Peter Greene doesn’t object to the fact that Betsy DeVos was born rich, married rich, and has always lived in a bubble.
But he was taken aback by her conclusion that kids today live sheltered lives. They don’t know anything about entrepreneurship and hard knocks (like she does?).
They lack grit and character because they are sheltered. Like she was?
Did I mention that a quarter of the children in the U.S. live in poverty, and half of them qualify for free or reduced lunch, the federal standard for poverty/low-income. In some cities, like Cleveland, every child is poor, by federal standards. They don’t seem to live the sheltered life, do they?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Read a great quote last night about privilege from Admiral Fisher, who led the Royal navy in the late 19th century that seems to echo why elitists like DeVos, Walton, et al, think the way they do: “Favouritism is the secret of our efficiency!”
I was food insecure and had to put myself through college. No one ever handed me a damn thing. I have students who are way worse off than I was. All of these people in the government are the worst people ever.
Deirdre,
I suggest you read Michael Lewis’ “The Fifth Risk.”
You would be amazed at how our government protects us. All of us.
I think when you say “our government” you are not talking about most of the GOP, Trump and his cabinet of greedy, corrupt stooges.
If the GOP and Trump destroy “our government” that protection will be flushed away.
Which government was yours, Lloyd? Was it the one that beat your parents into poverty? Was it the one that took away your house? Was it the one that gave you a weapon and sent you to a faraway land?
It’s the only government we have. We have to take it back from MAGA fool’s.
BA, the government didn’t “beat” my parents into poverty. There were other factors and of course The Great Depression. During The Great Depression both of my parents dropped out of high school in 10th grade to go to work and help feed themselves and their families.
When my mother was 14, she was the only one in her family with a job as a waitress in a coffee shop supporting her mother and much younger sister.
What caused my parents to lose their paid for house is none of your “effing” business and the government did not take it away from them. No one took it away from them. When it was obvious they didn’t have the money to pay the property tax for a house they owned with no mortgage on it, my mother sold the house and the first real estate agent, a man very much like Trump, a total toxic sewer-rat, was the one who bought it for cash. He paid $14k for a house worth much more, three or four times more. My parents built that house with their own hands. My mother went to night school to learn how to do the plans for the house. She designed and drew them all.
And that Trump type, the crook and con man that took advantage of my mother, also moved his family into the house he bought at a huge bargain when he saw a great chance to take advantage of a woman who had just had one of her kidneys removed at City of Hope because it was full of cancer. She was recovering from the surgery at the time. The rest of the story is none of your business or anyone elses for that matter. I was seven years old when that happened.
You reply-comment paints you as a total idiot, a deplorable idiot.
I actually was referring to the MAGA dopes in government. Those guys are terrible.
Lloyd, first you open up your personal history to the whole Internet, then you become offended and turn to insults.
But you may ponder the reasons of the Great Depression, was it just a cataclysmic happenstance, of whether the government had anything to do with it by, say, letting the money supply drop one-third from 1929 to 1933, or by imposing Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, or by introducing the agricultural adjustment act.
Similarly, you may ponder was the government fair to you that it did not pardon your parents’ property tax debt or at least restructured it for another decade or so, and that it allowed greasy man to buy it for much less than market price. On the other hand, you can say that this was not government’s business, in which case you would be a small government proponent just like Trump himself, or at least his advisers.
Indeed, Deirdre. Time to kick all those people out. And to stop electing Democrats in Name Only who will stuff their administrations with folks from Goldman, Sachs.
Those who do not sell drugs on street corners do live sheltered life. Our society is almost as stratified now as in the late 19th century, it is hard to make generalizations. But free range parenting movement did not appear from nowhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-range_parenting
I have never met a free range parent.
I have met helicopter parents.
But of course. Helicopter parents have sheltered kids.
“Children of the well-educated elite now receive unprecedented parental attention aimed at “concerted cultivation” of the skills they will need to thrive in today’s highly complex knowledge economy. Other kids, meanwhile, are left more on their own.”
“Families with well-educated parents have been moving in sync with economic trends: They have been increasingly likely to produce new college grads in step with the rising demand for highly skilled workers. For families with less educated parents, however, there has been a total disconnect. And as a result, their kids have been falling behind.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/the-real-problem-with-helicopter-parents-there-arent-enough-of-them/263410/
Clearly, DeVos was talking only about the kids from well-educated well-off families. Like any decent propaganda, hers is not a complete lie, it simply omits facts that are inconvenient for her.
I sure haven’t sold drugs on the streets, but worked extensively with gang bangers, drug afflicted children, socio-emotionally disturbed children and students who did sell and made scads of money. Am I still sheltered?
Nauseating.
Secretary DeVos, I have worked in inner-city schools for sixteen years. I assure you that I have not taught one student in that time who led a sheltered life.
Are you familiar with Freud’s conception of projection? Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with it, as you are indulging in it with these remarks.
And it makes you look worse than you do on a day-to-day basis.
