Archives for the month of: October, 2025
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Nancy Flanagan Writes a Fine Review of My New Book

By dianeravitch
October 28, 2025 //
8

Nancy Flanagan has many gifts: She spent decades in the classroom teaching music; when she speaks, she knows what she’s talking about. And she’s a fine writer. I always learn by reading whatever she writes.

She just posted a review of my latest book, my memoirs. I intended to thank her on her website but I forgot my password. After a few tries, I realized that it was hopeless. So I thank her here for her generous words.

I urge you to open the link and read it all.

Nancy Flanagan wrote:

My introduction to Diane Ravitch: I can’t remember precisely which education conference it was, but I was in graduate school, so it was between 2005 and 2010. Ravitch had just begun writing her Bridging Differences blog with Deborah Meier at Education Week, a sort of point-counterpoint exercise. I had also just read her book The Language Police for a grad class, and—although she’d always been perceived as a right-wing critic of public education—found myself agreeing with some of her arguments.

She was on a panel at a conference session. I can’t remember the assigned topic, but after the presentation was opened up to questions, they were all directed to her. And she kept saying smart things about NCLB and testing and even unions. Finally, a gentleman got up to the microphone and said:

Who ARE you—and what have you done with Diane Ravitch? The room exploded in laughter. Ravitch included.

Ravitch has published two dozen books and countless articles. She is a historian—making her the Heather Cox Richardson of education history, someone who can remind you that when it comes to education policy, what goes around comes around. Her previous three books were, IMHO, masterpieces of analysis and logic, describing the well-funded and relentless campaign to destroy public education here in the U.S.

And now, at age 87, she’s written a kind of expanded autobiography, An Education: How I Changed my Mind about Schools and Almost Everything Else. She tells us how her vast experience with education policy, across partisan and ideological lines, has left her with a well-honed set of ideas about how to build good schools and serve students well. How, in fact, to save public education, if we have the will to do so.

You get the sense, as Diane Ravitch wraps up “An Education,” that she is indeed wrapping up– she sees this as her last opportunity to get it all out there: Her early life. How she found happiness. Mistakes and regrets, and triumphs. It’s a very satisfying read, putting her life’s work in context...

The book is a fine testament to a life spent searching for the truth about public education.

Five stars.

Thank you, Nancy!

Categories Education Reform

Which Federal Agencies Are Laying Off Employees?

By dianeravitch
October 28, 2025 //
5

The website Government Executive reports on the draconian cuts that Trump imposed on federal agencies. These cuts were made without regard to the contribution, experience, or value of employees. Some agencies were destroyed, such as foreign aid. Foreign aid always had bipartisan support, yet Republicans in Congress remained silent as Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk cancelled programs that saved lives.

The devastating cuts in highly qualified career civil servants will be felt for many years. Their loss will not make the federal government more efficient. Understaffing will make it less effective. You will notice that a particular target of job cuts was any office engaged in civil rights protections.

In his confirmation hearings to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, one of the most powerful jobs in the federal government, Russell Vought made clear that he wanted to cripple the workforce.

He said:

“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work … because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.” 

“We want to put them in trauma.” 

Russell Vought organized Project 2025 while working at the rightwing Heritage Foundaion. He is not only a libertarian who wants to disembowel the “deep state,” he describes himself as a Christian nationalist. Vought’s goal–and Trump’s as well–is not to streamline the federal government but to gut it.

Government Executive reports:

The Supreme Court earlier this year has allowed the Trump administration to resume mass reductions in force, though large swaths of the federal government are once again blocked from issuing layoffs under a new court order. 

Many agencies have sent out RIF notices in the previous 10 months, with a new wave commencing during the government shutdown. These layoffs are separate from the mass firings of probationary employees in the early months of the administration, which led to the removal of at least 25,000 workers. See our tracker of those firings here.

An executive order and subsequent guidance in February from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management called for the “maximum elimination” of federal agency functions not required by law. As a starting point for the cuts, OMB and OPM said, agencies should focus on employees whose jobs are not required in statute and who face furloughs in government shutdowns—typically around one-third of the federal workforce, or 700,000 employees.

Several agencies have eliminated offices wholesale and slashed their regional offices across the country. The administration laid off around 4,000 people on Oct. 10 across seven agencies. The cuts followed through on a threat from President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to inflict pain on the federal workforce as a consequence of the government shutdown. 

Those RIFs, and forthcoming cuts Trump and Vought have promised, are now largely paused under a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge in California. Her order now extends to agency components with employees in the American Federation of Government Employees; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers; the National Federation of Federal Employees; the National Association of Government Employees; the National Treasury Employees Union; and the Service Employees International Union.

Here are the departments and agencies where Government Executive has confirmed RIFs have taken place or are about to occur. In some cases, the plans are in flux and subject to change. We will update as we learn more. More in-depth reporting is linked where available.

Agriculture Department: USDA is planning to dramatically slash its headquarters workforce through relocations into new regional hubs and, potentially, layoffs. Most employees will be given the option to either take a reassignment to one of the new hubs the department is standing up or separate from federal service. As the department cuts leases and functions across the country, regional staff will also be impacted, though some will have the opportunity to relocate to the new hubs. USDA will offload one of its two Washington headquarters buildings and consolidate dozens of additional sites. All told, 2,600 Washington-based are expected to be relocated. The department has shed 15,000 employees through its separation incentives.

