The New York Times wrote about Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ sudden turnaround, from champion of local control to heavy-handed advocate of federal threats to reopen schools regardless of local conditions or wishes. Those quoted in the story are DeVos allies, which makes sense, since they must feel a sense of betrayal.
*Keri Rodrigues of the Walton-funded National Parents Union; she was a leader of the battle in Massachusetts for more charter schools, which was overwhelmingly defeated in a state referendum.
*Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a prominent voice for charters, vouchers, and high-stakes testing, issues quite far from the interests of the 85% of U.S. students who attend public schools.
*Sarah Carpenter of the Walton-funded Memphis Lift, which is highly critical of the local public schools; several low-performing Memphis public schools were turned into charters and handed over to the Achievement School District, but experienced no gains over five years.
*Ubiquitous conservative pundit Frederick Hess.
DeVos’s allies are surprised to see her depart suddenly from her conservative principles.
Supporters of public schools must be even more surprised, but for different reasons.
DeVos has repeatedly denounced and demeaned public schools and their teachers. She has sung the praises of online learning, which she now finds inadequate. (Her mentor Jeb Bush is still predicting that online learning is the future, even though most parents and students have had their fill of it.)
Most likely, Trump’s campaign consultants told him that this was a winning issue for him, and Betsy is falling into line, denouncing the distance learning and home schooling that she usually celebrates, and insisting that students must return to their brick-and-mortar public schools for full-time instruction.
We have learned, to our great surprise, that Betsy, like Donald, has no fixed principles.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Just look who appointed her and you have your answer! They just jump at the nearest dollar and jumps to whatever Trump says! No morals.
Count on the con man who gave us Trump University to hire someone with not education experience who married into the Amway pyramid marketing scam fortune as Secretary of Education.
Betsy seems to have shifted local control to the HOW (to open), but kept Federal control over the WHETHER (to open).
My guess is, considering that lawsuits are waiting in the wings, she and Trump are trying to have it both ways. OPEN (for business); but for impending lawsuits, the HOW becomes the culprit.
This “have it both ways” idea is SO VERY NEO-LIBERAL, not to mention Orwellian. CBK
Addendum: Oh, I forgot, the FUNDING of school openings is also about the HOW, and certainly not about the WHETHER. CBK
Good Grief, it’s like they never heard of whipsawing …
See my note blow, Jon. A suggestion for you.
below*
☞ All Liar, No Paradox
LMAO!
In my view, Trump and DeVos are definitely domestic terrorist. As with all terrorist, foreign or domestic, they are only interested in what is important to them. Regardless of the outcome Trump and DeVos will force the destruction of this nation just so they can win. The death of a child or his/her family means nothing to them as long as the schools open. Damage and destruction of families is something that is not important to them. They have the same attitude as a terrorist that explodes a bomb and kills innocent men, women and children. Exploding the bomb is what is important not the colloidal damage.
moeone2015,
You are correct.
Or, the plan fits a goal for disease to kill teachers. The families of middle class and poor students are expendable as collateral damage.
I’m not surprised at all.
Ed reform utterly abandoned their entire “accountability!” demand the moment they all lockstep backed vouchers.
DeVos isn’t the only ed reformer who is completely incoherent and inconsistent. The entire “movement” will happily scrap a “principle” if it means they further bigger ideological goals.
They’re all, right now, sternly scolding public schools to cut budgets – not a word about budget cutting to the charter and private schools they favor, most of which got PPP funding.
None of their hallowed beliefs apply to the ideologically correct charter and private schools they all promote.
So am I surprised DeVos will discard her “principles” if it means she gets to bash public schools? No. I knew she would.
With this turn of event DeVos shows that she less of a conservative evangelical ideologue than she is a typical Don the Con toadie.
I’m a Democrat but if you told me you were going to abolish the US Department of Education I would back it. Any civil rights function they serve can be transferred to the DOJ.
I don’t think they’ve done a lick of work on behalf of any public school student or family in this country since George W Bush’s first term.
They seem to spend 90% of their work day either bashing public schools and public school students or denying defrauded college students student loan relief. At this point they’re a net negative to both K-12 public school students and lower income college students.
Probably wasn’t smart to set a public agency up as the enemy of 90% of the schools and students in the country, but they somehow managed to do that. I don’t think it’s repairable. Start over.
I saw a public poll where the US Department of Education polls just slightly higher than ICE. The two least-liked agencies.
How do you even manage that? To come in only slightly higher than a police agency that deports people?
They know people associate them completely with public school bashing and predatory student lending and collection practices, right? They’re less popular than the IRS.
Start over. Figure out what an agency that actually valued public education would do. Not what they do, that’s for sure. Surely 20 years and three Presidents completely captured by “the ed reform movement” is enough. Hire someone from outside the echo chamber. Try something really radical- hire someone who actually attended a public school and went to college somewhere other than America’s 5 most expensive private universities. Try that. Cast the net a little wider.
By design, the GOP and neoliberals shrink the “net”. Colleges that admit based on merit instead of legacy won’t as likely produce graduates who protect rich, white privilege.
Ditzy DeVoid:
“Virtual education is the future!”
“We expect all schools to be fully open five days a week for in-person classes, or there will be consequences!”
