The Education Writers Association has invited Betsy DeVos to speak every year since she became Secretary of Education, and this year she accepted its invitation. I wonder what they will learn from Betsy DeVos. Probably that public schools are dreadful and that the public should pay to send children to religious schools where the teacher is neither a college graduate nor certified. That’s the way they do it in Florida, which Betsy holds up as a model. Her model, by the way, is not tops in the nation on NAEP. It is mediocre.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to Speak at 2019 National Seminar
The Education Writers Association is pleased to announce that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will speak at EWA’s 2019 National Seminar in Baltimore in May. This will mark the first time she has appeared at an EWA event.
After opening remarks, Secretary DeVos plans to sit down with New York Times education reporter Erica Green for a conversation, and then field questions from attendees. The exact timing of this keynote session will be announced soon.
Last week, we unveiled the preliminary agenda for the May 6-8 seminar, which will be hosted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. The theme this year is “Student Success, Safety, and Well-Being.” The conference is designed to give participants the skills, understanding and inspiration to improve their coverage of education at all levels.
Please note: To attend the National Seminar, you must be a Supporting Community Member in good standing. If you’re not a Supporting Community Member or need to renew your membership, join or renew today!
See you in Baltimore!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can you go there and grill her in the Q and A? She will turn as pale as the ghost of Hamlet’s father when she sees you.
Ha,ha…her bodyguards (yes, she does have them, at taxpayers’ expense) wouldn’t let Diane get w/in a ten foot pole of her).
I doubt they would let Diane within a ten mile radius of Betsy.
They are probably tracking Diane’s movements by satellite.
Or with the Ravitch Radar (TM) on the top of Betsy’s limo.
At the event, an “education writer” i.e. shill, should ask Betsy how her family decided to invest $100,000,000 in Theranos. The founder is facing fraud charges….then, ask the Waltons about their $150,000,000 investment and Murdoch about his $125,000,000.
Billionaires- dullest bulbs in the pack.
Johns Hopkins… hmmm…isn’t that a think tank with students?
How many millions have Gates and Arnold given to J-H’s education department?
Given the situation, should we assume Erica Green will ask softball questions or not?
The program has, “Charter Schools 101: Guidance for Journalists for Smart Coverage” but, no corresponding session for public schools… hmmmm
and, has a session, “Raising the Profile of Principals”. Yes, because CEO’s have high profiles and privatizers diminish the role of teachers, communities and students…my opinion…propaganda.
Who’s sponsoring the event?
Who is getting the awards?
“Education writers” are those who write in accordance with rephorm talking points. Everyone else is “just a blogger”.
Yes, and bloggers are dismissed with upturned noses by the Education Churnalists (TM)
That’s like having Benedict Arnold speak at an American Legion conference.
AMEN … so TRUE.
Wonder how much $$$$$$ DeVoodoo will RAKE IN?
The e-mail address of Johns Hopkins’ Dean of the School of Education, Christopher Morphew, is SOE.dean@jhu.ed.
With confidence, we can assume those individuals and institutions that influence public policy and its media coverage, expect to be held accountable by the public.
Where’s the conference session on the recent (March 1, 2019) Gates’ job posting for a high ranking person to accelerate digital learning in higher ed? Where’s the session about an “independent council” replacing diverse viewpoints and consensus building in higher ed decisions? (PPIC. “Coordinating California’s Higher Ed System”, March 2019)
I’m pretty cynical about EWA, with its funding from the usual suspects, but I’m pretty sure she was invited in the spirit of “WTF, Betsy?” — as opposed to anyone expecting to actually learn about education from her.
Education writers are across the board, in my observation; many are sharp and questioning; many are unaggressive and trusting*. One troubling ethical issue aside from EWA’s funding is that many, many, many education reporters have changed careers and gone into promoting education “reform” — that’s probably a given with news media so financially challenged and education “reform” offering juicy, well-paid career paths endlessly funded by billionaires. That raises the question of whether they were slanting (consciously or even not) their coverage to suck up to the prospective new employers. I could give a long, long string of examples.
I asked one sellout former education reporter about that in an Alexander Russo forum and she said she was offended by my question. Any reporter who thinks it’s out of bounds for a journalist (or anyone else) to ask a tough question never should have been a journalist anyway.
*The most gullible coverage tends to come from non-education journalists parachuting into an area they’re unfamiliar with, though. The charter sector’s PR machinery has a long history of somehow targeting such journalists to get puffy, shallow coverage that would be unlikely coming from an education reporter. I could give a long string of examples there too.
You have to pay $125 to attend this Education Writers Association event and do some writing on eduction.
It is not surprising that the Education Writers Association has selected DeVos as a major speaker. I conclude that by looking at the list of “Current Sustaining Funders”—all known for undermining public education while posturing about saving children from “underperforming schools.”
Here are the current “Sustaining Funders:”
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Joyce Foundation, The Kern Family Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Pritzker Children’s Initiative, The Wallace Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation.
