Reader Jack Covey watched Betsy DeVos testify at a Congressional hearing and was startled by what he saw and heard:
“What’s scary is Secretary Devos’ tacit claim that, when it comes to schools that receive government funding — charter schools, voucher-funded private schools, etc. — the U.S. Department of Ed.:
“— HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT STUDENTS FROM DISCRIMINATION — based on race, ethnicity, religion sexual preference, gender identity, etc. — AT THE HANDS OF THOSE RUNNING THOSE GOVERNMENT-FUNDED SCHOOLS.
“— WILL DO NOTHING — provide NO protections, NO assistance in filing a grievance, or any help seeking a remedy (i.e. and amicus brief in any lawsuit) … NO NOTHING, brother — FOR ANY STUDENTS WHO ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY THOSE IN CHARGE OF CHARTER OR VOUCHER-FUNDED PRIVATE SCHOOLS THAT RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FUNDING. (again, this is discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, special ed disability, sexual preference, gender identity, etc.)
“Watch this exchange here between Secretary Devos and Congresswoman Katherine Clark (MA-05):.
Secretary Devos is essentially sending a message to those in charge of those government-funded schools — charter schools, voucher-funded private schools, etc.
“Discriminate against any and all students, based on whatever criteria tbat you see fit, and do so to your heart’s content, and we at the U.S. Department of Ed. will back you all the way.
“What’s that? You say don’t want any blacks at your school? Just feel free to tell any who try to get in, ‘We don’t accept blacks here,’ and if and when those against whom you are discriminating try to fight back, the U.S. Department of Ed. and the Federal Government will just sit back, stay out of it, and do nothing to assist those against whom you are discriminating. We at the U.S. Department of Ed. are givin’ you The Green Light to go ahead with all this.”
“That same Green Light goes DITTO for any other group. race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, gender identity, etc.”
“Question: why isn’t this on the cover of every newspaper in the country, the lead story in the network news, etc?
“I mean, Sweet Jesus, the nation’s top Education official has — when it comes to schools getting government funding, such as charter schools and voucher-funded private schools — just announced the de facto reversal of Brown vs. Board of Education, and a century-and-a-half of anti-discrimination civil rights laws and activism.
“Watch it again:
“The Congresswoman is asking Devos if there’s any instance of discrimination that would merit the U..S Department stepping in to assist students who are victims of discrimination, and Devos, in effect, replies, “No, never. We ain’t doin’ jack for them.”
“Secretary Devos’ logic is basically that “Choice trumps everything”, and by that, she means that a black-free school, or a LGBT-free school should be a “choice” that all parents should have, and that taxpayers’ money should be provided to those parents and to those schools to assist in exercising that choice.
“Furthermore, Devos argues that anything that prevents such schools from having free reign to discriminate against certain students — i.e. a government compulsion to accept blacks, or Hispanics, or gays, or Special Ed. kids,or whomever, through, for example, a threatened loss of funding or vouchers — would also simultaneously deprive parents of that no-blacks-allowed, no-whomever-allowed school “choice” and again, “Choice trumps all.”
“This confirms people’s worst fears about Trump — that yes, he is indeed working hand-in-hand with racist elements in the population, or with people who wish to discriminate against anyone for any reason whatsoever — and get taxpayers’ money to fund and carry out such discrimination.”
HOW LOW CAN THEY GO?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Imho, k-12 schools that are eligible for public funds should be open to all students in a set geographic region, with no form of admissions test. That region might be set by a state so that it could be a county, city, statewide, or some other geographic region. This standard would not allow schools to pick and choose among students.
Just profit off of them.
“The Betsy Bot”
The Betsy bot
Repeats a lot:
The states have got
The upper spot
When states bestow
The laws of Crow
The Fed’s below
The states, you know
These right wingers should be rounded up and detained indefinitely by the next administration.
They hope there will be no next administration. Cable news is insuring that may happen and not just Fox . Four SCHMUCKS sitting on a panel shouting back and forth at each other is neither news or reporting. It is “fake news” used to fill a 24hr news cycle . Few of these talking heads are news worthy or ever say anything news worthy. Some are learning on the job ,the nonsense coming out of their mouths is unbelievable.