Commerce Department: Commerce was originally seeking to cut its workforce by 20%, or nearly 10,000 employees, by using attrition, incentives and other measures to get to that level without RIFs. In October, however, Commerce sent RIF notices to 600 employees, including those at the Patent and Trademark Office, Census Bureau and Minority Business Development Agency. Those cuts are currently paused pending the temporary restraining order. 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: CFPB first issued RIFs for approximately 1,500 personnel, roughly 88% of its workforce on April 17, while announcing 50% cuts to its inspection operations of financial services companies. Employees were told they would be locked out by 6 p.m. on April 18 and would be separated from federal service by June 16, barring qualifications for other available positions. A federal judge on April 18 paused the RIFs at CFPB, which led to the layoff notices being officially rescinded. An appeals court subsequently ruled that the RIFs could proceed, but paused their implementation while a union sought an en banc hearing before the entire appellate panel. 

Defense Department: Defense said it would use RIFs or use other incentives to drive 5% to 8% of its civilian workforce, or as many as 61,000 employees, out of government. The department announced in September it successfully hit that target using various incentives. 

Education Department: Education has laid off one-thirds of its workforce, or about 1,300 employees. The notices went out on March 11 and the department closed its offices on March 12 for the day. Education previously offered buyouts of up to $25,000 to most of its employees, who had until March 3 at 11:59 p.m. to accept the offer. About 300 employees accepted those and combined with other voluntary separations, Education’s total workforce was set to be about half the size it was before Trump took office. In October, Education sent layoff notices to an additional 465 employees, which are currently paused pending the temporary restraining order.  

Environmental Protection Agency: Staff in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights and Regional Environmental Justice Divisions on April 21 were informed that a RIF will take effect on July 31.

The RIFs began to take shape in March when Administrator Lee Zeldin moved to eliminate the environmental justice office and divisions as well as the Office of Inclusive Excellence. Prior to their shutterings, EPA said it had put about 170 employees in those offices on administrative leave.

In July, EPA announced it was eliminating its Office of Research and Development, leading to a RIF of potentially hundreds of employees. All told, the agency said it has slashed its workforce from 16,155 when Trump took office to 12,448. In October, the agency said it would lay off another 30 employees, which are currently paused pending the temporary restraining order. 

Federal Trade Commission: FTC dismissed around a dozen employees on Feb. 28, impacting its Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Office of Public Affairs and Office of Technology. 

General Services Administration: GSA has sent RIF notices to some employees in its Office of Human Resources Management and Office of Customer Experience and, initially, issued severe cuts to its Public Building Service.

  • GSA has also eliminated 18F, and laid off virtually all employees there. 
  • On March 3, GSA began widespread RIFs focused on its Public Buildings Service. Many regions across the country were impacted. The agency subsequently canceled most of those layoffs, however, and brought the employees back to work. 

Health and Human Services Department: HHS has eliminated 20,000 jobs from its workforce of 82,000, the department announced earlier this year. It sent RIF notices to 10,000 employees and used attrition for the remaining 10,000. As part of those initial layoffs, the Food and Drug Administration shed 3,500 employees, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut about 2,400 employees and NIH has sent RIF notices to more than 1,200 workers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services laid off 300 staff. 

Eliminated offices included those tracking cancer rates among firefighters, providing veterinary care caring for lab animals, managing the nation’s network of health centers that provide care to 31 million Americans, training new drug reviewers, collecting data on opioid on abuse and leading teams researching infectious diseases, among many others. Following the Supreme Court decision, HHS proceeded removing most of those impacted by RIFs on July 14. Employees at CDC, FDA’s tobacco office and Head Start remain on the rolls due to an injunction in a separate case brought by a group of states. 

HHS, primarily at CDC, has brought back some employees deemed essential to carry out mission-critical functions. 

The department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization laid off at least 25 people at HHS headquarters and different components such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on April 7. The cuts leave only executive director Shannon Jackson remaining in the office.

HHS shuttered six regional offices in its Office of General Counsel, bringing the agency from 10 OGC offices down to four. Those will be located in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Kansas City, Mo., and Denver. Impacted staff—about 200 of the 300 in the regional offices—were laid off, according to two employees affected by the changes and informed of the department’s plans.

In October, HHS laid off around another 1,000 employees. The haphazard nature of the RIFs led to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse more than half of the original 1,300 notices it originally sent. Additional cuts were made at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Those cuts are currently paused pending the temporary restraining order. 

Homeland Security Department: DHS officials issued RIF notices to all employees in its Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, as well as its Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman on March 21. The roughly 150 people in the CRCL office have been placed on administrative leave, pending their terminations, as have the approximately 40 employees at CIS Ombudsman and more than 120 employees at OIDO. The department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis was planning to reduce its staffing by around 75%, cutting its workforce from some 1,000 full-time employees to 275, but as of July 10, those plans have been paused.

In October, DHS initiated RIFs for 176 employees at its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A spokesperson said the cuts, currently paused by the TRO, would be “getting CISA back on mission” after the Biden administration led it astray.

Housing and Urban Development Department: HUD has issued RIF notices to all employees in the Office of Field Policy and Management at the General Schedule-13 level and below, according to a memo obtained by Government Executive. The employees were set to be terminated May 18. In October, HUD sent RIF notices to 442 employees in its Office of Community Planning and Development, the regional offices of its Office of Federal Housing and Equal Opportunity and its Public and Indian Housing office. Those cuts are currently paused pending the temporary restraining order. 

