Anthony Cody, co-founder of the Network for Public Education, arrived at the DeVos budget hearing very early. He was there at 7:30 am and chose a seat directly behind where the speaker would be. He was directly over her left shoulder, scowling. I remembered the guy in the plaid shirt at a Trump rally, similarly located, shaking his head no and making quizzical expressions.
Anthony did not hear anything he liked. Cutting the budget; cutting Special Olympics; hundreds of millions for a failed and unnecessary charter school program.
DeVos ❤️ charters. The 💋of ☠️
Well done, Anthony!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
good going!
Thank you, Anthony! Your expression speaks for all of us.
👏❤️🌈 Thank you, Anthony Cody, a public school teacher. So glad you were there and your face says it all.
I love your book, The Educator and the Oligarch.
DeVos is evil. Families with Special Needs children should be outraged at her suggestion and should demand she no longer serve as Sec. Of Education!
interesting to see DeVos being called out specifically for this on late night talk shows: if she is remembered at all, it will likely be for these particularly heinous actions
Has anyone seen those photos of Betsy DeVos side by side with the Harry Potter character Delores Umbridge (as played in the movie by Imelda Staunton?)
The resemblance is striking!! Not just physical but in their manner and disregard for anyone but themselves.
^^The memes that go with the photos of DeVos/Umbridge are quite funny.
I can’t post them, but if you google both names together they will show up.
NYC public school parent: Found it. they look great together.
The last time an ignorant, sanctimonious liar was appointed to a major education post, we needed centaurs to get rid of her.
NYC public school parent: Delores Umbridge in Harry Potter reminded me of my last principal. Here’s for people in power who know everything and use that power to demoralize and destroy.
A friend of my in California just wondered when Trump will say that he knows more than God. He knows more than everyone else. I replied that, as far as I know, nobody has asked him that…yet.
Trump will never say he knows more than God because he thinks he is the god.
TO; Ditzy DeVoid
RE: Your own freaking scriptures
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matt 25:40
Oh, that’s great Bob.
Maybe bring back the Monopoly man…
She looks so blasted pleased with herself. Having an excess of money must make one believe they have all the answers. Hurting people doesn’t matter because if they were as smart as her they’d be wealthy.
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Betsy DeVos defended her proposed budgets cuts at the Department of Education on Monday — including slashing nearly $18 million to the Special Olympics, a report said.
The education secretary was speaking on Capitol Hill where she discussed a budget that spends $60 million on charter schools while cutting overall spending at the department by about 10 percent, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“We are not doing our children any favors when we borrow from their future in order to invest in systems and policies that are not yielding better results,” DeVos told a House subcommittee.
The longtime advocate for charter schools was grilled by Democrats including Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who called the proposal “cruel and reckless” for its potential impact on low-income students.
“We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget,” DeVos said, adding that the Special Olympics is better supported by philanthropic organizations.
https://nyp.st/2HGuzZR
If you are wondering why Betsy DeVos is trying to eliminate Special Olympics funding, cut services for the blind, etc., it runs deeper than simply her cruelty, lack of character and a competition with Marie Antoinette. Devos’ end game is the shifting of all power away from the community (think democratically elected school boards) to a private wealthy elite, who will then have ALL the power to decide what gets funded/supported. As we know, a specific goal is the elimination of public education to be replaced by a “market” serving the interests of the ruling elite. She’s more than happy to have private foundations support Special Olympics, but the community itself—the public—must be stripped of all agency.
“the public must be stripped of all agency.” There it is.
Cut education funding & cut Special Olympics funding so that there is more money for Trump’s WALL and the military. I am SO sick of Trump.
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Betsy DeVos Wants to Cut Special Olympics Funding. Here’s Why It Probably Won’t Happen.
By Sarah Mervosh
March 27, 2019
A proposal to cut $17.6 million from the Special Olympics is drawing widespread opposition, but it’s unlikely to make it past Congress anyway.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced scathing criticism this week over a budget proposal that calls for eliminating funding for the Special Olympics, as members of Congress voiced opposition at a hearing that drew widespread attention and stoked a strong defense of the organization across the internet.