Most of the real news that is reported is by the print media. CNN not Fox elected Trump, by giving credence to his talking heads in exchange for advertising dollars.
There is nothing wrong with shows where the host has a political bias .
There is nothing wrong with a weekly show like meet the press .
There is everything wrong with babbling bullshit 6-12hrs a day on what is claimed to be a news broadcast. False assertions are made and rarely adequately confronted by the anchor ,even the best of them .
Reporting would be talking ,off camera to these supposed spokesman or experts , the few that are worthy of talking to. Then presenting what they had to say if it was newsworthy and factual .
The Congresswoman’s questioning is what investigative journalism should look like.
I think the GOP takes HATE pills several times during the day.
The attention that DeVos is getting from leading the DOE will shine a light on what “choice” actually means. With choice parents give up their powerful voice. They can contact the CEO of the charter chain, it will be about as effective as communicating with any corporation. They can talk to a phone bot. Students lose their rights to many protections under the law. This is particularly true for classified students.
Private schools have the right to discriminate for whatever reason as long as the discrimination falls into the de facto type. In public schools students and parents have a right to be heard. They are free to review the budget and take grievances to the principal, central office administrators, the superintendent and the elected school board.
This article is “on point”. Wealthy parents can avoid having their children go to “those” schools. see
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/04/the-privilege-of-school-choice/524103/
School Choice would enable families of all income levels to avoid going to school with “the others.”
Except, that is, for those who are “the others”.
Point well-taken. Rich parents can send their children to lily-white private schools.
Charles
They certainly can do that . But I would prefer that my tax dollars not subsidize their children’s education in anything other than a Public School, which educates all children regardless of race,religion,sex or handicap.
@Joel: We agree. How do you feel about college students accepting a BEOG, and then attending an all-white university (subsidized with your taxes)? And how to you feel about a black college student getting a BEOG, and then attending a HBCU, like Grambling (again, subsidized with your tax dollars)? or getting a BEOG, and attending •Barnard College.•Bryn Mawr College.•Cedar Crest College.
•Mills College.•Mount Holyoke College.•Simmons College.• Smith College.•Spelman College.(all-female colleges)
Or attending Brigham Young University (Mormon), with a BEOG?
If your tax dollars can send students to colleges that do not accept males, atheists, whites, etc, then why do you object to your taxes doing exactly the same thing at the K-12 level?
Charles – just to clarify, Historical Black Colleges & Universities do accept people of various races.
At the k-12 level, as I’ve mentioned a number of times, I think that public funds should go only to schools that are open to all and are non-sectarian.
Brigham Young University accepts people of faiths other than LDS, too.
@Joe: I am confused. You think that public funds should only go to students at K-12 level that are “open to all and non-sectarian”. Am I to imply, that you are OK with public funds going to students at schools that are all-female, or exclude atheists, etc?
I am aware that HBCU’s accept students of other races. And I also know that BYU accepts people of other faiths. Not being a Catholic will not keep you out of Notre Dame(especially if you can play football). But being a male, will keep you out of an all-female college. This is blatant discrimination, and these colleges get all types of federal tax money.
What is the difference between tax money going to colleges that discriminate against males, and tax money going to private single-gender schools at the K-12 level?
Is this a double standard?
I think I have asked this before. If anybody answered, I have forgotten it in my old age. What is BEOG?
@sped: BEOG= Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. Also known as “Pell Grants”. This is tax money, that is paid to an individual, to use, for expenses related to education. The money is given without precondition, I used my BEOGs for tuition, books, and living expenses, while I was in college. I could not have gone to college without my BEOG’s. The late Senator Claiborne Pell, is a saint.
Thank you. I am behind the times with acronyms. They were just Pell Grants when my kids were going through school.
Charles
No problem Charles eliminate the grant and provide quality well funded ,free public universities for all who are capable and desire to go. No need to hear Jim Clyburn cry about the death of the HBCU . Good residence to this vestige of segregation.