Interior Department: DOI is planning sweeping reductions to its administrative and support function workforce and has consolidated related offices away from component agencies. Interior has folded areas such as IT, communications, finance, human resources and contracting into the central part of the department, rather than components such as the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and others maintaining their own cadres of staff to provide those services. That will be followed by widespread and significant reductions in force to employees in those offices, leading in some cases to 50% cuts to the relevant workforces. The consolidations began in early May and RIFs were expected to follow in the coming weeks, but those actions were held up in federal court. Thousands of layoffs were expected. 

In October, Interior laid out with specificity where 2,000 RIFs were planned across its bureaus. Significantly more cuts were expected, though those details remained under wraps. Most of those cuts are currently paused pending the TRO, though Interior left the door open to proceeding with some of the cuts not impacted by the court’s order.

Labor Department: DOL had planned layoffs at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, but on Aug. 12, it reversed those reduction in force notices. A department spokesperson said that DOL reduced its total workforce by 20% through voluntary separation initiatives and attrition.

NASA: NASA began sending RIF notices to employees on March 10. In an email to staff, acting Administrator Janet Petro told staff it was a “phased reduction in force,” meaning more layoffs are expected in the coming days and weeks. She called the cuts “difficult adjustments” impacting “valued members of our team,” but said the agency was viewing the changes as “an opportunity to reshape our workforce.” NASA has so far laid off only around 20 employees by closing the Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy, the Office of the Chief Scientist and employees working on diversity issues. NASA’s RIF and reorganization plan is still forthcoming, Petro said, though senior officials have told employees they are hopeful to avoid additional layoffs even as they pursue significant workforce reductions. 

Office of Personnel Management: OPM, which is spearheading the workforce reduction effort across government, has sent RIF notices to at least its Office of Procurement Operations and communications staff. Around 80 people were let go. In late February, OPM virtually eliminated its Human Capital Data Management and Modernization office. Several dozen employees received RIF notices and only 10 were spared. OPM has also laid off employees from its privacy and Freedom of Information Act office. OPM has also eliminated its Chief Technology Office. The agency also issued RIFs to the entirety of its Congressional, Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs office staff on April 16.

Peace Corps: The Peace Corps is expected shed 50% of its domestic staff in mid-May, according to two employees briefed on the plans. Some offices will see as many as three-quarters of its staff laid off. The agency has around 900 U.S.-based direct hire positions, though given the existing vacancies around 300 cuts are expected to occur between RIFs and incentivized departures. Employees said recruiting efforts, training programs, support functions and security and health services for for deployed volunteers will also struggle to continue, employees said. 

Small Business Administration: SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told employees in March the agency would shed 2,700 of its 6,500 employees. In April, it issued RIF notices to large number of employees in its COVID-19 loan servicing center. It subsequently laid off employees in the customer service center for disaster victims. One impacted employee said impacted communities will now either get rushed off the phone or not get assisted at all, while also facing longer wait times. “The ones being hurt by these cuts are the ones that truly do need assistance,” the employee said. 

Social Security Administration: SSA has shuttered two offices—its Office of Transformation and Office of Civil Rights—and initially placed those workers on administration leave. SSA’s former acting Administrator Leland Dudek has said he planned to lay off 7,000 employees in total, according to three employees familiar with the plans. 

State Department: After much delay, the State Department on July 11 laid off around 1,350 employees through a mass RIF. All told, State is expected to shed around 3,000 workers as part of its reorganization that will see more than 300 offices eliminated or consolidated. Around 1,100 civil service staff and 250 foreign service officers were be impacted. Impacted offices included the Bureau of Cyberspace and Policy, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of Energy Resources, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Multilateral Trade Affairs office, Office of Agriculture Policy and others. All employees at the refugee resettlement office and the refugee processing center were subject to RIFs.

Transportation Department: Secretary Sean Duffy said in a department town hall that reductions in force would take place at the end of May, though that timeline was pushed back by original the court injunction. The number of employees who will be laid off depends on how many workers participate in the second round of the deferred resignation program. Those cuts have yet to materialize. 

Treasury Department:

  • The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported on July 18 that the tax agency’s workforce has decreased by 25% with nearly 25,390 employees taking deferred resignation, another departure incentive or otherwise separating and 294 workers being terminated in RIFs. Layoffs affected the Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, Taxpayer Experience Office and Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Taxpayer Services. The Trump administration was expected to slash as many as 20,000 jobs from IRS.
  • Around April 8, the Bureau of Fiscal Service began notifying employees who service bonds for investors that they would be shuttering their offices and outsourcing that work. Hundreds of employees were part of the reductions.
  • In October, Treasury sent RIF notices to 1,446 employees. Much those were focused on the Internal Revenue Service and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, though the cuts are paused pending the resolution of the temporary restraining order. 

U.S. Agency for International Development: In the midst of a court battle, nearly all staffers at USAID were laid off under reduction in force procedures on either July 1 or Sept. 2. The Trump administration is seeking to largely fold the agency into the State Department, which will hire a few hundred of the thousands of affected employees. 

Veterans Affairs Department: VA initially suggested it would slash its workforce to fiscal 2019 levels, which would mark a reduction of more than 80,000 employees. RIFs were expected to begin this summer. VA Secretary Doug Collins announced in July, however, that the department would no longer pursue widespread layoffs and instead cut the department by 30,000 employeesthrough attrition and separation incentives. Since 2019, VA has gone on a hiring spree to accommodate the millions of veterans newly eligible for care and benefits. 

