Donna Roof is a retired high school teacher in Indiana:
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I saw 50 Senators and our Vice-President vote for a person who is highly unqualified to be our country’s Secretary of Public Education.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I witnessed how politicians have loyalty to their corporate donors rather than the common good.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I hear yet again the myth of failing public schools.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I fear what will happen to the neighborhood public schools who welcome all children.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I find offensive the assault on the teaching profession.
But yet…
Today, I am hopeful…I saw 50 Senators who pushed back in committee and testified for 24 hours for public education.
Today, I am hopeful…I stand in solidarity with public education supporters–teachers, parents, students, concerned citizens–who voiced their outrage via emails, tweets, phone calls, and rallies.
Today, I am hopeful…I now observe even more people uniting to save their public schools.
Today, I am hopeful…I believe in the teaching profession which has all children as its main focus.
Today, I am hopeful…I trust in Margaret Mead’s wisdom: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
And so…
Today, tomorrow, and every day…I will join with advocates across the country to save public education.
Today, tomorrow, and every day…I promise to Speak Up! and Speak Out! and be but one, yet mighty, voice for public education.
Today, tomorrow, and every day…I will encourage those who support public education to keep fighting the good fight and never lose sight of its goodness.
Today, tomorrow, and every day…I will continue to value public education as the great foundation of our country, for without it, all else is for naught.
Today, tomorrow, and every day…I will fight against the injustice being brought against public education as I heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you, Donna Roof. You love the United States of America. Betsy DeVos and Donald T***p do not.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
Amen!
In the next election, I would hope that 25 of the 50 that voted against public education are defeated in their bid for reelection. This will send that message to them that they work for the people not themselves and their party.
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I did a little research. In the next election in 2018 there will be 33 seats up for reelection. 25 are held by Democrats and 8 are held by Republicans. It is not a lot but enough to tip the scales the other direction.
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Beautiful sentiments & very encouraging at a difficult time.
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Only 1/3 of the senate is up for election every two years. Until our nation gets public financing of elections, our politicians will be constantly beholden to the big money donors. At least Ms. DeVos has the honesty to state publicly that she expects a return on the money that she and her family donates.
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Charles,
You are right. DeVos honestly stated she was buying votes. That’s refreshing, if illegal.
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Every person she donated money to should have abstained from voting. This should evoke an investigation by the election ethics people, whoever is in charge of this but it won’t
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Praising DeVos for buying votes, speaks to American political depravity.
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I am not praising anyone. I am simply stating reality. The big-money people send all this cash to the politicians, and then the politicians vote the way the big money crowd expect them to. In the last election, many millions of people chose not to vote, and now we are all getting the result of their indifference.
The American people have not demanded an end to this cash river, and they have not demanded publicly financed political campaigns.
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How do you make this demand to a politician who has already been bought?
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POLITICAL DEPRAVITY is RIGHT.
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Charles, what have you done, specifically, to change campaign finance law?
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Thank you for the inspiration Ms. Roof. We must all keep our eyes on the real goal: providing a quality education for everyone.
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Here is a statement from Gov. Jeb Bush:
“I congratulate Betsy DeVos on her confirmation as our nation’s next Secretary of Education. The President made an excellent choice to lead the Department of Education. Millions of families share Secretary DeVos’s vision for disrupting a failed status quo that has denied too many children access to a quality education. It’s time to upend the entrenched special interests that put adults above genuine reforms that will raise student achievement. I hope the senators who opposed Secretary DeVos’s nomination will now put aside the tired arguments of the unions and come together to prioritize the needs of students. Under Secretary DeVos’s leadership, I am confident the federal government will loosen its grip on our education system and return power to the states and parents where it rightfully belongs.”
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No doubt she will protect Jeb Bush’s interest in for-profit charters, vouchers, digital technology, testing, and accountability– but only for public schools.
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Or as another sage said, “the pursuit of the benefit of the few is never done at the risk and loss of the many……good never does bad to another….the rights of some are never gained by the wronging of others”.
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Media reported that Nordstrom dropped the Ivanka line. With hope, Sak’s will also drop the line. Also, with hope, L.L. Bean saw its revenues drop, after Linda Bean supported Trump. Now, the focus should be on fewer Amway products bought.
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I have been a customer of LL Bean for at least 40 years, mostly catalogue.