The Education Writers Association also invites groups to pay for programs like this one as well as its website, newsletters, blogs, and printed programs for regional meetings. Those who foot the bill are called “Sponsors.” The list of past Sponsors is a curious mix of non-profits, for-profits, and national organizations of educators. Following is my grouping and parenthetical comments on past Sponsors of the Education Writers Association.
Membership Organizations:
American Council on Education (leaders of about 1,700 accredited, degree-granting institutions); American Federation of Teachers (about 1.7 million members, all levels of education); National Education Association (about 3 million members, all levels of education); Council of Chief State School Officers (public officials in charge of state departments of elementary and secondary education, plus the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Education, Bureau of Indian Education, and the five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions—promoters of the Common Core).
Higher Education Institutions:
California State University; National University; Stanford Graduate School of Education; Strayer University; University of Connecticut Neag School of Education; University of Chicago Urban Education Institute; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Southern California.
Academic Research and Advocacy Organizations:
American Institutes for Research.org (holding company for contract researchers in the social sciences); Learning Policy Institute (academic research, President and CEO Linda Darling-Hammond)
Organizations with Megabuck Funding:
Big Picture Learning, The Met School.org (network of career high schools);
The Broad Center.org (bang-for-the-buck corporate training for leaders in education); Data Quality Campaign.org (Gates funded to promote computer-coded national database on every student, teacher, and school); EdChoice.org (promotes market-based education, not public schools);
Education Trust.org (promotes high stakes tests to expand market for charter schools, choice). Say Yes to Education, Weiss Institute.org (software and metrics for college/career readiness programs in selected communities, read by grade three, etc. Weiss’ wealth came from money management): Strada Education Network.org (postsecondary career connections with this subsidiary—Economic Modeling LLC, offering predictive analytics about labor force needs and talent pipelines);
For-Profit Ventures:
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.com (promotes technology, data use in education); CollegeVine.com (college admission and SAT prep); GetaTutor.com (broker for online tutoring services); n2y.com (online resources special education); Pearson.com (marketer of instructional materials and tests); Scholastic.com (multinational publishing and media company in education)
Public Relations/Marketing Firms:
GMMB.com (PR firm, political messaging); HagerSharp.com (PR firm, branding and Messaging); Widmeyer Communications — A Finn Partners Company (PR firm, digital marketing);
Testing Organizations:
The College Board.org (marketer of SAT and AP tests and test-prep materials); Educational Testing Service.org (contractor/provider of tests—NAEP, GRE, PRAXIS, others)
Foundations:
American Financial Services Association Education Foundation (consumer education, especially about credit cards);
The Broad Foundation (supports the arts, medical sciences, and charter schools); Edwin Gould Foundation (helps incubate non-profits in education);
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (awards fellowships to emerging leaders for the academy and public service).
SPONSORSHIP FEES:
There are tiers of “sponsorship” for the website and other activities/events of the Education Writers Association. The highest fees are for website advertising— four-week purchase of announcement space options include: “Run of site – $ 5,000;
Blogs – $ 2,000;
Jobs – $ 2,000;
Events – $ 1,200;
Single overview page – $600.
For all of the advertising options the Education Writers Association “maintains editorial control over all programming and content.” https://www.ewa.org/sponsorship-info/sponsored-messaging
It would be interesting to see a timeline of the sponsors. I’d guess that the long list of “past sponsors” includes many short time and one-timers. I hope that this program will cause many sponsor to flee. Devos is menace to education.
Laura: your research acumen never fails. Thanks for this list.
One good thing about Betsy Devos is that she has knocked the mask off what education “reform” really is. When Obama’s education spokespeople were promoting charters, “accountability,” high-stakes testing and all, liberals were pretty much duped, but now it’s become clear to a lot of people.
Democrats dislike her because of her party, not because of what she says and does.
She says pretty much the same thing as what Arne Duncan said.
In fact, Duncan is STILL saying the same things.
The cognitive dissonance in the brains of some of these Democrats must be absolutely deafening.
SDP, exactly right. No difference between Arne Duncan, Steve Perry, Betsy DeVos. Sad.
Democrats dislike her because she takes the mask off. Those of us who have been reading Diane’s blog have known for some time that privatization is all about the money, but the Democrats managed to convince an awful lot of people that it’s all about “the civil rights issue of our time” and “giving poor families the same choices that rich families have” and “your child’s education shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP Code” and other heart-rending platitudes. DeVos comes along and basically full-on admits, “of course it’s about the money. God gave the deserving people money so that they can rule the world in His image. Duh.”
It’s gotta be mighty uncomfortable to be a “liberal” rephormer when DeVos is that naked about all the same policies.
exactly right. That’s why I say Betsy is the gift that keeps on giving because she takes the mask off the “reform” crusade to push “school choice.” She is its leader. Cory Booker, Arne Duncan and others follow in her wake.
Unfortunately, all of us will be following in the wake (of public schools) when Arne, Betsy, Booker and others are finished reading their eulogies.