Small agencies set for elimination: Trump has signed an executive order to eliminate to the extent allowed by law seven small agencies. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has sent RIF notices to virtually all of its staff, as has much of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The Institute of Museum and Library Services subsequently followed suit, as did the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Commerce Department is preparing for RIFs within its Minority Business Development Agency. Trump’s order also called for the elimination of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Many of those actions are currently being litigated in federal court. 

Categories Civil Rights, Cruelty, Democracy, Deregulation, Extremism, Insane, Trump

Glenn Kessler: Trump Team Politicizes the White House Website

By dianeravitch
October 28, 2025 //
4

Glenn Kessler continues to report on Trump’s lies. Recently, he demonstrated how Trump’s staff has filled the website with vicious partisan attacks, demeaning every Democratic President.

He writes:

Every White House puts its own spin on the official website. Trump 2.0 is pretty full of itself, even by White House standards, declaring “AMERICA IS BACK’ on the landing page.

But now the official historical timeline is corrupted, with partisan sections that could have been written by social media trolls. Check out the various elements added to the history of the White House as part of an effort to defend Trump’s destruction of the East Wing for a ballroom.

After straightforward accounts of the construction of the White House and various additions to the White House complex, this suddenly appears.

Yes, this happened. Presumably its inclusion is justified by the reference of “Oval Office trysts.” But it’s pretty jarring.

This is just stupid — and false.

Obama himself did not meet with Muslim Brotherhood officials. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, White House staffers met in April 2012 with a delegation after the Muslim Brotherhood became a political force in Egypt, following President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in the face of mass protests. Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader, was elected president in June 2012. (A year later, he was ousted in a coup.)

The photo of Obama is especially trollish. The image is not from Obama’s presidency. In 2006, as a senator, he visited Kenya and wore a Somali white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya.

This is also false. There is no evidence tying Hunter Biden to the plastic bag containing cocaine found in the White House entrance lobby. The “speculation” was fanned by then-candidate Donald Trump. Hunter was not near the complex in the period in question and by all accounts had been sober and drug-free since June 2019. The Secret Service never identified a culprit.

False again! Joe Biden did not schedule Trans Day of Visibility on Easter. It always falls on March 31 — and in 2024, that happened to coincide with Easter. Biden first marked the occasion in 2021. As for Rose Montoya, a trans model and activist who exposed herself during a Pride celebation, the Biden White House said she had been banned from future events after the incident.

Add to all this misinformation a spurious claim that Obama demolished significant parts of the White House in order to build a basketball court. Snopes rated this claim FALSE.

Categories Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Trump

Is Trump Planning to Go to War Against Venezuela?

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2025 //
12

It is a horrifying thought, but Trump seems to be setting the stage for war upon Venezuela. Trump wants regime change. As the following article in the Washington Post says, Trump is merging the “war on terror” with the “war on drugs.”

Ishan Tharoor writes in the Post:

The drums of war grow louder in the Caribbean. President Donald Trump may cast himself a peacemaker in far-flung climes, but the White House seems bent on using hard power to impose its will in the United States’ perceived neighborhood. In the path of the looming storm is Venezuela, whose autocratic regime under long-ruling President Nicolás Maduro is an explicit target of the Trump administration, which sees Maduro at the top of an illegitimate drug crime network it hopes to bring down.

American warships and thousands of troops have been deployed to the Caribbean; an old military base in Puerto Rico has whirred to life with new arrivals of U.S. warplanes, drones and bombers. Trump has authorized the CIA to carry out unspecified covert operations within Venezuela. A succession of U.S. strikes have destroyed at least seven small boats off Venezuela’s coast, killing dozens of alleged narcotraffickers. Trump and his allies say they are certain of what they’re targeting. The devastated families of Trinidadian fishermen tell another story.

The recent resignation of Adm. Alvin Holsey as head of the U.S. Southern Command, less than a year into a three-year appointment, is being read as an expression of unease with the ongoing operations. Despite the White House’s claims, the Caribbean is not a significant thoroughfare for fentanyl or the vast majority of other illicit drugs entering the United States. Nor is Venezuela a major producer of illegal narcotics like some other South American countries, including neighboring Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

Yet there’s an expectation that the campaign is going to intensify. “Trump has made clear his intentions to go beyond blowing up boats, saying ‘we’re going to stop them by land’ in Venezuela,” my colleagues reported earlier this week. “Several people familiar with internal administration deliberations said any initial land attack would probably be a targeted operation on alleged trafficker encampments or clandestine airstrips, rather than a direct attempt to unseat Maduro.”

This is a gift article so you should be able to open it and continue reading.

Categories Education Reform

Reagan Opposed Tariffs; Trump Exploded When Canada Played the Tape!

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2025 //
3

Canada paid for an ad showing that Ronald Reagan opposed tariffs. Since the U.S. Supreme Court is about to issue a ruling on whether Trump can impose tariffs without consulting, Trump was outraged by the ad and accused Canada of meddling in U.S. politics.

Bob Shepherd copied the Reagan speech and posted it here.

Here it is:

Here’s the transcript of the remarks on tariffs by Ronald Reagan used in the ad by the government of Ontario that Trump just pressured (blackmailed) them to remove:

PRESIDENT REAGAN: 

My fellow Americans:

Prime Minister Nakasone of Japan will be visiting me here at the White House next week. It’s an important visit, because while I expect to take up our relations with our good friend Japan, which overall remain excellent, recent disagreements between our two countries on the issue of trade will also be high on our agenda.