I called to cancel my account and was put through to a special supervisor whose it was to explain that the company didn’t endorse anyone, just one of 40 family members. I canceled and said please tell that family member that businesses should not get mixed into politics. She should be made aware of the damage she did to her family business.
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TJ MAXX. Marshall’s and Neiman Marcus are now on the same side as Nordstrom’s
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Trump will be tweeting at them too
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Harsh, Diane although I am not sure i don’t agree with you. I don’t remember the circumstances under which she came under scrutiny. In any case, I am not sure I want to be judged by the actions of one of forty of my family members. If LL Bean made a donation to Trump…
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About Linda Bean, there’s no “if”. “The family” can remove her from the Board. L.L. Bean’s problem is that many of the people who voted for Trump (the uneducated) can’t afford the products. And, the richest 0.1% can wear (only) a finite number of clothes in a life time.
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If the Board can remove her, it certainly would be expedient for the company. I have no trouble not shopping at Walmart because of company actions. The issue is larger for me. I am thinking of good people, local merchants, who have volunteered their time and talents to serve on local civic boards who have been called on to make decisions that are not always to the liking of everyone including me. Those who have not agreed have been known to take it out on those individuals’ businesses. I know teachers who have been driven out because of a complaint from a powerful parent who either on their own or with the help of a cadre of friends have forced action. I just want us to be very careful who and what we try to take down because our beliefs are different.
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This is particularly ironic because it’s about education–only in this case, you need not be involved KNOWLEDGE or EXCELLENCE. Rather, you just need to have money and know how to spread it around and who to buy with it. The irony is overwhelming.
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Like thousand of others, I called and wrote to my senators in an effort to stop the nomination of Betsy Devos. Here is the last reply I received from Ohio’s Senator Rob Portman. He has dual loyalties. One is to Donald Trump. The other is to Ohio’s Governor, John Kasich who has little use for public education unless it boosts the economy of Ohio.
My reply to Senator Portman follows each of his “reasons” for supporting DeVos and his reasoning about public education in Ohio.
Rob Portman says:
Dear Laura,
Thank you for contacting me to express your views on Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of the United States Department of Education. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me. I supported Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education because during the confirmation process she committed to strongly support public education and because of her support for local control, instead of having the federal government dictate education policy at the state and local level.
Sir: Betsy DeVos did not voluntarily indicate that she has a commitment to public education. Anything resembling an expression of “commitment” had to be extracted from her and it was “voiced” only after she tried to save face. She needed to save face, having made ridiculous statements about guns for schools threatened by grizzly bears and by saying IDEA could be left up to the states. There is nothing in her resume that reflects a commitment to public education. She is the champion of for-profit education and tax-subsidized religious schools.
Portman says: I look forward to working with her to improve our K-12 public education system, make college more affordable, stand up for children with disabilities, and close the skills gap by promoting Career and Technical Education (CTE) to give young people more opportunities to succeed.
Sir: There is no evidence that she has any knowledge of what “improvement” looks like. She could not offer a coherent response to the difference between proficiency and “growth.” There is no evidence that she will stand up for children with disabilities. The school policies and practices she has promoted in Michigan allow schools to refuse enrollments of students with special needs. DeVos’s policy agenda for “Choice” means schools get to choose their students.
College affordability is an issue but there is not a clue in her testimony about how she might address that.
You imply that “promoting CTE” should be on the federal agenda and that CTE gives “young people more opportunities to succeed.” Can you cite any DeVos testimony that indicates she is knowledgeable about CTE “career pathways,” or specific skills gaps? Did she give testimony that offers a reason to believe she understands information on labor markets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics?
Portman says: “In addition, I do give some deference to the President choosing his cabinet, as I did when supporting President Obama’s nominees.”
Sir: In my judgment, deference should never override informed judgment about the qualifications of the nominee. DeVos is not just unqualified, she is hostile to public education.
Portman says: In the 21st century economy, a high quality education is critical to the social and economic well-being of our nation. I believe that the most important role in educating tomorrow’s workforce is played by parents, teachers, mentors, and community leaders at the state and local level. At a time when young people are leaving our state, we must work collaboratively in our communities to give students the tools necessary to compete in high demand fields in Ohio.
Sir: I respectfully disagree with your view of the purposes of public education. You have also conflated voting for DeVos and your apparent loyalty to John Kasich’s “Ohio First” educational policies (except his policies on school financing).