Viva La France where average fees are less than 1000 a semester.
Aren’t you glad you asked.
good riddance
Joel, according to the UNCF (United Negro College Fund – the “mind is a terrible thing to waste folks,)
” “HBCUs enroll approximately ten percent of all African American students
attending four-year institutions.
But they produce 18 percent of all African American bachelor’s degrees and 25
percent of African American bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields….HBCU students pursue graduate degrees at higher rates than African American
students who attend non-HBCUs, which is why the top 10 schools that send
African Americans on to earn PhDs in science and engineering are HBCUs.
Click to access HBCU-Lessons-for-the-K-12-Education-Sector_Speech-by-Brian-Bridge-Ph.D.-N7.27.16.pdf
HBCU’s are a valuable option and should be retained.
Joseph Nathan
I have no problem with Pell Grants or HBCUs . But to assert as Clyburn did that making college affordable or free, should not be pursued because it would impact HBCU’s is contemptible.
It is the same argument used against a single payer option, “Single payer is undesirable because it would drive the private insurers out of business” . We could then post the number of cancer survivors who were treated using their private coverage and compare survival rates to medicaid patients. Therefore Medicare for all should not be pursued.
There are many reasons that HBCU students outperform a general population of black students. I suspect that those same students would preform equally well at free public institutions of equal stature. Saying this without discussing any positive reinforcements those schools may provide .
Quality Public Schools and Public Universities well funded and affordable should be our goal, not vouchers for private institutions.
Charles in essence was comparing the Pell Grant to a voucher. Without checking the stats I would guess the overwhelming majority of these grants are to currently unaffordable Public institutions .
Joel, I’d encourage you to read the paper on HBCU’s to which I linked.
I agree that it would be good to have a free year or two beyond high school. We’ve helped develop programs here and in Washington that allow high school students to earn free college credits on the campus of a college or university.
However, I think one way to provide an additional year is to provide scholarships for college that allow the families/students to select the post-secondary institution that best meets them. I would not assume it would be private or a public institution. I’d trust families to make that choice.
MInnesota has such a system in place.
Have a good weekend.
Joe
Joseph Nathan says ” I think one way to provide an additional year is to provide scholarships for college that allow the families/students to select the post-secondary institution that best meets them. I would not assume it would be private or a public institution. I’d trust families to make that choice.’
And that is exactly what the people who demanded that Trump U be allowed to exist without any nasty oversight said! There is absolutely no difference between your view and the view of people who said “we must not have any regulations of for-profit colleges because it’s up to the student to decide.” And of course, Trump U was a roaring success! At least for the people who ran it! And in this country if you get sucked by a man like Trump, why that’s just a compliment to Trump for being smart enough to sucker you.
Joseph Nathan, thank you for making your views so clear!
Having worked for more than 45 years on public school improvements as an urban public school teacher, administrator, PTA parent, advocate, researcher and (since 1989) as a newspaper columnist, I would not expect that all of my suggestions would be included in one brief comment.
Yes, I believe in placing certain expectations on all schools that receive public funds. For example, I think they should be required to have outside yearly audits that are publicly available. I also think that k-12 public schools should be open to all, with no admissions tests.
I’m also to use my own name. That’s a form of public accountability.
I am hoping that parents start a class action lawsuit – soon.
Charter schools are the profit-making part of the “education reform/choice/voucher” movement that has from its very beginnings been rooted in racism. The movement has always had resegregation of America’s schools as its core agenda. The deceptive call for “choice” and vouchers was the first racist response to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education in which the Court declared that “separate but equal” public schools are inherently unequal and ordered racial integration of the public schools. That ruling triggered “white flight” from public schools to private schools — but parents quickly realized that the tuition cost of private schools was more than they wanted to pay out-of-pocket. That realization led political and private resegregationists to the concoct the “reform” of vouchers, and to sell it to eager parents by deceptively marketing it then —and still today — as merely giving parents a “choice.”