“I still can’t understand why you would go after disabled children in your budget,” Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, told Ms. DeVos during the hearing on Tuesday, held by a House subcommittee. “You zero that out. It’s appalling.”
The $17.6 million in proposed cuts to the Special Olympics comes as the Education Department faces an overall budget reduction of 10 percent. President Trump’s budget for next year proposed cutting funding to education for the third year in a row, as he places a priority on the military, as well as the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.
The woman behind Anthony to the left has the same expression as Anthony.
It’s a conspiracy!
The story would be improved with a an assessment of the cost of what DeVos was wearing- the outfit, jewelry, shoes and, then a comparison to how many school lunches the amount would provide for kids who don’t know if their families will be able to afford food for dinner.
When Trump’s cabinet members for Education, HHS, and HUD appear in public, journalists should report the cost of what they’re wearing to highlight how dissimilar they are to the Americans they serve.
DeVos’ jacket looks like the St. John brand- price about $1700- the jacket alone is the monthly pay of a significant number of full-time workers.
Let’s be honest, her monthly allocation of designer toilet tissue is probably more than the monthly pay of most full-time workers. I mean, jeez, she has a gold-tipped walking cane. She makes makes me think that Marie Antoinette was misunderstood and got a raw deal.
Her security detail costs more than the Special Olympics. I’ve always thought that she should be protected by her brother Erik Prince’s mercenaries.
A 26 percent decrease in special education grants to the states, elimination of 17.6 million dollars in federal support for Special Olympics, cuts in funding to the National Technical Institute for the Blind and to Gallaudet University (which educates hearing-impaired students), cuts to programs for creating books in Braille for blind students, cuts to after-school programs for impoverished students. In other words, the proposed budget is an attack on students with special needs. It’s disgusting.
I am not surprised at all that these cuts have been proposed. I said years ago one of the big ideas behind the Reform movement was to limit or eliminate the rights of special education students. These students have the right to a free and appropriate education which will be next to impossible for some districts if these cuts are approved.
But at least you can sleep well tonight knowing that someone in Washington is fighting for the right of a wealthy parent to get the taxpayers to pay for sending his or her kid to a school where they teach that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs.
Betsy DeCruel is just like her brothers and parents. Her father was one of the founders of john birch society and her brother owns blackwater (God only knows what they call themselves now).
They are religious zealots and traitors to this country and should be in prison.
Lack of capitalization is intentional.
THANK YOU ANTHONY!
Anthony Cody’s expression deserves an award or medal of some kind. He looks like he is struggling with the temptation to protest loudly by keeping his mouth sealed.
Love it!
Way to go Anthony!
In the hearing she was ask “yes or no
.. did you decide to cut the funds for Special olympics?”
She said NO.
Some one else did it in the budget.
WAIT….What?
She doesn’t even know what’s in her budget and who cut What?
She’s as incompetent as her boss.
And still she defends the cut because PRIVATE funds will cover it.
Wow. In my old schools it was bake sales and car washes that funded students service events.
These people are so out of touch with America.
Trump hated the negative coverage and announced that the Special Olympics will not be defunded.
Thank you Diane, for your comment. Anyone else wish to continue blasting the president? Can we just agree to say that he yield to the requests of the citizens from ALL sides of the political spectrum (and it most certainly was)?
Mr. Barr wrote to Congress on Sunday offering a four page report — including that Mr. Mueller had not found that the Trump campaign had taken part in a conspiracy to undermine the election.
Fortunately, the majority of people aren’t convinced.
Does the Mueller report exonerate Trump and his campaign of any collusion with Russia? (CNN/SSRS, 701 voters)
Yes — 43%
No — 56%
April,
We should thank Trump for not doing what he wanted to do? He wanted to cut money for the Special Olympics — the “best people” that he hired told him to do so, or he told them to do so. Trump knows people are mad so he said he wouldn’t. Trump always says whatever he thinks you want to hear. But now we both know that Trump’s real desire is to cut Special Olympics and when Trump wants something, he keeps trying to get it. Just like he keeps trying to cut Obamacare and leave Americans uninsured again.
