Steven Singer is steamed. He read a “Commentary” by Betsy DeVos in Education Week in which she pretends to be a champion of children with disabilities. You don’t have to have a long memory to remember that she testified at her Senate hearing last year that she was unsure what IDEA is or whether the voucher schools she promotes would be bound by federal law.
Steven remembers. He can’t understand why Education Week allowed her to burnish her image, while ignoring the 72 federal regulations she eliminated that protected students with disabilities.
He begins:
“Meet Betsy DeVos, Champion of Students With Special Needs.
“At least that’s who she’s pretending to be this week.
“The wealthy Republican mega-donor who bought her position as Secretary of Education published an article in the current issue of Education Week called “Commentary: Tolerating Low Expectations for Students With Disabilities Must End.”
“It was almost like she expected us all to forget who she actually is and her own sordid history with these kinds of children.
“Up until now, the billionaire heiress and public school saboteur always put the needs of profitizers and privateers ahead of special needs children.
“During her confirmation hearing, she refused to say whether she would hold private, parochial and charter schools receiving tax dollars to the same standard as public schools in regard to how they treat special education students. Once on the job, she rescinded 72 federal guidelines that had protected special education students.
“But now she’s coming off like a special education advocate!
“What a turnaround!
“It’s almost like David Duke coming out in favor of civil rights! Or Roy Moore coming out in favor of protecting young girls from pedophiles! Or Donald Trump coming out in favor of protecting women from crotch grabbing!”

The Reform community has gotten a LOT of mileage out of the phrase: “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” This is just another variant.
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And KFC is the champion for chickens. She’s a corrupt POS and should be arrested for her illegal actions. It’s against the law for government officials to profit from their position. She is doing that.
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So is the President.
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I taught for at least thirty years before I noticed any billionaires even remotely interested in my work or the future of our young people. Now they are self-appointed “experts.” Several of these wealthy people like Jeb Bush or Cruella DeVos have taken a special interest in setting up charter schools for students in special education.
‘COME INTO MY WEB SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY.’
These charter loving hacks understand that putting classified students into a separate and unequal private school negates the protections of the IDEA laws. That is exactly the intention. They want to offer these young people a cheaper education offered by non-professional minimally trained staff members!
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Sounds like an instance similar to Munschausen syndrome by proxy. Provoking a pathology in others so as to be seen as the champion to the rescue.
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Betsy DeVos: champion of grizzly bears.
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