In Virginia, the governor’s race will determine the future of public schools in the Commonwealth. Teachers unions are supporting Dr. Northam, who is currently Lt. Governor and also a pediatrician. Dr. Northam is a graduate of public schools in Virginia. The unions spend their members’ dues, the dues of people who work in classrooms daily. The billionaire DeVos family has spent money for Gillespie, a Republican operative and lobbyist with no experience in education or elected office.
“The Democratic Candidate Dr. Ralph Northam is a strong supporter of public schools. His opponent Ed Gillespie wants to introduce school choice with privately managed charters and public funding of religious schools.
“The outcome of Virginia’s race for governor, the country’s marquee statewide election this year, will have widespread significance for the state’s roughly 1.29 million schoolchildren, political observers and education experts say.
“The governor’s race matters a whole lot for what public education will look like in Virginia in the days ahead,” said Sally Hudson, an assistant professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Virginia.
“The contest pits Republican Ed Gillespie, who has received more than $100,000 in donations from the family of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, against Democrat Ralph Northam, who has accepted at least $465,000 from teachers unions.
“Gillespie and Northam both want to boost teacher pay — Virginia ranks 32nd in the nation in that category — support more workforce training and rework the state’s Standards of Learning tests, a measure for school accountability and student achievement.
“But they diverge sharply when it comes to public charter schools and using tax dollars to help parents pay tuition at private schools.
“Gillespie wants to expand the state’s charter schools beyond the eight in operation. As a state senator Northam voted against loosening restrictions that govern the establishment of charter schools, and as a candidate for governor he has advocated investing in traditional public schools.”
When Betsy DeVos says she wants to leave decisions to the states, she forgets to mention that she is trying to buy control of States that have not yet turned red.
The good news: Dr. Northam is leading in the polls. Virginia parents are alert to the threat to their public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So here’s a test. Will her money or her ghastly reputation win?
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Here is how the right wing takes over places where there is actually liberal voters and change.
Virginia Is for Haters – The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/columnists/virginia-is-for-haters.html?action=click&contentCollection=Science&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
“How is this possible? Democratic-leaning voters are much less likely than Republican-leaning voters to cast ballots in state and local elections; as a result, a politically moderate state has a hard-right legislature. And there’s a real possibility that it may soon have a Republican governor, too.”
Here’s how that might happen: Ed Gillespie, the G.O.P. candidate, is trying to pull off an upset by going full-on Trumpist, doing all he can — with assistance from the tweeter in chief — to mobilize the white nationalist vote. He’s accusing Ralph Northam, his Democratic opponent, of dishonoring the state’s Confederate heroes. (Funny how people who accuse their rivals of being unpatriotic worship men who engaged in armed rebellion against the United States.) He’s not only accused Northam of being soft on illegal immigration, but he’s insinuated that this somehow makes him an ally of a violent Central American gang.These cynical ploys probably won’t change many minds in a state that disapproves strongly of Trump and all his works. But they might mobilize enough angry white voters to swing the election if Democrats don’t come out in equal force.
Whatever happens in Virginia, the consequences will be huge. If Gillespie pulls this off, all the worst impulses of the Trumpist G.O.P. will be empowered; you might think that things can’t get even worse, but yes, they can.”
“If, on the other hand, Northam wins and Democrats make big inroads in the state legislature, it won’t just probably mean that hundreds of thousands of Virginians will get health insurance, and it won’t just be an omen for the 2018 midterms. It will also encourage at least some sane Republicans to break with a man they privately fear and despise (see Corker, Bob).
For whatever reason, however, Virginia isn’t getting nearly as much play in national media or, as far as I can tell, among progressive activists, as it deserves.
Folks, right now this is where the action is: Virginia is now the most important place on the U.S. political landscape — and what happens there could decide the fate of the nation.”
… and the schools!!!!
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
I’m looking at this and wondering how this right. A cabinet-level official is funding state and local elections. Surely there has to be some kind of conflict of interest.
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As I said in another reply, the DeVos family has so many billions that she could have her brother or an in-law pour in hundreds of thousands and it would be like a tip.
