The Network for Public Education will watch what Betsy DeVos does and report it to you immediately.
We will keep you informed about what the privatizers are doing in your state and community.
We will help you connect with other people in your state who are mobilizing to stop privatization.
The fight to save public education will happen in communities and districts, at the grassroots level.
We ask you to join us, become active, send us action alerts about meetings, protests and demonstrations in your district or town or city so we can help you get the news out.
Here is information you can use:
Get everyone you can to join NPE. Sign them up
http://networkforpubliceducation.org/become-a-member/
Tell others on Facebook to join. We will be mobilizing in the months ahead.
Create a local group in support of public schools. Use Facebook or create a website. Then join our Grassroots Network.
http://networkforpubliceducation.org/grassroots-education-network-3/
Read our emails. We will be regularly launching campaigns at the national and state level.
Make a donation. If we are to fight this we will need funds. http://networkforpubliceducation.org/about-npe/donate/
Together, we will build a movement so powerful that we can beat Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos, and all others who aim to privatize our public schools. Together we can keep the for-profit privateers and frauds out of our schools.
Work with us. We need your help.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Are your OK with me re-posting this on my local (closed) Facebook Page of pro-public education members?
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Ann Hammond,
Yes. It was also reposted on Bill Moyers website.
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Thank you Diane we need you!!!
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Today? Seems arbitrary.
Why weren’t they doing this with Duncan and King?
I feel like folks on our side are some home ahistorically re-imagining our fight. We have been in an existential struggle, us teachers and supporters of full-throated public education, for a decade at least. Now when the incompetent religio-maniac who speaks of education reform in the most frank and blunt language possible emerges on the scene, we “begin” the fight?
Better late then never I guess but, whatever. Really?
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NYSTeacher, don’t complain, seize the day. We spent years not awakening the sleeping grizzly bear. Now she is awake. Take the gift.
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NYS, this is an easy one for me to respond to. The problem with all political issues is that the general public does feel the sense of urgency that those most affected and knowledgeable about a particular issue are.
New Yorkers immediately after September 11th could not fathom that others in the nation didn’t see terrorism as an existential threat. People who were being deported couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a national outcry about families being ripped apart. Shooting victims and their families can’t understand why we can’t overcome the NRA to have common sense gun regulation. Survivors of catastrophes like the bridge collapse in Minneapolis can’t understand why there isn’t a national outcry to fix our infrastructure. And on and on an on.
In my professional experience, I am astounded that we can’t make medical research a national priority, especially with our increasing understanding of how to manipulate genetics to effectively treat and cure diseases. I constantly hear from newly diagnosed cancer patients and their caregivers, especially the rarer the type, how shocked they are that more attention isn’t given to their disease. My answer is always, “What did you care about disease x the day before you were diagnosed and heard it about for the first time?”
With respect to education, although I’m much more knowledgeable about the political and legislative processes, I didn’t really get what was going on until I read “Reign of Error.” I had a grumbling feeling, despite my support, that something was wrong with the Obama years and once I learned about what a Duncan-led agenda was doing to this country. When I tried to explain this to Obama die-hard supporters, they universally responded that I was overreacting, after all, President Obama would never do anything near what I was describing to our schools. Not one took me up on reading Diane’s writings.
So this is a long way of saying that Diane is right, this is, in an almost tragic, perverse way a “gift” for those of us who understand what has been damaged, lost and is at stake. I’m not sure we’d be having this discussion under a President Clinton. Those friends who I couldn’t get to listen to me for years are now asking me what do we do next. I tell them to sign up with NPE and start taking me seriously when I talk about education.
My fear for education advocacy is that it will get lost in the shuffle as collective exhaustion among the public sets in. For example, there will be an explosion of activism once a Secretary of HHS Price, the new VA secretary, and Congress begin to dismantle Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other health-related programs. Will the outrage about DeVos and what will be happening in education policy be able to sustain through that? Or whatever other international and domestic issues and crises that will inevitably occur?
My point is that the time about whining about the past; how abused and ignored those of us who care about public education have been, is no longer relevant nor constructive as we move forward. To repeat Diane’s comment, carpe diem and funnel your passion toward something constructive. And the first thing you need to do is act locally to explain what the stakes are.
