Politico has a exclusive report on the scrambling inside the US Department of Education to limit the damage after Secretary DeVos hailed the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities as models of choice.
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/04/state-colleges-facing-budget-bind-219778
Her ignorant remark led to an explosion of negative reaction. Apparently she had no idea that HBCUs were created because black students were not allowed to attend most colleges and universities. She didn’t know, like Sean Spicer didn’t know about the chemical gas used by Hitler.
Someone quickly drafted a new comment.
“EXCLUSIVE: DAMAGE CONTROL AFTER DEVOS’ HBCU STATEMENT: The day after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a statement tying the origin of historically black colleges and universities to school choice, career officials at the Education Department alerted the new communications crew that it was playing very poorly in the media. One career employee noted it was trending on Twitter and said, “folks are now calling requesting that we amend the statement or issue a correction acknowledging the true origin of HBCUs,” according to emails from the agency’s Office of Communications and Outreach obtained by POLITICO through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“- DeVos clarified the remark at an HBCU Congressional Luncheon. DeVos’ first statement, issued on Feb. 27 at night, equated the history of HBCUs – founded during an era of racial segregation – to charter schools and publicly funded private school options. “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” she said. But on Feb. 28, as criticism exploded , DeVos stressed at the luncheon that the schools were “born, not out of mere choice, but out of necessity, in the face of racism.” Career employees continued to flag negative media coverage of DeVos’ original statement, with political communications hire Gillum Ferguson instructing them to refer callers to DeVos’ later remarks that HBCUs were born “in the face of racism,” according to the emails.
“- Karen Stratman, a career official and director of national engagement, flagged a Slate article to Ferguson and political communications hire Matthew Frendewey with the headline, “Insane Betsy DeVos Press Release Celebrates Jim Crow Education System as Pioneer of ‘School Choice,'” according to one email. Stratman wrote: “More on this–remember we’re just the messenger–just FYI on how closely words are being watched (not that you needed a reminder…).” She also asked staff to gather links to negative coverage, sending them to Ferguson and Frendewey. In response, Ferguson instructed Stratman that as she sends out DeVos’ luncheon remarks, she should specifically highlight the paragraph acknowledging that HBCUs were born “in the face of racism.” Jim Mould, a career official and director of media and customer relations, also suggested that Stratman highlight that paragraph. An Education Department spokesman didn’t respond to request for comment.”
I don’t know about you, but “in the face of racism” still sounds lame to me. I bet she never heard of Jim Crow or Plessy or Bull Connor.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is interesting.
“Paul Mones, a lawyer who represents victims of sexual abuse, said private schools can be particularly prone to such attacks.
“They are closed systems, especially residential private schools where kids are separated from their parents,” Mr. Mones said. “It’s not like a public school with people coming in and out all the time. There are many more opportunities for teachers to do this.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sexual-abuse-at-choate-went-on-for-decades-school-acknowledges/ar-BBzPeyD?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
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Delusional come to mind/ Seems #45 staff are full of that all the way to the top. It’s pretty scary.
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And never heard of George Wallace or for that matter, the history of remarks by our new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/02/jeff-sessionss-comments-on-race-for-the-record/?utm_term=.695a653e4c23
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I think DeV-oops understood that she was praising separate schools for Others. She has also seemingly concluded that segregation is what Others want. What she does not understand is the role of the federal government in at least mitigating rather than promulgating segregation. With the support of corporations that see people as demographic segments, and money as free speech, however, I don’t see why the Department of Education is at all worried about DeVos Syndrome, the foot in mouth disorder. They will do as they please.
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This administration runs from one gaffe to another; it’s not just DeVos. It’s Spicer, DeVos and Trump himself. Team Trump may be one of the least informed, lying administrations ever. They are a walking advertisement for well resourced public schools, and make a strong case against the phony superiority of private schools fueled by fake news, a sense of entitlement, and bias.
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“The Great Gaffesby” (hat tip to Jon Stewart, who once did a piece about Joe Biden of that name)
Gaffesby was rich
As rich as a King
But gaffes were a bitch
That ruined the thing
He gaffed at the dawn
And gaffed at the noon
And gaffed on the lawn
And gaffed at the moon
He gaffed til his gaffer
Was laid on the floor
Then gaffed til a staffer
Said “Gaffe, Sir, no more!”
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They either forgot or never knew the history and so are condemning the rest of us who do remember and know to repeat it against our will and better judgement.
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Retired Teacher,
You said it! Thanks.
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“They are a walking advertisement for well resourced public schools and make a strong case against the phony superiority of private schools….” And I’d like to add for high test scores.
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The irony here is that charter schools and “choice” do have a racist history. http://www.alternet.org/education/racist-history-charter-school-movement
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From the article……”The now-popular idea of offering public education dollars to private entrepreneurs has historical roots in white resistance to school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The desired outcome was few or, better yet, no black students in white schools. In Prince Edward County, Virginia, one of the five cases decided in Brown, segregationist whites sought to outwit integration by directing taxpayer funds to segregated private schools.”
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And this is how it plays today as well, although today it is about social/economic status and trying to gain it saying “I went to a charter,” implying that some selection was involved, as in “I was smart enough to select a charter” or ” I was chosen by a charter.”
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This too – https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/choice-without-equity-2009-report
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From the article……..”Seven years after the Civil Rights Project first documented extensive patterns of charter school segregation, the charter sector continues to stratify students by race, class and possibly language. This study is released at a time of mounting federal pressure to expand charter schools, despite on-going and accumulating evidence of charter school segregation.
Our analysis of the 40 states, the District of Columbia, and several dozen metropolitan areas with large enrollments of charter school students reveals that charter schools are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the nation. While examples of truly diverse charter schools exist, our data show that these schools are not reflective of broader charter trends.”
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DeVos should do us all a favor and resign so the taxpayers can save $1 Million per month in security, and return to the “ladies who lunch” crowd. So long and goodbye Betsy, we can only hope.
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Another dump train-wreck.
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Or another “Trump drain-wreck” where the sewage has backed up out of the sinks.
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