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Is this legal?
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It is probably unethical as Cabinet Secretaries are not supposed to get involved in any partisan activities.
I don’t know if that is a matter of law or custom, but that’s the way it used to be.
Then Arne Duncan openly campaigned for Adrien Fenty, hoping to protect Michelle Rhee, but Fenty lost (maybe because Arne campaigned for him).
Betsy could always get another member of her family to give money to Gillespie. For a billionaire, giving $100,000 is like you sending a candidate $5.
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Good GAWD…CONFLICT OF INTEREST…BIG TIME!
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“His opponent Ed Gillespie wants to introduce school choice with privately managed charters and public funding of religious schools.”
And, perhaps more importantly to voters, offers absolutely nothing to public school families.
People don’t have to oppose charters and vouchers to oppose ed reform politicians.
One can reasonably oppose ed reform politicians because they do absolutely nothing for 90% of schools, which means 90% of families.
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NPE will do whatever we can to let the parents of the 90% of families who enroll in public schools in Virginia know that Gillespie is the bearer of the DeVos’ school privatization agenda.
Gillespie’s biggest issue: Confederate statues and “our heritage” (code for wink-wink)
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Gillespie big issue: Confederate statues and protecting “our heritage”
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How much is Northam leading in the polls? I hope it is by a wide margin and not split by the thickness of a hair.
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Washington Post poll has him ahead by +13; Another poll with which I am not familiar says +5: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/
Northam is a veteran; a doctor; experienced in government.
Gillespie is running on the Confederate statue issue and has no credentials other than Trump-Bannon coattails.
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I just sent a contribution to Northam.
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Gillespie is also running on his “A” rating by the NRA. 2d amendment rights are very important to down-state voters. I have lived in Lynchburg, Norfolk, and Fairfax. The US Navy, and the large retired military community in Norfolk, are solidly pro-2d amendment, and do not want to vote away their gun rights.
Southwestern Virginia, has been particularly hard hit, by the opiod crisis, about 4 Virginians per day, die of overdoses.
The Confederate statues and the battle flag, do not get as much interest as the media would have you believe.
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Charles,
The only threat to the 2nd Amendment will be a Constitutional convention and the only people that want that is the Koch brothers and ALEC, where it is guaranteed that they will take away the type of freedoms and protections the Founding Fathers wrote into the U.S. Constitution.
I repeat, there is NO! NO! NO! NO! threat to the 2nd Amendment and never has been.
The right to bear arms (with restrictions on weapons designed for the battlefield, people who have been medically certified as mentally ill and possibly convicted felons) will survive any challenge once it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. It has even survived challenges when the Court had a liberal majority.
Any fear that exists has been generated from the extreme right to manipulate voters. That doesn’t mean someone might attempt to take away what the 2nd Amendment guarantees — an individual in the White House or Congress, but proposing legislation and getting it passed are TWO different things and then there is the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even ALEC, a private sector political organization, that wasn’t elected by the people, is behind thousands of proposed and enacted legislation from the states to the federal government. ALEC is a bigger threat to the freedoms and protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution than the fear-filled fantasy that the 2nd Amendment is threatened.
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In this link, Virginians can see how much money their school system stands to lose under Gillespie’s tax plan. In my area, Roanoke County, his tax plan would cut $4,553,348 from Roanoke County Public Schools each year. This is $344 less per pupil each year.
https://public.tableau.com/profile/andrew.markoff#!/vizhome/VAEducationCuts/Dashboard1?publish=yes
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Betsy: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/42214-betsy-devos-vision-goes-way-beyond-privatizing-education-and-she-is-alarmingly-close-to-realizing-it
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The people of Virginia, through their elected representatives, have long supported school choice, and providing parents/children, alternatives to the public school monopoly. The current governor vetoed three popular bills, which would have empowered parents/children. see
http://www.richmond.com/news/local/education/mcauliffe-vetos-three-education-bills-including-school-choice-legislation/article_18c4ab60-2bf0-51c6-a654-5d2a93d3e1a4.html
If we can elect a pro-choice governor, we may get the choices we deserve.
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