4. H.A. Hurley says:

   February 2, 2017 at 6:38 pm

   Diane, EXCELLENT!
   All the facts, bullets, history, scores & needs were communicated.
   No #AlternativeFacts 🤥
   Please send it out & make it go viral!
   We must all retweet your interview.
   Thanks for your tireless fight!

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5. Yvonne Siu-Runyan says:

   February 2, 2017 at 7:07 pm

   Diane,

   THANK YOU! And thank you for pointing out that the DFERs are also at fault. Makes me ILL.

   And YES, DeVos is totally BAD NEWS.

   Your hair looked good! You are NOT a Betsy DeVos, thank goodness.

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6. retired teacher says:

   February 2, 2017 at 7:53 pm

   Thank you for your continued efforts to educate the public with authentic information. Your hair was fine, and your message was clear.

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7. Nancy Carlsson-Paige says:

   February 2, 2017 at 7:53 pm

   This is a terrific interview. A lot of truth telling, naming of poverty as the underlying problem, acknowledging that we got where we are now partly because of Duncan and Obama. Such a sad truth. Thanks, Diane.

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8. Kathleen Foord says:

   February 2, 2017 at 8:25 pm

   Great information. You demonstrated in a short amount of time a total command of the issues. If only you could be our Secretary of Education! My graduate students are investigating privatization of education this semester and this interview will certainly gain their attention. Thanks!

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9. Jack says:

   February 2, 2017 at 8:40 pm

   *** UPDATE: Betsy Devos’ quack “brain enhancement” company Neurocore removes key video from the Internet ***

   A couple weeks ago, I chanced upon Neurocore’s YouTube channel, and included on this channel was its longest and most detailed video about it’s treatments and practices:

   Neurocore’s “Reclaim Your Brain,” a two-bour seminar run by its resident non-expert “Dr.” Tim Royer, who has no M.D., just a “doctorate” in psychology from Argosy University, an unaccretited on-line diploma mill whose degrees are not recognized by the mainstream educational world.

   Well, I spent time embedding the video here, then watching, transcribing, and writing commentary on highlights / lowlights of Neurocore’s and “Dr.” Tim’s pseudo-scientific farce-of-a-seminar. I posted all of that this here on this blog.

   Where am I goin’ with this?

   I just checked and … It’s gone! I tell you!

   The Neurcore “Reclaim Your Brain” seminar video is GONE!!!!!

   Go here, and you can see my handiwork, but once again, the video I embedded has
   been removed from YouTube by folks at Neurocore: (“That which one hides is that of which one is ashamed.”). My posts with the video embedded are about half-way down in the Comments section:

   Betsy DeVos Refuses to Divest From “Brain Enhancement” Corporation

   The New York Times, the Washington Post and others have begun exposes on Neurocore, but now those investigating no longer can see Neurocore’s “RECLAIM YOU BRAIN” seminar “Dr.” TIM strap pill bottles to his head while quoting the Bible.

   Well, you can still read my commentary and descriptions of what was just there a couple days ago. Unfortunately, from now on, reporters and anyone else in learning about Neurocore can only read my descriptions and analysis, and will just have to use their imaginations to envision what was on the video.

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10. dbk says:

    February 2, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    An outstanding interview. All the main points-objections were touched upon. I forwarded it to many friends. What will happen if she is confirmed, I wonder …

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    • dianeravitch says:

      February 2, 2017 at 10:05 pm

      We will be there wherever she goes. She will not have fun. She has lived in a billionaire bubble. Now she has to face real teachers and parents, not sycophants hoping for money.

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      • H.A. Hurley says:

        February 3, 2017 at 2:57 pm

        Ready!!!
        Monitoring & Exposing Malpractice/Exploitation of Children4Profit is a full-time job for many of us.
        Can’t let up one second.
        Decency must prevail.

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11. Chiara says:

    February 2, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    “With education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos facing a rocky path to confirmation, a conservative group is launching a pair of scorched-earth TV ads defending her – and accusing her Democratic opponents of being “full of rage and hate.”

    One of the commercials, from the nonprofit organization America Next, is complete with clips of anti-President Donald Trump protesters destroying cars and lighting fires. It also has footage of actress Ashley Judd delivering impassioned remarks at the anti-Trump Women’s March on Washington the day after the inauguration.”

    If you’re wondering what these campaign ads have to do with education you’re probably not alone.

    Ed reform has gone completely off the rails. They’re now crusading against liberals under the guise of “reforming” education. 100% political. Has nothing whatever to do with kids.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/betsy-devos-tv-attack-ads-democrats-234577

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12. Tauna Rogers says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    Oh man Diane. Wonderful. You managed to cover so much in so little time. Wow. Thank you.

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13. Chiara says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    I;m still waiting for Betsy DeVos to mention public schools. Has she gotten around to that yet? She’s covered vouchers and charters exhaustively. Nothing on public schools. Nada. 30 years working on K-12 education and she can’t come up with a single example of a strong public school.

    Is that “data based”? I’m skeptical. Seems ideology based, mostly. I can find a strong public school in this COUNTY but no one in DC can find one in the whole country.

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    • Tauna Rogers says:

      February 2, 2017 at 10:10 pm

      Chiara you are so on target with your comments. Public schools have become a mere afterthought at best amid the “choice” privatization frenzy.

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      • Laura H. Chapman says:

        February 3, 2017 at 8:00 pm

        Agree. Chiara is unrelenting in making that key point among others.

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14. Charles says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    I live in Metro WashDC. The public schools here in Fairfax County, VA are terrific. Ditto for Loudoun County, and many of the suburban counties in Metro DC (Montgomery County MD, has fine public schools.

    Sadly, in the District of Columbia, the public schools are terrible. Only 79% of the eligible students even bother to go to them (lowest participation in the USA). DC public schools are at the bottom of nearly every category.

    It does not take a rocket scientist, to locate good (public) schools, and terrible (public) schools.

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    • dianeravitch says:

      February 2, 2017 at 9:57 pm

      Have you noticed, Charles, that schools are “terrible” when kids and families are desperately poor? The schools may actually be doing a great job. The kids have problems that you can’t imagine.

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15. bethree5 says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    Excellent interview, Diane, tho I would expect no less. Will be sharing on FB. I should be lucky to have such proliferous hair tho
    I am 10 yrs younger.

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16. Mickey says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    Wonderful interview. I couldn’t get over Joe Lieberman in the clip seemingly nodding in agreement with Devos as the interviewer is asking you about the role that Democrats have played in the war on public education.

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    • retiredbutmissthekids says:

      February 3, 2017 at 2:17 am

      Yes–noticed that when I’d seen televised clips. WHAT is wrong with him?! (His kids are undoubtedly all adults–perhaps middle-aged. He doesn’t have to think about their education. Probably his children live in well-off suburban areas, where, as yet, public schools have gone untouched, such as where Arne’s kids went {I believe those schools didn’t even engage in “standardized” testing.} Otherwise, grandkids probably attend private school–like Arne’s now do {U.of Chicago Lab School, but of course! AND–he & his wife just bought a $1.3 million home in a Chicago “neighborhood of power brokers.})
      Glad you brought Arne & Obama into the conversation, Diane, & that The Real News used a clip. Great interview, all points made & hair was good!

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17. Ohio Algebra II teacher says:

    February 2, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    Fantastic! Thank you!

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18. Della says:

    February 3, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    Excellent interview. I learn so much from listening to you about how to frame the issue and support with talking points. Sometimes my emotions surrounding these actions overtake my ability to articulate the facts. “Can’t you see?” does not get to the real issues? Thanks Diane

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