As perhaps you’ve heard, last week I placed new duties on some Japanese products in response to Japan’s inability to enforce their trade agreement with us on electronic devices called semiconductors. Now, imposing such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take. And in a moment, I’ll mention the sound economic reasons for this: that over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. But the Japanese semiconductors were a special case. We had clear evidence that Japanese companies were engaging in unfair trade practices that violated an agreement between Japan and the United States. We expect our trading partners to live up to their agreements. As I’ve often said: Our commitment to free trade is also a commitment to fair trade.

But you know, in imposing these tariffs we were just trying to deal with a particular problem, not begin a trade war. So, next week I’ll be giving Prime Minister Nakasone this same message: We want to continue to work co-operatively on trade problems and want very much to lift these trade restrictions as soon as evidence permits. We want to do this, because we feel both Japan and the United States have an obligation to promote the prosperity and economic development that only free trade can bring.

Now, that message of free trade is one I conveyed to Canada’s leaders a few weeks ago, and it was warmly received there. Indeed, throughout the world there’s a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition. Now, there are sound historical reasons for this. For those of us who lived through the Great Depression, the memory of the suffering it caused is deep and searing. And today many economic analysts and historians argue that high tariff legislation passed back in that period called the Smoot-Hawley tariff greatly deepened the depression and prevented economic recovery.

You see, at first, when someone says, “Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,” it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works – but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.

The memory of all this occurring back in the ’30s made me determined when I came to Washington to spare the American people the protectionist legislation that destroys prosperity. Now, it hasn’t always been easy. There are those in this Congress, just as there were back in the ’30s, who want to go for the quick political advantage, who will risk America’s prosperity for the sake of a short-term appeal to some special interest group, who forget that more than 5 million American jobs are directly tied to the foreign export business and additional millions are tied to imports. Well, I’ve never forgotten those jobs. And on trade issues, by and large, we’ve done well. In certain select cases, like the Japanese semiconductors, we’ve taken steps to stop unfair practices against American products, but we’ve still maintained our basic, long-term commitment to free trade and economic growth.

So, with my meeting with Prime Minister Nakasone and the Venice economic summit coming up, it’s terribly important not to restrict a President’s options in such trade dealings with foreign governments. Unfortunately, some in the Congress are trying to do exactly that. I’ll keep you informed on this dangerous legislation, because it’s just another form of protectionism and I may need your help to stop it. Remember, America’s jobs and growth are at stake.

Until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.

Reagan hated tariffs. Trump did not want Republicans to know that great Ronald Reagan thought tariffs were stupid.

Even after Trump vindictively raised tariffs on our northern neighbor, the Canadians continued to run the ad during the World Series. Good for them.

Categories Economy, Extremism, History

With Ryan Walters Out, It’s a New Day for Education in Oklahoma

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2025 //
2

John Thompson writes here about the remarkable transformation of education in Oklahoma since Commissioner of Education Ryan Walters resigned. Walters was obsessed with getting the Bible and the Ten Commandments into schools. Now that he’s gone, the professionals are back.

Thompson wrote:

Since former State Superintendent Ryan Walters was removed from office, I keep witnessing reasons for hope, as well as worries about whether Oklahoma politicians will be willing to support and fund the wonderful, grassroots programs necessary for building high-quality 21st century schools.

Whether he knew what he was doing or not, Gov. Kevin Stitt replaced Walters with Superintendent Lindel Fields, a former career tech leader, who is being widely praised by Democrats and Republicans. Megan Oftedal, a professional who led the Office of Education Quality and Accountability (OEQA), has joined Fields’ “turnaround team” for improving our schools. And Dr. Daniel Hamlin, a widely respected education scholar at the University of Oklahoma is the new Secretary of Education.

I commented at an OEQA meeting chaired by Dr. Hamlin, where numerous nonprofits presented solid plans for the team effort required in order to turn our system around. I felt like board members listened, whether they agreed with me or not, to my calls to remove stakes from standardized testing.  When conversing with Dr. Hamlin and others, I felt like it was 35 years-ago, when bipartisan experts came together to implement the HB 1017 tax increase, which saved public education in Oklahoma.

On the other hand, soon afterwards, the 2025 test scores were released. I had been trying to warn journalists and legislators that “astroturf” think tanks had been pushing the lie that Proficient scores, that are correlated with the reliable NAEP scores, were “grade level.” In fact, the cut scores, known as “Basic,” are the best indicators of grade level. The corporate reform ExcelinEd had been lobbying Oklahomans, persuading way too many people that the defense of true definition of grade level was an “honesty gap” pushed by educators.

And as I predicted, the press was filled with the lies that the Koch Brothers had funded. In fact, Oklahoma scores, admittedly, were bad, but they aren’t irreparably bad, as ExcelinEd implies. I would argue that the drop in Oklahoma’s student outcomes since 1998, was driven by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the subsequent push to reward and punish teachers based on standardized test scores.    

Then, I attended the interim committee led by House Representative Ellen Pogemiller on Chronic Absenteeism. Once again, I was thrilled by the quality of the presentations.

I was reminded of 15 years ago when the United Way hosted an in-depth study of how to reduce chronic absenteeism, and make up for “learning loss.” We were guided in many ways by research led by Johns Hopkins’ Robert Balfanz. The non-profit leaders who were attending the conferences were convinced by Balfanz’s work and why it would take a team effort to address chronic absenteeism.  To succeed, high-challenge students had to receive the same respect and opportunities as affluent students. These programs must provide the same type of holistic experiences that affluent families shared during vacations.

