Jamil Smith writes in Rolling Stone that we are indeed governed by a kakistocracy (the worst people in the nation). Betsy DeVos is living proof of it. She demonstrated what a kakistocracy is when she was interviewed on 60 Minutes.
I worry less about Kim Jong-Un than I do Betsy DeVos. The North Korean dictator, for one, doesn’t have dominion over the educational futures of nearly 51 million elementary and secondary students and countless more in college. Barring a nuclear attack, of course, the wealthy charter-school champion is poised to play a much larger role than Kim will in determining the future of United States. The sophomoric invective he directs at us pales in comparison to the utter disrespect that President Trump demonstrated by nominating her to lead the Department of Education in the first place. To build a United States government of the worst people, one must not merely be amateurish. It requires a special hatred for America to form a kakistocracy…
Those who have yet to hear (or sound) the deafening alarms about this administration use words like “polarizing” rather than “dangerous” to describe Trump officials like DeVos, still nurturing notions that this president and his Cabinet can actually operate the franchise they’ve been trusted with. The reality is that the United States is now learning to live without a functional president or government. They are out of ideas, save those that feed the cultural insecurities of their base. “Infrastructure Week” has become a punchline. Puerto Rico has been abandoned, as has Flint. What makes all this worse is that this was the plan, born from Trump’s lack of knowledge, varied bigotries, and intellectual incuriosity. We Americans are on our own, and what we saw Sunday night from DeVos was only a reminder.
No, she is not stupid. She is on a mission to destroy public schools and to replace them with privately managed charter schools and religious schools. She no longer pretends that schools get better when everyone chooses. She wants choice for the sake of choice. This is not about “the children.” It is about a powerful religious ideology that overrides everyone who disagrees, as well as evidence and facts.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Astonishing that Devos suddenly dropped out of the news after her debacle and Trump deflects by telling us about all the other members who are going to be fired after he first fires tillerson. Yet, trump never mentions devos or even said a peep regarding her disastrous showing on 60 minutes.
My thoughts are this. Devos survived so far because the obvious one is that she donated over 200 million to the GOP over the years and 200 mil goes a long long way.
Second, Trump is just waiting to fire devos as to not humiliate her immediately after her showing on 60 minutes revealing to the world that she has not visited a public school
Third, Trump just appointed devos to head up the program for gun violence in schools and might not want to move her out just yet until the program gets off the ground… firing devos the education secretary now would be disastrous for our country who are in an educational crisis with regard to safety in our schools.
Fourth, Trump really does not give two craps about education therefore devos has free run of things like she is use to her entire life without any resistance
Whatever the reason is, devos has escaped being demoted to midwestern wife again fighting for the kids of Michigan whom she has already done irreparable damage to.
Trump has no reason to fire DeVos. She hasn’t crossed him in any way. Do you think competence is a trait Trump values? DeVos knows where her bread is buttered – that’s the trait Trump values.
The US Department of Education is ignoring public schools week.
They held a week of taxpayer-funded celebrations for charter and voucher schools week.
Why do people who are paid to serve public schools have such disdain for public schools? Can we possibly hire some people who support public education at a public education agency?
That doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request.
The US DOE has substituted charter week for public school week since at least the Obama years.
The Department of Education functions are:
The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. It engages in four major types of activities:
1.Establishes policies related to federal education funding, administers distribution of funds and monitors their use.
2.Collects data and oversees research on America’s schools.
3.Identifies major issues in education and focuses national attention on them.
4.Enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.
(Source: The Dept of Education website)
https://www2.ed.gov/about/what-we-do.html
The Dept of Ed is NOT paid to serve public schools. Public schools are set up by states and municipalities, not by the federal government.
The US Department of the Interior and the US Department of Defense, both run more schools than the Dept of Education.
If you are truly interested in education policy, and the direction of education in your state of residence, you should focus your efforts at the state and municipal level.
The feds do not have that much impact on education at the classroom level. Furthermore 90% or more of education funding at the K-12 level is non-federal!
The U.S. Department of Education was not established to attack and demean public schools, which DeVos does every day.
It has programs specifically to help students with disabilities and students who are poor; it oversees federal student loans and grants.
Very few school districts, in this age of vast inequality, could continue to function without the federal aid that helps students in need. In the high-needs districts, federal aid is more than 10%. A loss of 15% of funding would devastate the neediest districts.
Agreed, The functions and purposes of the Dept of Ed, are self-explanatory. Agreed also, that federal funding is very important to assist schools in economically depressed areas. We are in agreement on many topics.
I would like for the Dept of Ed to provide more support to gifted/talented programs in the several states. At this time, only about 2 cents of every hundred dollars of federal education spending goes to gifted/talented programs. It is time for a change!
It is time to direct billions more dollars to the neediest schools. Not for charters and vouchers, which are a waste of federal funding.
Agreed here too! Investment in education, in the economically depressed areas, would yield immediate and tangible results. I am not aware of any substantive federal spending on charters/vouchers. Pres Trumps plan to provide some $20Bn in “seed money” to assist states in setting up voucher programs, was quietly scrapped. I do not see any federal charter/voucher programs ever getting off the ground.
DeVos just handed out over a quarter BILLION dollars to charter schools. That’s substantial. It could be better spent on reducing class size in poor districts. Or anything else. Many of those charters will never open. Many will open, close, and keep the money. Many will be worse than the worst public schools. A waste.
All choice options promoted by the DOE fail the “equal access” goal of its mission. Choice is often about selection of best and discarding of the weak, problematic, expensive and struggling. Choice has resulted in increased segregation. Choice is enhancing more separate and unequal treatment of students, not equal access.
Kakistocracy on steroids. Trump just appointed Larry Kudlow to be his chief economic adviser!! Great Depression 2, here we come. Kudlow is the worst, horrible, wrong on everything. Kudlow: Quote – “He was wonderful,” said Kudlow, “it was a terrific experience,” and lauded Trump’s handling of the economy. “The economy is starting to boom, the tax cuts are working,” and infrastructure development is in the wing, he said.
Kudlow also praised the president for his leadership.
“He’s completely in command. Not only does he explain things he’s thinking, he asks questions,” said Kudlow. “He’s a smart man.””
If HRC were president, I would be on my knees kissing Mother Earth. It’s not just about education. We have to vote the GOPers out.
It is possible to be evil and stupid at the same time. I think DeVos is both.
Being born into great wealth makes that possible.
“Let them eat vouchers” — Betsy DeVos