“What we don’t need is more federal mandates. We need local control!”
“We expect all schools to be fully open five days a week for in-person classes, or there will be consequences!”
Seems she missed her calling as a professor of logic. Jon Awbrey, what do you think? Bring her into your department after her term as Sec Ed ends?
None of the people mentioned have fixed principles. As long as DeVos keeps the money rolling to their charters, and the right wing billionaires who support their organizations keep the donations coming, they will at most express being “mystified”.
It’s like Eva Moskowitz, who should be personally credited with giving American school children Betsy DeVos. When DeVos’ confirmation was in doubt, Moskowitz made it her personal mission to write op eds and give speeches demanding that the Senate confirm DeVos. Moskowitz DEMANDED it. She wanted DeVos confirmed and she would accept no excuse from anyone if her wishes were not met.
Moskowitz has never retracted her strong endorsement of DeVos as being the person who the students at Success Academy and every public school student needed to have for their own good. Presumably Moskowitz still believes it. A few really gullible reporters believe that Moskowitz saying that “DeVos wasn’t ready for prime time” because her MEDIA talents were not as finely honed as Moskowitz’ media talents are (because reporters believe every word out of Moskowitz’ mouth is the truth) was actually a retraction of her strong endorsement of DeVos as Secretary of Education but it was not. It was a criticism of DeVos media talents and DeVos not having friends at the NYT, NYPost, and NY Daily News who never question or report on anything Moskowitz doesn’t want questioned without making sure that her POV is treated as the truth.
Those school reformers might profess “surprise”, but the bottom line is that DeVos has been very, very good to them and that is what matters. What happens to the majority of America’s students is really not their concern, especially if they are financially benefitting.
a lack of “fixed principles.” What keeps the game forever out of grasp
Exactly
There is no understanding of her “mind”. How can one understand something that isn’t real, that isn’t there?
I disagree that DeVoid has no fixed principles. This latest reversal is nothing more than a short term strategy to keep Trumpty Dumpty and therefore herself in office so she can later go back to business as usual. In the current context, local control means that Trumpty Dumpty and his cabinet can be ignored while local leadership is positioned to succeed well beyond what the Feds are fumbling around with under #45’s mismanagement.
I don’t remember a time when federal mandates did not dominate the U.S. Department of Education. Presidents and education secretaries have spent decades dangling dollars for privatization, and threatening to withhold Title 1 funding for not closing public schools and firing teachers en masse. The NCLB was a huge federal mandate.
‘Local control’ is a dog whistle term charter organizations use to describe deregulation. Rightwingers only believe in states’ rights when it comes to looking the other way as states engage in privatization, segregation and inequitable funding. When it comes to forcing money out of public schools, they use a different misleading term, ‘accountability’. They very much believe in big federal government when it comes to forcing states to close public schools and balloon public school class sizes.
They never cared about big government or states’ rights, or for that matter about the deficit or “family values”. They don’t have political ideas; they have political schemes.
This is as much a question as a comment. I am wondering how much influence the big standardized testing and textbook companies (Pearson, McGraw-Hill etc.) have on this whole push to open to schools. This spring the standardized tests were cancelled in many places, and paper textbooks not in use generally. Anyone know about this? I suspect that the Business Roundtable may have something to do with push to open. Ultimately, for the horrible people in charge of this country right now, it’s all about profit for themselves.
Carrie Ann Naumoff,
Good points! Thank you.
In Florida, “local control” only means when the policies are in line with the Tallahassee agenda.
However, I’ve been grinning as I’ve seen Trump, DeVos, Tucker Carson, etc. describe distance learning as inadequate and classroom instruction as superior. These are sound bites perfectly worth saving for when things get back to “normal” and they start advocating for computer based “personalized learning” again.
Oh yes. It will be so much fun playing those back to them.
Secretary DeVos apparently made the rounds of the Sunday shows earlier this week. The late-night hosts ran recaps of her performances, and man she looked psychotic. Or like a mean girl spurned by the captain of the football team. I needed to remind myself that one need not be smart to be wealthy.
Mark,
She did not make the money. She inherited it. She has had a very limited religious education. We must pity the poor rich girl.
Yes, DeVos inherited her wealth. DeVos may have had limited religious education. Morals and ethics can and should be taught by her family from the day she was born. She probably received even a minimal amount of this education in those private schools she attended. So, through out her life DeVos has seen example of morals and ethics. Given this evil person pity is not something she deserve. Distain and hate are more suited to this person.
Oh, I know, Diane. Because I have tended to flog the term “callow heiress” in connection with her, so I am trying to give that overworked locution a rest. She inherited an auto parts fortune (her family, the Princes) and a cleaning products pyramid scheme company (her husband’s family, the DeVoses).
She did look crazed in the interviews. Considering the vulnerabilities created by her mental and emotional deficits and, her lack of work experience, it can’t be a picnic to work for an unhinged boss. Or, it could make it easier.
An administration of the unhinged, the incompetent, the unscrupulous, and the corrupt.
I’d place corrupt first.
Linda We might also remember Betsy sitting before Congress actually saying that she thought she deserved the position because of all of the money she had spent. She cannot feel ashamed because, if she can do that, she doesn’t even realize how corrupt she is. CBK