So, cognitive and social science said that if our chronic absenteeism program became seen as remediation, it would fail.

That is why I was so elated when one of the first speakers at the interim committee said we must move away from a “deficit-driven mindset.”

Instead, she embraced a “Cradle-to-the-Career” approach.

Service providers from Tulsa explained that almost 1/3rd of TPS students were chronically absent, with something schools having ½ of their students who were chronically absent. They explained that some students had no access to school buses because they lived 1-1/2 to 2 miles from their school.

They then explained the role of evictions, that was especially large because eviction windows were so short, and because of predatory landlords. This especially hurt pre-k and kindergarten students in apartment complexes that have especially high rates of absenteeism. That is why schools need family liaisons, student monitors, and resource coordinators.

The wrap-around services needed to overcome chronic absenteeism are expensive, but some have helped get nearly 100% of their kids back in school.

Yes, it was explained, sometimes suspensions, including longterm suspensions, are necessary. But providers in Moore explained how they minimize the punitive with a different type of alternative school, focused on building a better future for kids. And Norman educators described their different type of alternative suspension program. For instance, they offer a deal with students where their suspensions are reduced if they attend programs to get to root causes of interconnected problems. The suspension rate for kids who follow that path has fallen dramatically.

By the way, their presentations reminded me of the evidence-based recommendations of MAPS for Kids, before NCLB forced schools to abandon so many of their best efforts to serve kids.

Some schools have created an Absenteeism Office, and their findings were illuminative. In one district, 80% of chronical absent teens were couch-surfing.  That makes it difficult to locate and connect with them. But, when attendance officers reach out, they see the impact of chronic absenteeism on mental and physical health.

And there seemed to be widespread agreement regarding the value of “high dose tutoring.”

And even though Oklahoma schools do not have enough service providers and enough ability to physically connect and communicate, tele-health programs facilitate timely “Looped systems” of communicating with students, families, school officials, and health and mental health providers.

Even though these Cradle-to-Career efforts are expensive, if we prioritize them, we all will benefit. The interim study, following the conversations at the OEQA, inspired hope.

But, I later learned of a different type of meeting with legislators that occurred that day, calling for a return to the punitive by holding back 3rd graders who do not pass their reading test. Yes, teaching reading is crucial but it also is complicated. It requires background knowledge, as well as phonics, to teach reading for comprehension. And, real world, the evidence regarding both the benefits and the harm of holding back 3rd graders is mixed.

Even if the over-simplified spin that ExcelinEd spreads about the “Science of Reading” were true, far more funding would be required to produce longterm gains for Oklahoma students.

On one hand, it took decades of funding by the “Billionaires Boys Club” to sell their quick fixes and slanders about public schools. Our kids have suffered for nearly a quarter of a century due to their agenda. It will take years and years to reverse the damage they’ve sowed. But these evidence-based, humane events that I’ve witnessed are an awesome starting point.   

Categories Oklahoma

Ann Telnaes: Another Monument to Trump’s Megalomania (Magalomania)

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2025 //
22

open.substack.com/pub/anntelnaes/p/another-monument-to-trumps-megalomania

Just remember: Trump’s ego and need for praise are so vast that they can never be satisfied. Foreign leaders have learned that the way to get his attention is to flatter him. Everything he does is the best, the most, and has never been done before.

At this moment, in the midst of a government shutdown, while federal workers are lining up at food banks, Trump has demolished the East Wing of the White House and is constructing a gold-plated ballroom. It will be named the President Donald J. Trump ballroom. When that is done, he will build a triumphal arch that will be known as the Arc d’Trump.

His press secretary said that at this moment, while the government is closed, Trump’s highest priority is his grand ballroom. The ballroom will be 90,000 square feet. It will dominate the White House, which is only 55,000 square feet.

Categories Trump, Tyranny

Trump and McMahon Illegally Undermine Special Education Services

By dianeravitch
October 24, 2025 //
8

I am reposting this article because I posted it before I had finished preparing it, omitting the name of the author and the publication.

Trump decided long before the 2024 election to close the Department of Education. Like many others, I predicted that Congress would not allow him to close the Department. I said, even Republicans will oppose closing the Department. What I did not anticipate was that Trump would destroy the Department by firing its employees and transferring its functions to other agencies.

Warning: if Trump turns funding for special education into block grants to states without strings, the money could be used for charters and vouchers, not for children with disabilities.

Kathleen Romig of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities wrote this valuable analysis:

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration took aim at a vital program with deep bipartisan support that provides screening, accommodations, and interventions for 7.5 million disabled children each year, imperiling their access to the accommodations and services they need to succeed at school. The Administration announced that it intends to fire nearly all the staff responsible for distributing federal funding and ensuring states use it to provide disabled students the supports and services they need to succeed in school, from assistive technology to specialized teachers. Their work makes it possible for students with disabilities to get the free, appropriate public education they are guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Gutting the staff who administer IDEA not only threatens the quality education disabled children need, but also undermines Congress’s constitutional authority — and underscores why legislators must enact safeguards to ensure that the Administration follows the laws Congress passes.