I recommend sitting out this discourse, as you are appallingly ignorant of the lives of children today.
To put that a little less politely, please, oh please shut your piehole.
Exactly! So well said! Thank you.
And thank you for walking the walk. Awesome! What a contrast to Ms. DeVoid.
According to the National Survey on Children’s Exposure to Violence in 2013, 37% of kids experienced assault in the prior year and 51% reported having been assaulted in their lifetimes. But sure, sheltered.
DeLusional.
DeVoodoo has NO CLUE. YES, she is DeLusional. Sometimes I wonder what drugs she’s on.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Reblogged this on NANMYKEL.COM and commented:
Onbelievable, but I believe it. I could easily rant, but I won’t. Have a nice da.
DeVos’ perspective is more libertarian blather in response to what she has heard about helicopter parents in the media. She lives in her billionaire bubble, but that does not stop her from being a presumed expert on everything she knows nothing about. She is a self-appointed education “expert” from he many years trying to crush public education. Her comments reflect her class more than her knowledge base.
Florida is talking about requiring “financial literacy” in public schools. While I believe this could be of some value with an appropriate curriculum, I do not think we need another mandated state test for already over tested students.
“Financial literacy” should be renamed, “The wealthiest 0.1%’s rip-offs- how to avoid them.”
retired teacher and Linda. The fourth edition of Financial Literacy standards were published in 2015 by the JumpStart Coalition “on behalf of its of its partners—from business, finance, government, academia, education, associations and other sectors—and its 50 independent state affiliates.”
From the website: “The National Standards were designed to guide classroom education, extra-curricular learning and the development of financial education programs, materials and tools, but also, can be easily and effectively used to guide informal education outside the classroom and at home; postsecondary and adult education; professional development for teachers, counselors and others; and other initiatives.
I have analysed the standards (and many others of this era)
The standards are organized around Benchmarks. These ”describe skills that demonstrate students’ ability to apply knowledge to everyday financial decisions and actions at four points in their development as consumers” in a progression from Kindergarten (47 benchmarks) to grade four (74), grade eight (119) and grade 12 (151) for a grand total of 240 benchmarks.
The standards encompass the following broad topics and competencies. Not every topic and competency is treated at every grade (Thank Goodness)
Spending and Saving: Apply strategies to monitor income and expenses, plan for spending and save for future goals. 1.1. Develop a plan for spending and saving.1.2. Develop a system for keeping and using financial records.1.3. Describe how to use different payment methods.1.4. Apply consumer skills to spending and saving decisions.
Credit and Debt: Develop strategies to control and manage credit and debt. 2.1. Analyze the costs and benefits of various types of credit. 2.2. Summarize a borrower’s rights and responsibilities related to credit reports. 2.3. Apply strategies to avoid or correct debt management problems. 2.4. Summarize major consumer credit laws.
Employment and Income: Use a career plan to develop personal income potential. 3.1. Explore job and career options. 3.2 Compare sources of personal income and compensation. 3.3. Analyze factors that affect net income.
Investing: Implement a diversified investment strategy that is compatible with personal financial goals. 4.1. Explain how investing may build wealth and help meet financial goals. 4.2. Evaluate investment alternatives. 4.3. Demonstrate how to buy and sell investments. 4.4. Investigate how agencies protect investors and regulate financial markets and products
Risk Management and Insurance: Apply appropriate and cost-effective risk management strategies. 5.1. Identify common types of risks and basic risk management methods. 5.2. Justify reasons to use property and liability insurance. 5.3. Justify reasons to use health, disability, long-term care and life insurance.
Financial Decision Making: Apply reliable information and systematic decision making to personal financial decisions. 6.1. Recognize the responsibilities associated with personal financial decisions. 6.2. Use reliable resources when making financial decisions. 6.3. Summarize major consumer protection laws. 6.4. Make criterion-based financial decisions, considering alternatives and consequences. 6.5. Apply communication strategies when discussing financial issues. 6.6. Analyze the requirements of contractual obligations. 6.7. Control personal information. 6.8. Use a personal financial plan.
I have concluded that I have marginal financial literacy. I cannot summarize major consumer protection laws. Old assumptions are gone with wind. I would really have been steamed as a kingdergarten kid if lessons on financial literacy about careers would kill my fantasy of being an fine singer just like Roy Roger’s companion, Dale, and also wear a fancy fringed vest with a pair of silver guns in holsters.
I could have used more financial information in grade 12, but not many details have a long shelf life, least of all in this era of “disruptive innovation.”
Financial Literacy. Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. (2015). National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education (4th edition). Washington, DC: Author.
https://www.jumpstart.org/what-we-do/support-financial-education/standards/
“Shelf life of disruptive innovation”- There’s a new rip-off planned everyday on Wall Street.
Don’t buy whole life insurance. Don’t buy long-term care insurance.