So why in the world do you believe Trump won’t cut Special Olympics funding as soon as you pay attention to something else? Do you trust his word?
My guess is Trump will be trying to cut Special Olympics funding when your back is turned, just like he is now trying yet again to cut Obamacare.
Trust. All the small contractors who trusted him know exactly how much his promises are worth.
All the people embarrassed that they threw away thousands of dollars to learn how to get rich at Trump U. know exactly how much his promises are worth.
None of know if and when Trump will decide to cut money for Special Olympics again because we know that nothing he says can be trusted.
But if you don’t believe me, I know a great university you can enroll in.
Was that the same Trump who, during his campaign, mocked the disabled reporter and then lied about it?
DeVos was a featured speaker at SETDA (State Education Technology Director Association) in 2018. Presumably they are her kind of people. The organization which
“fosters public private partnerships”, self appointed to “take action in important issues facing public education.” And, SETDA states as a priority goal, digital learning. One opportunity SETDA provides to “partners (a choice of Gold, Platinum, Event and Strategic)” is “to showcase innovative products”.
Various employees in state departments of ed are identified by name and position and categorized by state at the website. SETDA does not identify at the site its initial funding.
SETDA appears to have a lot of juice in the nation’s capitol.
Update- Gates’ footprints all over SETDA.
I just signed a petition calling on Congress to block Betsy DeVos’ education cuts. Will you join me?
Betsy DeVos’ Department of Education 2020 budget proposal is a disaster. She tried and failed to cut funding for the Special Olympics, but that was only part of her plan. She also wants to cut billions from public education. Instead of supporting the public schools she is supposed to serve, she wants to create a $5 billion tax credit to shift more children to private schools.
DeVos’ cruel budget plan would hurt children’s education, threaten school safety and increase the disparity between rich and poor communities. Congress must stand up for children and reject her draconian budget cuts.
DeVos’s plan cuts more than $8.5 billion, eliminating about 12 percent of the budget of the Department of Education.1 Trump rolled back her proposal to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics because of overwhelming outrage.2 But her plan goes even further. She wants to cut programs for after-school activities for children in low-income communities. She wants to cut grants for textbooks and other school needs.3 Her budget would even cut school safety efforts, including mental health services and safety equipment.4
DeVos’ real goal is to funnel money away from public education to private schools. She proposed a change to the tax code that would give wealthy individuals and corporations a $5 billion tax credit for making donations to private school scholarships.5 That’s $5 billion that the government would no longer have available to spend on schools that benefit all children.
Trump and DeVos like to pretend that budget cuts are sadly unavoidable, but the truth is that Trump’s overall budget plan calls for a record $4.75 trillion in spending. But he wants to increase funding for the military and immigration enforcement – prioritizing the politics of fear and racism over the things we actually need to thrive.
This budget is not set in stone. It requires approval from Congress, which is likely to reject at least some of the worst cuts. But we can’t let Congress end up “compromising” with a heartless billionaire over children’s education. A budget reflects a country’s moral priorities, and our priorities should be education, health care and the environment – not walls, incarceration and separating families.
Every member of Congress must reject DeVos’ inhumane cuts to the Department of Education.
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/devos-cuts?sp_ref=482062787.4.195183.e.629216.2&referring_akid=32107.1912996.siTjLU&source=mailto_sp
Thanks.
Signed.
DeVos always looks like she is just passed gas. A bemused half-smile at the front of her empty head. So irritating and so happy, she is, to hurt others, cut programs for children, and bask in her own self-reverential glow. Putting a thumb tack on a chair she was about to sit down on would make me so happy.
Is there any chance that we might be getting rid of DeVos?
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After Trump Casts Blame for a Special Olympics Cut, Betsy DeVos Flashes Pique
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had dutifully defended the elimination of federal grants for the Special Olympics until President Trump blamed her for the proposal.
…But for months, Mr. Trump has mocked Ms. DeVos to other aides, making clear that he considers her expendable, according to West Wing officials. When Ms. DeVos was out of office after an injury many weeks ago, White House officials expected that her absence would be used as an opportunity to replace her. That didn’t happen.