I think most people pay very little attention to the substance of education policy. When they hear someone they admire speak favorably of charter schools, or whatever other “reform” nostrum, they’re all for something that “sounds good,” without knowing anything about the nostrum in question. (Here I’m referring to admirers of Obama who admired Arne Duncan/John King as representatives of Obama.)
DeVos obviously doesn’t sound good to anyone but far-right conservatives, for a slew of reasons — I don’t think it’s just her party. If liberals who weren’t paying much attention aren’t deeply committed to the nostrum they fell for because it “sounded good” and came from someone admirable, I think they’re likely to turn away from it once they associate it with DeVos.
Any (so-called) liberals who might be so deeply committed to charter schools and other “reform” nostrums that they’re suffering cognitive dissonance are committed (because they’re paid to (profess to) be committed, and the paychecks take the sting out of any dissonance. Those would inherently be unprincipled people in any case, so they’re not suffering much over any moral conflict.
Can you imagine a genuine social movement led by billionaires and Wall Street?
DeVos: the gift that keeps on giving. To the Resistance.
Well, that’s the image promoted by “reformers”: Martin Luther King marching shoulder to shoulder with the Koch brothers, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Bill Gates et al. — against the oppressors, who are … teachers. People who fall for that aren’t paying attention — or else they’re among the unprincipled hordes who are well paid to PROFESS to fall for it.
From what we have read and heard this past decade (presumably with a straight face), “education reform” is ”the civil rights issue of our time” and education reform=School Choice. Leaders of the new “civil rights movement” are billionaires, DeVos, Bloomberg, Koch brothers, DeVos, the Waltons, Broad, etc. Why were we not laughing out loud?
Will Arne be speaking too?
After all, he did write a (sarcasm alert) N.Y. Times bestseller, since HE knows “How Schools Work.”
I assumed DeVos would be the marionette on Arne’s knee at the conference.
Was Arne’s book a bestseller? I thought it sank like a stone.
Just checked the Amazon list: Arne’s book is #134,000. The only category in which it is selling is “charter schools.”
What sinks faster than a stone?
Arnes book is a best seller (number one) in the category Books ranked 134,000 or worse
California State and the University of Nevada should be the first public higher ed schools to model Bill Gates’ digital learning, wholesale. University of Connecticut is a land grant university. The APLU site content couldn’t look more like team Gates if it tried.
CalState, where an employee’s bio includes, “develops and manages EdQ Data View, a data warehouse and dashboard reporting system designed…(for) data sharing and continuous improvement….(formerly worked) at the Harvard Center for Education Policy Research.”
I got to thinking about how education writing comes to the average teacher. Since there is almost no way a teacher can fulfill the duties expected of the job itself, let alone being a family member, taking care of aging relatives, teaching Sunday school, in short, living a normal community life, education writing comes to teachers in very short paragraphs or it does not come at all. Perhaps this is the problem.
Teachers are often experts at the recognition of BS. The older a teacher gets, the more the constant buzz of reform this and change that is a prescription for insomnia. We are expected, for example, to allow the child to discover learning for himself. This way he can experience the wonderful feeling of discovery. Never mind that it took the most brilliant minds of world history to come up with some concept, average brains are going to do the same thing in a 50 minute period of time. I learned that I should not present a lecture in an educational class lecture.
The problem is that we have become animals whose perception of educational stimulus has reached the stage of habituation. Some so-called expert starts writing about education and we just shut down. Knowing this, educational writers have to sell their writing to people who are not used to reading or hearing about education. This audience may be ignorant of the classroom because they are not in there on a daily basis, but they are good folks, and they want the best for their children or society. Being unaware of what really occurs in the process of education, they are susceptible to all sorts of logic that would never fool a teacher. Logic like the DeVos analogy used above in her speech suggesting that we should be like the US Olympic Committee, which changes radically when it cannot compete. Teachers immediately realize this to be a false equivalency and shut down way before she gets to the point. But people who never hear such discussions will find these analogies motivating. While teachers have become habituated, the general public has not and will not react to dysinformation (I know, I have invented a word) as they should react to it.
Another influence that leads the public to accept the retoric of the reform movement is the sound bite society we live in. News networks stage liberal/conservative debates in ways that deliver entertainment. Lengthy explanation, often necessary for the depth of understanding of an issue, is jettisoned in favor of the quick zinger.
Put all this together and the education writer has to put things n perspective in a difficult reading environment. Thanks, therefore, is due the writers like many of the ones on this blog (especially the leader of the blog, of course) who dig deeply into the issues and explain their intent.
One has to wonder which reformers wrote and/or advised on the speech. For sure it will test her telepromter skills.
We’d know the character of Johns Hopkins and EWA attendees if they showed support for HBCU students and the 99% by turning their backs on DeVos.
What would Dorie Turner Nolt do? She’s on the EWA community member advisory board. In Feb., she alluded to her career which included being an AP reporter, a communications director in Duncan’s U.S. Dept. of Ed. and, subsequent employment at a for-profit marketing firm in the education department. She wrote at Phi Delta Kappan, “My transition from reporter to flack felt strangely natural”.