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Absolutely. I don’t disagree.
However, it turns out that how we conceive of and frame our struggle does matter. Forgetting or even diminishing the fact that the reform/privatizing movement has made it’s greatest strides and advances under the Democrats and their Ivy’d and credentialed and competent administrators presents a real danger for us moving forward. If we activate and mobilize only when we are faced with the harsh and blunt articulation of the reform agenda under fascistio-conservatives, we are opening a very wide door to be competently attacked and brutalized under a future Democratic administration.
I fear that many on our side prefer to be strung-up with the sweet whispers of liberation and social justice, rather than the harsh and blunt talk of Ayn Rand-ish capitalists. We forget that the noose has the same effect regardless.
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Greg / NYST
You two are going to force me to start taking my wife’s muscle relaxers . The problem with us lefties is that we spend so much time arguing about the things we absolutely agree on . Now if Greg was a certain NYC resident who spends an inordinate amount of time defending those disastrous neo liberal politicians, while pretending to be a progressive, or if NYS was a certain Ohio/Michigan? resident who spent months equating dismal democrats to the rising fascism on the right, we would have something to disagree about . As we all agree, what are we disagreeing about.? I feel like the White Rabbit . Or did I just wind up in wonderland.
By the way Greg that was a great analysis and on another note !
“New Yorkers immediately after September 11th could not fathom that others in the nation didn’t see terrorism as an existential threat.”
We NYs who actually know people who were killed on 9/11 who watched the towers come down seldom think about the threat of terrorism. While some housewife in rural South Carolina went to hide under the bed this morning when” F–facevonClownstick” told the nation be afraid be very afraid you should know what i don’t know about terrorism or anything else.! While he attacked the bedrock of this democracy ..The separation of powers.
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Joel, NYS, I know we’re all on the same team. Time to lock our virtual arms and march forward. I’ll do what I can in NE Ohio where I’m surrounded by working class Trumpistas who have no idea how much more they will soon suffer. I know you’re dealing with the same. My immediate checklist is start attending and speaking up at my local school board meetings, get to know my local papers’ education reporters, and schedule meeting with my doctrinaire Republican state Assembly rep and senator. We must act locally to be effective together.
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Excellent, GregB!
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GregB,
Trump is counting on Disaster Fatigue to set in.
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GregB, this reply isn’t about education, but it is a response to your paragraph about medical research.
The last time that medical research became a real “national priority” was back when Nixon (yes, Richard Nixon) began the “war on cancer.” All of a sudden, a lot of research money became available for both clinical research and basic research (and don’t make the mistake of believing that basic research has very little to do with “pure” cancer research- very, very many of the strides that have been made in cancer, as well as other diseases, have been based on basic scientific research).
In recent years, the money for research from the federal government has been reduced, for the researchers at the National Institutes of Health, as well as for the NIH grants that go to researchers at the universities, who depend upon these grants to fund their research.
And people who think that private industry is the answer are deluded, because companies are only going to spend money on research that promises to make money for them in the relatively short term.
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Hi Zorba! You and I are members of the same choir. When Nixon declared the “War on Cancer,” NCI received an annual appropriation of $1.6 billion. In constant dollars, that would translate into $14.99 billion today. The current NCI funding level is $5.21 billion.
A lot of people don’t understand that there is a 10-15 “lag” before we see NIH basic research translated into effective drugs and treatments. NIH funding has been relatively stagnant since 2006. Last year the FDA approved 22 new drugs, a six year low and down from 45 in 2015. Many of those drugs carry annual price tags of between $100-200,000 per year. And “serious” people like Paul Ryan want to replace Medicare with a voucher program that would not total anything near what one of those drugs would cost. Oy, don’t get me started.
I’m currently working on a piece comparing the rhetoric of education and medical research politics, focusing on the words “choice” and “vouchers.” It’s amazing how much overlap there is in the agenda-driven doublespeak used to fool both constituencies.
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Oh, Greg, that overlap is exactly what I was thinking!
I hope you post your piece here, I would love to read it!
Privatization is a huge, huge problem. For medical and drug research, for education, and lots of other things that used to be thought of as “the public good.”