Don’t vote for Wall Street’s politicians like Corey Booker, Mitch McConnell and Hakeem Jeffries
I know the term “financial literacy” was used when the federal government retooled veterans’ pensions. Instead of a defined benefit, many new recruits were moved to a 401k. It was presented as being an “upgrade” by teaching military personnel “financial literacy.”
Whew, Laura. Those proposed Fin Lit Stds are from Planet 9. The folks who imagine they are appropriate to public K12 ed clearly live in the same bubble as B “KidsToday” deVos.
Students today have tons of grit – they sorely need it to put up with what passes as education reform these days. Not to mention the blatant cluelessness at the helm…
Betsy was born into a wealthy family. She has no concept of what hard knocks are.
I was born into a family living in poverty. Since I was the youngest of three kids in that family, I was still a child when our parents started to climb out of poverty thanks to our dad getting into a labor union. Without that union, we would have stayed in poverty.
I know what hard knocks are.
Our dad was an alcoholic, a gambler and often cheated on our mother. We lost one house when they couldn’t pay the property tax, and then it was back to poverty for a couple of years before our parents recovered by both working. I was a teen by then and became a latch key kid.
My older brother ran with a motorcycle gang when he was a teen and as an adult spent 15 years of his life in the “slammer” (not in one stretch but spread out over several trips inside). “Slammer” was the term Richard used when he was talking about prison. He died a broken man with a lot of health problems when he was 64. He never escaped poverty and had seven children with two wives. When he was in his 50s he told me if they ever sent him back to the “slammer”, he’d kill himself to escape serving the time in that nightmare world.
My sister graduated from high school and married a long haul truck driver when she was 18. He earned enough so she didn’t have to work and could stay home and be a mother to her children. That is when she escaped the poverty.
I escape when I joined the Marines out of high school and because of the GI Bill and working part time jobs to fill in the gaps, I managed make it through college, the first and only member of my immediate family to do it.
We need real bubbles surrounded by a GREAT WALL where everyone that’s born to wealth is forced to live where they are kept separate from the rest of us that live in the real world. There has to be a way to stop these wealthy Bubble Born idiots from meddling with our world and our lives in the real world.
Betsy sounds like a voice from King Louis’ royal court.
There are actual reasons that small business formation is declining:
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/new-small-businesses-critical-economy/
Betsy DeVos could do some actual work and read something and learn something instead of just spouting her personal opinions, but she chooses not to.
What kind of role model is this for students? Faced with the question of why small business formation is down she reads nothing and asks no one, and instead just invents reasons?
It’s just such laziness. It’s such poor quality work. She has a whole US Department of Labor that is packed with research. All she has to do is send one of her thousands of employees to get her some real information.
DeLoss & IQ45 do not read.
Aside from the fact that neither of them think.
Well, they do think…only about themselves.
“What’s the matter with kids today?”
If they are MAGA hat-wearing Catholic high schoolers from Kentucky in D.C. with lousy chaperones, they should think twice about hiring Scott Jennings’ firm for image PR. The Wikipedia entry for David Iglesias shows how the association with Jennings will only worsen the situation.
Scott Jennings taught seminars about Tribalism in American Politics to students, Mitch McConnell and Reince Priebus. And guess who hosted the seminars? Harvard Institute of Politics in the Kennedy School of Government. (Wikipedia)
Perhaps the Sec of Ed (sorry, I don’t refer to her by name) should read the following and do a re-think
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homelessness-on-campus-the-toughest-test-faced-by-tens-of-thousands-of-college-students-in-america/
From the link:
“Some of those struggling with housing responded to a recent survey that Goldrick-Rab conducted. It was the largest of its kind ever done, involving more than 43,000 students at 66 institutions. The result: Nearly one in ten college students said they were homeless in the last year, meaning they had at least one night where they didn’t know where they were going to sleep.”
Honestly, this is too much, even from the current Sec of Ed.
She comes from the same type of people who view the shutdown as an “unpaid vacation”.
And the homeless kids have no shelter at all. Let Devos try to survive on food stamps, housing assistance, public transportation, and with no health insurance for a week. Maybe she can show all those ‘sheltered’ kids the meaning of ‘grit’.
“Did I mention that a quarter of the children in the U.S. live in poverty, and half of them qualify for free or reduced lunch, the federal standard for poverty/low-income.”
This says it all.
Hence my conclusion that the US is not a civilized country.
The opinions expressed by BdeV here are a dime a dozen among old farts both rich & “pulled myself up by my own bootstraps.” The shame is that such pedestrian knee-jerk claptrap has a govt megaphone.
B de burro or v de vaca?
BdeV es una vaca con cabeza de burro.
Je je je je je je je .
“de vaca” means empty, Duane, si? (Please answer in English–my Spanish is SO poor, even though I took 6 courses {as an adult, & couldn’t grasp Hebrew, either}).
Ay, ay,ay & oy (Yiddish, & bad at that, as well)!!!
(&, if vaca does mean empty, goes w/my 1/23/19, 2:11 AM comment above.)