Betsy DeVos: our very own Iron Lady!
Valerie Strauss parses DeVos’s speech to ALEC. She is the only Secretary of Education who has made it her mission to promote charters, vouchers, and any other alternative to public schools. She is the first Secretary to tell the public that our public schools are filled with self-serving teachers and administrators who care about themselves, not about children. Although, as Strauss points out, Arne Duncan was no slouch when it came to insulting teachers, principals, and public schools.
Strauss writes:
“Speaking at an annual conference of a powerful conservative organization, she invoked the words of Margaret Thatcher, the late prime minister of Great Britain, who instituted tough conservative policies that supporters say helped save the British economy and foes say hurt the poor and destroyed heavy industries and communities. Thatcher became known as the “Iron Lady” for her tough policies, both domestic and foreign, and is a hero to conservatives here and abroad…
“To DeVos, public institutions are impediments to individuals who want freedom to access opportunities, and the traditional public education system, which has been the most important civic institution in America since its creation, is a failure that can’t be fixed….
“While being careful to say that “providing more educational options isn’t against public schools,” she repeatedly hailed alternatives to traditional school systems and bashed people who support them as people who care only about “systems” and not individual students, and are only interested in sustaining the “status quo.” (That’s an accusation, incidentally, that was used frequently by President Obama’s education secretary Arne Duncan, who accused his opponents of wanting to do the same thing, and it may be time for DeVos’s speechwriters to come up with a new insult.)”
As I wrote in The New Republic a few weeks ago, if you don’t like Betsy DeVos, blame the Democrats. Arne Duncan endorsed the “failing schools” narrative, praised the teacher-bashing Michelle Rhee, and advocated school choice. He paved the way for Betsy DeVos. Thanks, Arne.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane In your note Strauss writes: “To DeVos, public institutions are impediments to individuals who want freedom to access opportunities, and the traditional public education system, which has been the most important civic institution in America since its creation, is a failure that can’t be fixed….”
If this is so, then there are at least two major faults to this argument: First, Devos does not recognize the difference between children’s and adults’ education. Children don’t need “freedom to access opportunities.” Children need good guidance by those who ONLY have their guidance in mind and on their agenda. Of course, if she is talking about parents, she is also assuming that public schools and trained teachers who are smart enough to unionize don’t afford “access to opportunities” for their children. And we know that’s just so much DeVos BS. Even mediocre public schools do not deprive students access to opportunities.
Second, there’s that “public schools are failures” argument again, now accompanied with an answer to those who say to “fix public education instead of kill them.” But of course they “can’t be fixed.”
In some sense she is right, that is, they cannot be fixed if they continue to be drained of support and funding, and if people like her keep bad-mouthing both public schools and their devoted teachers.
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Dear Dr Ravitch,
Off topic, somewhat. Please share the 7-21-17 NY Daily News article “DOE staffers give $6G for homeless students’ college supplies.” Carmen Farina initiated this effort for a pop-up shop after she addressed homeless graduating students. It’s a moving story–evidently some education leaders do see students as individuals.
Wouldn’t it be neat if Farina, DOE could make this an ongoing outreach effort so that students could replenish supplies at winter break? Even a trip to drugstore for shampoo, shaving cream, basics mounts up nowadays. I’d be happy to send gift card.
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DeVos’ roots go back beyond Duncan. Every GOP politician since Reagan has run against “the government” and ever since the publication of “A Nation At Risk” both parties have accepted the notion that our public schools– er, make that GOVERNMENT schools— are failing. And this anti-government anti-regulatory messaging is not accidental. Read “The Powell Manifesto” from 1971. http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/
Now that Citizens united is the law of the land and most of the mainstream media is owned by a handful of billionaires expect to read more about education as a “market”….
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Adding, Pew Trusts and Arnold have partnered to “research and enhance community supervision (electronic monitoring”) according to the magazine, Town & Country.
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SiX, the Democratic alternative to ALEC has an inadequate position summary on education. It’s time for an opposition party that defends America’s most important common good against Gates, DFER, and the richest 0.1%.
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Please, Diane and commenters, read Chapter 3 of Carol Anderson’s White Rage… especially the aftermath of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (pp.73-87). Abolishment of public education on a massive scale has already been done once in this country throughout the Deep South and Tidewater states. This effort of reactionary “conservatives” [white supremacists] was committed under the guise of patriotic support of state rights. It included state-funded school vouchers to support private, white-only academies for white students. Those fighting for public education – resisting privatization in all its forms – must activate the political consciousness of all constituencies to prevail. Black Lives Matter and all networks representing those most vulnerable to the insidious consequences of education’s destruction need to be part of this resistance movement.
Anderson’s p.p. 94-97 take account of the consequences of defiance of Brown to both blacks and whites… and ultimately to the social, economic, and stategic security of the nation. The stakes are astronomically high, both in material outcomes and in those more political, philosophical, psychological and spiritual.
Focus on Clinton, Duncan, Obama, Gates, DeVos, etc is distractionary. This anti-public movement has operated in this country for over 100 years, from the very beginnings of broad public education. It will never be vanquished… it is a moving target morphing into one flag-wrapped mutation after another. Beating it back demands every last voice opponents can muster.
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Julie Ann, never say never. The road to a great school system runs through Finland (read Pasi Sahlberg) and he says they copied their best ideas from us!
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Was just talking with my husband about why integrated curriculum works, rather than learning ISOLATED facts. We have gone backwards in this country.
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