Privatized prisons, new highways, many of which have become toll roads run by companies, and on and on.
It seems that way too many politicians (on both sides of the aisle; although the GOP tends to be worse, many Democrats have also bought into this) have decided that private companies are the way to go.
Well, the politicos depend upon money from the big companies and the rich, so there it is. What can we expect? They don’t care about the average person, they care about the money they can rake in.
{{Sigh}}
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10-15 year lag
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Zorba, I am reminded of a lecture I heard years ago by Don Coffey from Johns Hopkins that highlighted the difference between NIH and pharma research and how the latter funded “innovative” research. His first slide showed two guppies with different color patterns. He asked, “What do these guppies have to do with cancer research?” Silence. “I’lll tell you. The research that determined why some guppies have this pattern and not that pattern explained the concept of genetic differentiation.” And, as those of us who pay attention to these things, the ability to determine genetic differentiation is at the core of modern cancer research. It’s an evolving science. Once we understand the mechanisms of differentiation, the faster we can apply how to do something about the negative consequences of that differentiation. More importantly, it informs us how to judge members of Congress who will grandstand about “government waste” and cite example of “What does guppy research have to do with cancer?” Coffey’s explanations tell us why we should call the idiots.
This is a prime example of the difference between NIH and industry-funded research. The latter would ask questions about how will this lead to profitable drugs. The former would ask what does this inform us about the basic science about the direction future research should pursue. And the former might lead to multiple dead ends before the productive mechanisms could be found. NIH will fund that train of thought, pharma will not.
The analogy with K-12 education is that we support the mechanisms, not the potential for profit. But, if we support the mechanisms with what they deserve, the profits will actually be greater than anything a targeted for-profit mindset ever could.
Now let us continue sing in our mutual choir.
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GregB, once again, I totally agree with you.
We must be siblings, separated at birth. 😉
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“…pay attention to this things know…”
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“these things”…Diane, please give us 5 minutes to edit our remarks!! I only see the mistakes after I write them.
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Same thing happens to me but WordPress gives me an edit function. Not you.
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How is is that in order to become a teacher or even a principal in a NYC PUBLIC school one needs an education of at least two college degrees. Yet to become Secretary of Education for the United States of America you are not required to have a masters degree? Really? Did I get this right? How is that possible? $$$$
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You don’t even have to have a degree in an education related field! You got it: $$$.
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FDR sent the following warning to Congress, “The liberty of democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself.”
In illustration, Bill Gates’ for-profit, schools, promoted by the World Bank to the exclusion of public education.
Did Jamie Dimon feel slighted when Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom to, oligarch, Bill Gates, who is the biggest privatizer and corporatizer of public schools?
Political scientists recently reported on research that found a “32-year, linear relationship, between money gathered by the two parties for congressional elections and their share of the vote. But, there has been a shift over the years : corporate donors have come to dominate the funding.”
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There is a lot more to be concerned about then DeVos. She was a shoe in and now the USDE will be dismantled and Betsy will sell off the parts. Once USDE is gone, she will go back to Michigan and continue in the life that she feels she is due. She will continue to buy politicians to make more money on her quest to greatness. The plan has been put into play. Murkowski and Collins were to distract the masses while the big boys are getting ready to gut USDE. Plain and simple! No one seems to think ahead in this game of war….it’s all just gut reaction and that’s why the good guys will lose. It makes me sad!
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You are so right. Murkowski and Collins could have killed the DeVos nomination in committee; what are the chances that they were given a pass by the party? Are both of them up for election in two years?
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Massie (Rep Kentucky) already has a bill in motion to have USDE gone by 12/31/2018. That’s been the plan all along IMO. Betsy was appointed to do the dirty work. Another Rep Senator wants to get rid of the EPA. Trump campaigned on these issues and now he will be following through for Pence. Mark my words….Trump wants out and when the administration is in place, Pence will lead the nation.
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Is it time to contact our U.S. Senators and Representatives and tell them we don’t want voucher money sent to our states? Figlio’s research found Ohio vouchers were a failure. The research, in contrast to the paper’s foreword and media reporting, had no research finding about the benefit of school competition.
