Betsy DeVos is using the federal Charter Schools Program as her personal slush fund. She recently dumped $46 million into New Hampshire in hopes of doubling the number of charters schools in that small state. The Governor Chris Sununu is a rightwing school choice zealot. The State Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut homeschooled his children and is eager to eliminate public schools. The legislature was captured by Democrats in 2018. Time to stop the privatization of public money now!
The Network for Public Education Action urges you to speak out now on behalf of your community public schools and stop privatization.
B
Diane Ravitch's blog 
posted at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Stop-Her-Now-Betsy-DeVos-in-General_News-Charter-Schools_Education-Funding_Educational-Crisis_Mis-education-191108-460.html#comment749409
Does Warren Buffet donate to NPE? I sure hope so.
We should not ignore the middle of the country. A few details follow about Nebraska and the school choice machine that aids Betsy. “Hundreds of School Choice Supporters to Rally at State Capitol (1-17-2019)…Event planners include Nebraska Catholic Conference”. And, from 5-24-2017, Nebraska Catholic Conference, Executive Director hosted a press conference for Opportunity Scholarship Act. Reported from the event, “Nebraska State Director of Americans for Prosperity (Koch) emphasized the fiscal benefits for the taxpayers and lawmakers.”
At the School Choice Nebraska site, Diane Ravitch is predictably disliked and, in the distortion that we’ve learned to expect from the right wing, there’s this article, with photos, “Part 4: Diane Ravitch’s Billionaire Friends in Nebraska”. The funder of Bill Gates’ philanthropy, Warren Buffet, is the billionaire mentioned in the article.
I find no staff identification at the School Choice Nebraska site (Deb Portz is identified elsewhere as School Choice Lincoln staff). The School Choice Nebraska blogger wrote, “I have worked with St. Mary’s kids (a Lincoln Catholic school) on school choice grassroots activities for the last four years….I will continue to work to organize the Nebraska School Choice Week rally each January.”
Off topic, the lone holdout Catholic diocese refusing to allow women behind the alter is the Lincoln, Nebr. diocese. This year, in a defense, the diocese said the topic should not be discussed as equal rights. Instead, it should be discussed as a privilege (one that women can’t earn- entitlement defined).
Catholic Voice- Omaha Archdiocese, 5-1-2019, Executive Director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference- “Tom Venzor: School Choice Advocates Wanted”….send e-mails and make calls to state senators.
Hah! Definitely not off-topic. Lincoln NE diocese: the ass-end of US dioceses in holding to this archaic preference. And So NE Register’s 5/24/19 ‘Ask the Diocese’ rests its argument entirely on the need for male vocations [priests] & their longtime success in producing them. Afterthought closing the article: “At the same time, pray for vocations to the consecrated life. I know there are many young women among us being called to be women religious.”
Ignores 2018 national stats showing religious sisters taking up vocations 2:1 over priests— & 15:1 over religious brothers! True, Lincoln has an extraordinary/ outlier rate of ordinating priests, but it’s worth noting [diocese as of 2012]: 150 priests (serving 134 parishes) AND 141 sisters serving the 33 Catholic schools– from which nearly ½ the male seminarians are plucked. Lincoln may not be looking down the barrel of sharing parish priests & supplementing altar service w/laywomen/ nuns anytime soon. But god forbid they should tip their hat to the gender that helps make that possible.
Their refusal to do so makes it clear: school choice/ publicly-funded Catholic schools? In Lincoln, it’s all about the male alums. Female teachers/ students = chopped liver. Not a good look for publicly-funded schools.
Agree.
The U.S. Conference of Bishops who wrote that they were the strongest advocates for school choice, since the beginning, are on the wrong side of history.
Media dropped the ball in not isolating and reporting about the support coming from a church denomination as contrasted with support from billionaires. In places where AFP (Koch) and state Catholic conferences were working together on privatization, the public had/has a right to know.
Bethree
Where bigotry (race, sex, etc.) is entrenched, studies found the logic underlying the argument of a bigger, better pool of candidates is rejected.
Stop DeVos from doubling charter schools.
On Fri, Nov 8, 2019 at 9:30 AM Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: “Betsy DeVos is using the federal Charter Schools > Program as her personal slush fund. She recently dumped $46 million into > New Hampshire in hopes of doubling the number of charters schools in that > small state. The Governor Chris Sununu is a rightwing schoo” >
Edelblut, a businessman, “homeschooled his 7 kids”, or. did his wife, which is more consistent with those who belong to conservative religions?