But Mr. Trump is not fond of her, White House officials said, and he had no problem making her appear to be the bad actor in relation to the Special Olympics. A White House official denied the characterization.
Others have said that the president does not have a dislike of Ms. DeVos as much as he has apathy toward her and her entire department, and does not generally consider her — or it — worth expending much energy on…
According to people familiar with the budget process, the proposal to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics was pushed through by the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and his staff in the Office of Management and Budget, which has the power to change and reject budget requests and does so regularly for all government agencies. Mr. Mulvaney, who helped found the hard-line Freedom Caucus in the House, has brought those sensibilities to the White House, not always with Mr. Trump’s knowledge or support.
It was among more than two dozen programs that the office has consistently identified for elimination or reduction because they were deemed ineffective or inappropriate for federal funding. Among other programs targeted is $1 billion in after-school programs that serve low-income children, funding for arts education and a program serving gifted students…
Of course, Trump doesn’t like Besty. She’s a real billionaire and had no reason to be loyal to DT. Trump is jealous of all real billionaires and many billionaires are on his revenge list for whatever reason is malignant mind can think up.
We know who his #1 target is and that is Jeff Bezos. It stands to reason that whoever is the wealthiest billionaire on the planet would end up on Trump’s hate list especially when Jeff owns a newspaper that is free to regularly point out Trump’s endless list of lies.
Here is a video about our Betsy and Anthony in the background like a mime, playing out the truth.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4788257/betsy-devos-explains-benefits-larger-class-sizes
What a ditz head. DeVos: “Some students can learn better with larger classes to collaborate with, to learn with.”
In an attempt to justify cuts to federal education spending, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is now arguing that larger class sizes and fewer teachers are actually good for students.
DeVos made the claim on Tuesday during a hearing on the White House’s 2020 fiscal year budget in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.
“There is no evidence that the Federal taxpayer investments in existing professional development programs or class-size reduction have meaningfully improved student outcomes,” DeVos stated in her written remarks before the committee. “In fact, students may be better served by being in larger classes, if by hiring fewer teachers, a district or state can better compensate those who have demonstrated high ability and outstanding results.”
But Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos’ very favorite charter CEO says class size doesn’t matter!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-cost-of-small-class-size/2011/03/03/AFPGSkkB_story.html?utm_term=.994666706714
https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134956184/school-founder-says-class-size-doesnt-matter
Maybe Betsy is honest and she seriously thinks, large is the best size in everything: country, family, company, wealth, male organ, fat, church, gun, military, power; so class size cannot be an exception.
I’ve never seen DeVos without that “built-in” smirk on her face. Never joy, nor anger, nor compassion, nor concern, nor empathy for children. #Stepford Secretary.
Definitely, Stepford. Arne is moving her lips.
Video: Anderson Cooper pokes fun at awkward DeVos moment
CNN
Published on Mar 28, 2019
CNN’s Anderson Cooper laughed off Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ignoring a CNN reporter’s questions about a proposal to eliminate the budget for the Special Olympics.
This is off topic but important. It deals with Trump’s proposed budget.
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Sign the petition! U.S. Senators and Representatives: Stop Trump’s $845 Billion Medicare
I signed a petition on Action Network telling U.S. Senators and Representatives to Stop Trump’s $845 Billion Medicare Cut.
Donald Trump released his 2019-20 budget this week, which included this blockbuster announcement- he wants to cut Medicare by $845 Billion. Medicare is already inadequately funded, causing increases for the most vulnerable people in our nation. This mean-spirited budget will cause untold suffering for the 58 million elderly and disabled people on Medicare. Even some members of his own party are outraged at this attempt to slash healthcare. We can stop this egregious budget. Sign our petition to your U.S. Senators and Representative. “Stop Trump’s $845 Billion Medicare cut. Vote to keep and expand Medicare funding.” Michael Morrill Executive Director, Greyroots Action
Can you join me and take action? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-trumps-845-billion-medicare-cut?source=email&
Thanks!