This reckless and illegal action is another step toward the Administration’s goal of dismantling the Department of Education, which started with firing nearly half its staff in March, including the legal staff in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), who protect disabled students’ rights. With this latest action, the Trump Administration is effectively shuttering OSEP, which distributed $15 billion in federal grants to schools in 2025. These grants pay for special education teachers and aides, speech and occupational therapists, assistive technology, screening and early intervention for infants and toddlers, and other critical services and supports that millions of families rely upon.

IDEA requires that the Education Department verify that states are lawfully supporting students with disabilities before granting funds, and to require states to take corrective action if they are not. Without OSEP staff, it is unclear who will review and certify states’ grant applications and ensure funds are lawfully distributed and that states are using them appropriately.

OSEP staff use a system of reporting, analysis, and auditing to ensure children’s needs are being met. They intervene if a school district systematically isn’t providing an accommodation that students need — for example, not hiring enough speech therapists or purchasing devices that allow non-verbal students to communicate. These cuts come as funding for public schools and the students they serve is already under threat from a growing list of sources, including state tax cuts, private school vouchers, and other federal actions.

About 15 percent of students receive services under IDEA. They have conditions such as vision and hearing impairments, speech and language delays, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities such as autism, Down Syndrome, and intellectual disability. Meeting their needs requires not only funding, but continual oversight and assistance, because school districts often struggle to comply with the law’s requirements. OSEP gives states and school districts the assistance and assurance they need to avoid penalties or prevent a loss of federal funds in the future and, most importantly, to meet the needs of their disabled students.

IDEA has a long history of bipartisan support. Congress and President George H.W. Bush enacted the law on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis in 1990. In 2004, President George W. Bush and Congress reauthorized IDEA with substantial amendments, again with strong bipartisan approval. Despite President Trump’s call during the shutdown to end “Democrat programs,” federal IDEA funding benefits students and families in every state and across all political affiliations.

The Administration has been vocal about its desire to dismantle the Education Department, but it lacks the legal authority to make such a change. The President issued an executive order calling for the dissolution of the department, and he has spoken about moving IDEA administration to the Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought’s Project 2025 proposed turning IDEA into a block grant with “no strings attached.”

But an act of Congress is required to dismantle the Department of Education or undo the statutory requirements for the department to administer IDEAand maintain an Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The Administration has not requested these changes, including as part of its 2026 budget request. And Congress has shown no interest in either ending the Department of Education or moving the special education office. The 2026 education funding bills approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees would not defund the Department of Education nor change its legal responsibility to implement IDEA.

This latest harmful and unlawful action by the Trump Administration will cause needless uncertainty and turmoil: they have fired the staff tasked with overseeing special education programs with no plan for fulfilling their statutory responsibilities. This is another illustration of why Congress must assert its authority to ensure that the Administration faithfully execute the laws it passes, including on federal agency structure, functions, and personnel. Congress should not let the Trump Administration take yet another step that undermines their role, at the expense of disabled children and their families.

Categories Cruelty, School Choice, Special Education, Trump

Pastors for Texas Children Speak Out Against State Takeover of Fort Worth Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 24, 2025 //
4

One of the worst features of President George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” law was its assumption that schools with low test scores should be closed and replaced by state control or private management (i.e. charters).

Most of the nation now realizes that state takeovers do not improve schools, but Texas is clinging tenaciously to the tenets of NCLB. The state has an idiotic law stating that if a district has one school–just ONE SCHOOL–that persistently has low scores on state standardized tests, the state can take control of the entire district, throw out its elected leaders, and bring in new management.

Houston is currently under state control. The students and teachers have been subject to a scripted curriculum, more standardized testing, and the disappearance of democratic participation. Nothing in the Houston takeover has introduced real reform, such as reduced class sizes and wrap-around services.

Republicans used to be the party of local control. Those days are over. Now they support big government.

Professor Domingo Morel of NYU authored a book titled Takeover, in which he documented the persistent failure of state takeovers.

Pastors for Texas Children has been a dedicated supporter of public schools. It was the state’s loudest critic of vouchers. It has steadfastly defended the historic principle of separation of church and state.

It released this statement decrying the takeover of the public schools of Fort Worth.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, 210-379-1066

October 23, 2025

Pastors for Texas Children Opposes State Takeover of Fort Worth ISD Schools

 Fort Worth, TX — Pastors for Texas Children expresses deep concern over Governor Greg Abbott’s and Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s decision today to assume control of Fort Worth ISD public schools.

“Fort Worth citizens own and operate their neighborhood public schools—not the governor or the commissioner,” said Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, Executive Director of Pastors for Texas Children. “Today’s decision disregards the foundational principle of local control that has long guided Texas governance.”

Under this action, Fort Worth’s duly elected school trustees—who represent the city’s diverse neighborhoods—will be replaced by “managers” appointed by the state. This move undermines the voices of the very citizens who have faithfully supported and stewarded their public schools.

Having already replaced leadership in Houston ISD, Governor Abbott and Commissioner Morath have now extended that approach to Fort Worth. Communities across Texas are watching closely, concerned about the loss of local decision-making in their own districts.

For months, Fort Worth clergy, parents, and community members have expressed concern about state takeovers and their long-term effects. In Houston, the transition has brought increased standardized testing, low teacher morale, and reduced local oversight.

The state’s justification for these interventions rests on accountability measures that do not fully reflect the strength or challenges of a district. Factors such as student growth, teacher stability, and community engagement are not adequately captured by test-based metrics. Education experts, including the Texas School Coalition, have noted that such systems “do not adequately reflect the complexity of school performance and should not be used as a singular measure of effectiveness.”