You restate Kasich’s parochial view that the major purpose of public education in Ohio is job preparation for “high demand fields in Ohio.” Of course, many students who are educated in Ohio will not spend the rest of their lives in Ohio. Do you regard these “leavers” as free-loaders? Will you blame educators if graduates of Ohio schools leave Ohio?
Should public education be tethered to workforce preparation for Ohio? I do not think so, especially since the economy is increasingly globalized and corporations show no loyalty to Ohio without some tax breaks. Those tax breaks do not help the budgets of public schools.
Among the many people whom you cite as having an important role in educating “tomorrow’s workforce” you omit yourself and other elected officials. You give lip-service to Ohio’s “social well being” as a purpose of education, but clearly want public education in Ohio to be tethered to workforce preparation for Ohio.
You say not a word about the most important mission of public education in the United States: preparing each generation to participate in a democratic society, especially being an informed voter.
Thank you for the form letter explaining your reason for supporting Devos as Secretary of Education and your views about the purposes of education.
I will be working to defeat you in the next election cycle.
Sincerely,
Laura H. Chapman
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It’s off topic for education but I’m now getting emails from the White House. (Why did I sign up for this???)
Carrier is in Indiana. They ‘saved’ 850 jobs after having received $7 million in tax breaks. Some of those jobs will be gone after the company sets up robotic machinery.
His lies make me ill, especially when people believe what he has to say. I read this morning that Trump now has a 42% approval rating. That’s a new low for an incoming President.
…………
Today we are excited to announce that Intel has pledged to make a $7 billion investment in Arizona, creating 10,000 jobs!
Companies across America are making the commitment to creating thousands of new jobs everyday:
11/29/2016: Carrier pledges to create 1,000 new jobs
12/28/2016: Sprint and OneWeb announces it’s creating and saving 8,000 jobs
01/17/2017: GM pledges $1 billion in manufacturing to create 1,500 new jobs
Show Your Support
President Trump made a promise to this country – bring jobs back to America. The spirit of optimism sweeping the country is already boosting job growth, and it is only the beginning.
Over the next 4 years, President Trump is committed to creating new policies and embracing challenges in the labor force that will put America First in job creation, growth and innovation.
We are getting America back to work. And with each new success, we continue to make America great again.
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I thought I had posted this enough…but these words struck me: Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I hear yet again the myth of failing public schools.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I fear what will happen to the neighborhood public schools who welcome all children.
Today, I am heartsick and outraged…I find offensive the assault on the teaching profession.
But yet…
MSNBC is supposed to be a relatively progressive place, and is often criticized for that….But this trash I heard from them….including a democrat from Michigan who should be smart enough to know better…..some reaction at the Washington Post….I am still waiting to hear…”joe—calm down. You are exaggerating. I watched the discussion and it might not have been exactly what you wanted, but it was not that bad.”
I watch morning joe each day on msnbc. It is a good show. But 1 hour, 1 minute into the show today, they began talking about education. I already knew how clueless Joe was, but there were five people on the panel, and it was the most disgraceful so-called discussion of education I have ever seen on a non propaganda network television show. It is indescribable, and must be viewed to be believed. (it lasts only 4 or 5 minutes). Harold Ford of the University of Michigan wound it up praising the heroism of Arne Duncan. He has someone on the faculty at U.M. capable whose style would not be to slice his head off and present it on a plate—-lucky for him. I hope you watch it, and present it. I will continue to watch Morning Joe…..I have learned to live with the reality of how stupid Joe is regarding public education , a subject they seldom discuss. Good production decision.
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On November 8, 2016, the world suffered a great loss. We are all reeling. And in times like this, I look for rays of light. There are wondrously positive events taking place, like the Women’s March and the outpouring of support for public education in the wake of DeVos’ grizzly performance in committee. Unity in opposition is a great thing in the long run. There is still good.
I take time to be thankful. For life. For great people like Diane, Ellen, Laura, and on and on. All of you. I’m thankful to have learned about the secrets of Finland’s success. I gained that knowledge here. I used it today to convince my school leadership to cut test prep minutes in favor of recess. I’m thankful to have learned about the OECD study that showed overuse of technology to be harmful. I learned about it here. I used it to convince a little of my district admin to cut down on CBE usage.
Thank you. I’m with you. And I haven’t lost hope.
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