Reports from the NAACP and ACLU have revealed the facts about just how charter schools are resegregating our nation’s schools, as well as discriminating racially and socioeconomically against American children, and last year the NAACP Board of Directors passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion and for the strengthening of oversight in governance and practice. Moreover, a very detailed nationwide research by The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA shows in clear terms that private charter schools suspend extraordinary numbers of black students.
The 1950’s voucher crusade faded away when it became clear that because of school attendance boundaries no more than a few token blacks would be attending formerly all-white public schools. In 1972 when the Supreme Court finally ordered busing to end the ongoing de facto segregation, the reform movement rose from its grave and has been alive ever since then trying new tactics to restore racial segregation because it’s unlikely that the Court’s racial integration order can ever be reversed. When it became clear in the 1980’s that vouchers would never become widespread, the segregationists tried many other routes to restore racial segregation, and the most successful has been charter schools because charter schools can be sold to blithely unaware do-gooder billionaires as well as to unscrupulous profiteers who recognized charter schools as a way to divert vast amounts of tax money into their own pockets and into the pockets of supportive politicians at every level of government.
An essential part of the strategy to mask their underlying motives has been for segregationists to sell the public on the necessity for charter schools because public schools are allegedly “failing.” With all manner of “research” that essentially compares apples to oranges against foreign nations’ students, and with the self-fulfilling prophecy of dismal public school performance generated by drastic underfunding of public schools, and with condemnation of public school teachers based on statistically invalid student test scores, the segregationists are succeeding in resegregating education in America via what are basically private charter schools that are funded with public money.
The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education has issued a warning that charter schools posed a risk to the Department of Education’s own goals. The report says: “Charter schools and their management organizations pose a potential risk to federal funds even as they threaten to fall short of meeting the goals” because of the financial fraud, the skimming of tax money into private pockets that is the reason why hedge funds are the main backers of charter schools.
The Washington State Supreme Court, the New York State Supreme Courts, and the National Labor Relations Board have ruled that charter schools are not public schools because they aren’t accountable to the public since they aren’t governed by publicly-elected boards and aren’t subdivisions of public government entities, in spite of the fact that some state laws enabling charter schools say they are government subdivisions. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL” because no charter school fulfills the basic public accountability requirement of being responsible to and directed by a school board that is elected by We the People. Charter schools are clearly private schools, owned and operated by private entities. Nevertheless, they get public tax money.
Even the staunchly pro-charter school Los Angeles Times (which acknowledges that its “reporting” on charter schools is paid for by a billionaire charter school advocate) complained in an editorial that “the only serious scrutiny that charter operators typically get is when they are issued their right to operate, and then five years later when they apply for renewal.” Without needed oversight of what charter schools are actually doing with the public’s tax dollars, hundreds of millions of tax money that is supposed to be spent on educating the public’s children is being siphoned away into private pockets.
Charter schools should (1) be required by law to be governed by school boards elected by the voters so that they are accountable to the public; (2) a charter school entity must legally be a subdivision of a publicly-elected governmental body; (3) charter schools should be required to file the same detailed public-domain audited annual financial reports under penalty of perjury that genuine public schools file; and, (4) anything a charter school buys with the public’s money should be the public’s property. These aren’t onerous burdens on charter schools; these are only common sense requirements to assure taxpayers that their money is being properly and effectively spent to educate children and isn’t simply ending up in private pockets or on the bottom line of hedge funds.
These aren’t “burdensome” requirements for charter schools — they are simply common sense safeguards that public tax money is actually being used to maximum effect to teach our nation’s children.
NO PUBLIC TAX MONEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO TO CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT FAIL TO MEET THESE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.
The pro charter folks fight oversight — whether it’s on for-profit or non-non-profit charters. No charter should be subject to any oversight except their own ability to attract kids and get decent results with the kids who are allowed to stay in the school.
Anything that a charter does to insure that some kids don’t come or that others leave is none of our business if their own board of billionaires thinks it is fine!
In that they are no different from Donald Trump who declared that his Trump University should be allowed to do whatever it wanted as long as students were willing to come and his hand-picked board approved!