“The standardized test used to rate our schools has well-known limitations in reliability and validity,” said Rev. Johnson. “It does not fully measure what matters most about student learning and growth.”

“This decision also sends a discouraging message to our teachers,” Johnson continued. “They work tirelessly—often in underfunded classrooms with limited resources—to serve our most vulnerable children. These are conditions that our state leaders have had ample opportunity to improve but have chosen not to. The constitutional promise of ‘a suitable provision for public free schools’ has steadily declined under this administration.”

Public education remains one of the great cornerstones of democracy. Local schools are the foundation of community life and self-determination. Trustees who govern them are chosen by the people they serve—not appointed from afar.

At a time when public trust and civic engagement are urgently needed, this decision risks weakening both. Pastors for Texas Children calls on Texans to continue supporting their neighborhood schools and to stand with educators and families who believe in local control, shared responsibility, and opportunity for every child.

 

About Pastors for Texas Children

Pastors for Texas Children is a statewide network of nearly 1,000 congregations working to protect and support public education. We equip faith leaders to advocate for fully funded public schools and oppose efforts to divert public dollars to private and religious institutions. Learn more at pastorsfortexaschildren.org

PO Box 471155 Fort Worth, TX, USA 76147 pastorsfortexaschildren.com

 

Categories Education Reform

Glenn Kessler: Trump and the Destruction of Bonwit Teller’s Artistic Treasures

By dianeravitch
October 24, 2025 //
4

Glenn Kessler, recently retired as the Washington Post’s fact checker, has his own blog at Substack. He now dedicates his time to fact-checking Trump’s lies. That’s a full-time job.

He writes about a forgotten episode in Trump’s past that foreshadows his demolition of the East Wing of the White House and his demolition of foreign aid and entire departments:

Donald Trump’s dismantling of parts of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a gargantuan $250 million ballroom — without any forethought or architectural approvals — has been cited by critics as a metaphor for what he is doing to American democracy.

To me, Trump’s second-term approach to governing has its roots in a similarly shocking display of developer hubris — his destruction, 45 years ago, of the Bonwit Teller limestone bas-relief sculptures of two nearly naked women to make way for Trump Tower.

After Trump, 33 at the time, purchased the bankrupt retailer’s 11-story building, he promised to donate the 15-foot-high Art Deco sculptures to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also agreed to donate a six-by-nine-meter, geometric-patterned bronze latticework that hung over the entrance.

But then one day, he woke up and decided he would break his promise.

He ordered crews to separate the architectural treasures from the walls with jackhammers and break them off with crowbars. The friezes, located near the top of the building, were thrown down by workers, shattering them to bits. The latticework was removed with blow torches and mysteriously went missing.

By the time New Yorkers realized what was happening, the deed was done — and that was that.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the Bonwit Teller friezes when the U.S. Agency for International Development — a lifeline for many countries in the Global South — was dismantled earlier this year in the blink of an eye.

Trump knew that by the time the lawsuits wended their way through the courts, it would be too late to rebuild USAID, Voice of America and so many other agencies that he’s destroyed.

They’ve been broken down into a million pieces, just like the Bonwit Teller sculptures.

In 1980, The New York Times put the news of Trump’s betrayal on the front page, under the headline: “Developer Scraps Bonwit Sculptures.” (Trump was not yet famous.)

The story has all the earmarks of a classic Trump tale.

First, the shock: “The destruction of the Art Deco panels stunned some art appraisers and elicited expressions of surprise and disappointment from officials of the Met, where they were to have been installed by the department of 20th-century art. One appraiser placed their value at several hundred thousand dollars.”

Then the spin: “John Baron, a vice president of the Trump Organization, said after the demolition yesterday that the company had decided not to preserve the sculptures because ‘the merit of these stones was not great enough to justify the effort to save them.’ Mr. Baron said the company had got three independent appraisals of the sculptures. These, he said, had found them to be ‘without artistic merit’ and worth less than $9,000 in ‘resale value.’ He said it would have cost $32,000 to remove them carefully and would have delayed demolition work by a week and a half and perhaps longer because of the need for cranes and municipal permits.”

We now know that “Baron” was none other than Trump himself — and that the numbers and appraisals were entirely fabricated.

Next, the shock at the spin: Ashton Hawkins, vice president and secretary of the Met’s board of trustees, was flabbergasted by the claims. “Can you imagine the museum accepting them if they were not of artistic merit?” he asked.

Preservation News reported that Robert Miller, an art dealer with a gallery across from Bonwit Teller, estimated the sculptures were worth $200,000 —or $800,000 in today’s dollars — and that “they could have been safely removed in little time.”

Finally, the Trump double-down: After days of controversy, Trump stopped hiding behind his faux spokesman and offered reporters an even more ridiculous figure. He asserted removal of the sculptures would have cost more than $500,000 in taxes, demolition delays and other expenses. The figure, conveniently, was higher than the reported valuation of the sculptures in news reports.

On top of that, Trump claimed he was motivated by his concern for “the safety of people on the street below…If one of those stones had slipped, people could have been killed. To me, it would not have been worth that kind of risk.”

Somehow, that concern didn’t apply when workers were ordered to hurl the frieze fragments down from the eleventh floor.
Almost half a century has passed. We’re still watching the same movie.

Categories Art, Cruelty, Ethics, Lies, Trump
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