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Linda,
It is time to fight against vouchers in your district and state. Join NPE. CONNECT WITH LOCAL ALLIES.
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VICE News had a cute story about a woman trying to get in touch with her representatives to urge them to vote against DeVos. She could not reach Orrin Hatch’s office so she sent him a pizza. She then got a call from security. After she had been cleared, she got a call from Hatch’s office inviting her to lunch. Let’s hope she gets to speak her mind.
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Shows how cheaply politicians are bought.
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ALSO TAKE NOTE: the word “scholarship” might be used as a more publicly palatable word than “voucher,” but offers the same results.
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Very, very important observation! I’ve been rereading a book on the misuse of language in the Third Reich and this fits. Starting to make a list. Like government schools=public schools. We should compile our own list in case others have suggestions to add.
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YES.
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Diane, thank you so much for your constant vigilance in this matter! We are nothing without an educated populous (though I think some people would like it that way…serfdom here we come).
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I think it is a good time to start.
Ed reform offers nothing of value to existing public schools. Not only that, they seem offended that public school supporters expect them to offer something of value. DeVos didn’t address public school parents at all- her entire pitch was directed to charters and private schools.
Ed reform left a huge opening: 85% of students and parents. Take advantage of it.
The best her supporters can offer students and parents in public schools is a vow she won’t have “the power” to “destroy” public schools.
This is nuts. That’s an endorsement? Talk about low expectations.
These people promised the public they would IMPROVE public schools. That’s how they sold their “movement”. Now the absolute best they can offer is “we promise not to deliberately destroy your schools”? In what world is this adding value? Why would anyone hire them? I could hire an ed reformer who promises not to “destroy” schools or I could hire someone who is actually offering something positive. They chose DeVos- wholly negative for 85% of kids. That’s crazy.
Take the opening. They’re so far into an echo chamber they don’t even realize they omitted public schools.
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Cross-posted at
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Today-the-Fight-to-Save-Ou-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Demonstrations_Diane-Ravitch_Education_Network-For-Public-Education-170208-37.html#comment644403
with this comment:
Listen friends, I personally know Diane Ravitch for over a decade. ; DIANE RAVITCH, was former Asst-Secretary of State, and is the author of How Not to Fix Our Public Schools and Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.
She and top educators began the NPE to give YOU –the people– an organization to FIGHT THE BIG PONEY PACS.
Learn About The Network for Public Education – Network For Public Education and get their newsletters
A WORD ABOUT DIANE: who explains in how the big foundations paved the way for Betsy DeVos’ nihilistic campaign to privatize public education. “Trump has promised to reallocate $20 billion in federal funds to promote charter schools and private-school vouchers and now has given us this billionaire who has long devoted her philanthropic efforts to advocating for charters and vouchers!.
After the election, her American Federation for Children boasted of spending nearly $5 million on candidates that support school choice, not public schools.
Ravitch: Billionaires (and millionaires) for education reform – The Washington Posts
There been NO DISCUSSION BY THE CANDIDATES OR THE MEDIA, OR ANYONE about the legislative take-over of the public school systems, that Diane Ravitch covers at her site and by the NPE — the privatization of our public education by the state legislatures which my series here, re-posts with commentary that ties it all together.
Submitted on Wednesday, Feb 8, 2017 at 2:56:09 PM
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Thank you, Susan.
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I thought it was interesting DeVos spent so much time pushing online learning for rural schools. We have “cybercharters” in Ohio and this is a tiny portion of students. It’s just not a central issue to people.
There’s a weird cluelessness to her focus, like she doesn’t even know what the reality is in Michigan and Ohio which is the one thing I would think she couldn’t AVOID knowing given that she was a Michigan political operative for 30 years.
How can she not know they value public schools and they would notice that she omitted and mention of them?
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I think the motivation here is purely financial – it’s too expensive to open a charter school (even a for-profit one) in a sparsely-populated rural area, so one resorts to online alternatives – much, much cheaper and predictably, the worst-performing of all classes of so-called “choice” options.
Also re: terminology:
(a) for-profit charters: ??
(b) vouchers: ??
(c) “choice”: ??
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