Betsy DeVos was sad to see that Alabama had only four charter schools. So she awarded $25 million to an organization tasked with generating more private charters to drain money away from the state’s underfunded public schools.
The state charter commission has been mired in controversy since giving its approval to a Gulen charter school in a rural district where it was not wanted.
The rationale for charters is that they have more flexibility than public schools, but if flexibility from state regulations is needed, why doesn’t the state grant flexibility to its real public schools? Why doesn’t it abolish burdensome regulations and mandates for community public schools?
Next time you hear a pundit say that DeVos doesn’t have the power to do damage, think of her unilateral control of $440 million in the federal Charter Schools Program, which has become her personal slush fund.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s all they do at federal level now- cheerlead for charter and private schools.
We are paying a huge group of people in government who do nothing for students in public schools. Our students and schools are the dead-last priority.
Public school students are completely ignored except for two areas- prevention of school shootings and drug abuse. Apparently all public school students are perceived as violent, low performing drug addicts in elite DC circles.
They offer absolutely nothing positive or of real value to any public school student or family in the country and it’s such a closed echo chamber they don’t feel they HAVE to offer anything.
DeVos could not show up for work for the next year and there”s not a single public school family or student who would know the difference.
“It is all they do at the federal level now, cheerlead for charter and private schools.” The strongest explanation for why so little changes, even with so many strikes and protests and opt out movements.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
Betsy, the most clueless human on the planet. He job is to primarily to over see public education, not execute her self appointed crusader for charter and private schools.
Here is the USDOE opining on the schools 90% of US students attend:
“Too many students are up against another “empire”—governments, unions, associations of this, and organizations of that. It’s an education cabal that protects the status quo at the expense of just about everyone else.”
A relentlessly negative message, delivered each and every day to public school students and families, purely to promote their ideologically preferred schools. Never a positive WORD about any public school or any public school student, anywhere.
Why are we paying for this? What do they contribute to public school families or students?
Now, those of us who live in the real world know this depiction of public school students is unfair and doesn’t accurately describe those students or their schools, yet this propaganda is spread daily by PUBLIC employees.
They are simply not doing their jobs.
https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/prepared-remarks-secretary-devos-young-americas-foundation-reagan-ranch-center
I don’t want them in my son’s public school. It’s difficult enough to raise children without a whole phalanx of federal employees working AGAINST us. They can stay in DC. At least there they’re not actively denigrating our students and schools.
Wonder what her PERKS are for doing this? One thing is for sure, the DEFORMERS do everything for $$$$$$, not matter who they hurt.
Here’s the lead ed reformer, DeVos, delivering her usual grim, hopeless message to public school students:
“Well, a very recent study by folks at Stanford and Harvard tells a grim story. The study looks at the past 50 years of attempts to fix education. It confirms that all the additional spending did nothing to improve the gulf in student achievement between those with freedom and those without.
We are still a nation at risk. In fact, we are a nation at greater risk.”
These folks have run the federal government for 20 years. We’re worse off now than we when they started?
That seems like an argument to fire all of them instead of bashing public school students and their schools. If they achieved nothing and it’s actually WORSE than when this echo chamber took over why do we continue to hire and pay tens of thousands of them?
Please don’t parachute into our schools and tell our kids they’re “trapped”. We’re really not paying public employees for this “work”. Find something productive and positive to do, or stay home.
DeVos is flat/out wrong.
Tell her to read “Reign of Error.”
Tell her the research on vouchers is clear:
Students learn less from uncertified teachers.
Tell her to live by the principle of DO NO HARM.
“Tell her to read….”
Um, I think you’d have to teach her first….
Alabama was overlooked by privatizers for many years. DeVos and company sees a goldmine in all the poor, black children in the state. These underdogs are exactly what privatizers seek, an easy target that will offer little resistance to privatization. DeVos is awarding the state $25 million to prime the privatization pump. I hope the poor, black families fight back and insist on more funding for authentic public education. Alabama would benefit from a Pastors for Alabama group, especially focusing on black congregations, as the church is another community anchor in the South.
$71 million from Betsy for charters a couple of years ago, a request made by Ohio Dem. Sen. Sherrod Brown because gerrymandered Republicans weren’t helping grifters enough. Brown has a dilettante TFA’er as education adviser.
Do you think she threw in the bear repellent too?