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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

North Carolina: Vouchers Are Great for Religious Schools!

By dianeravitch
October 22, 2025 //
4

North Carolina was once considered the most progressive state in the South. Since the Tea Party sweep in 2010, the rightwing has gerrymandered the state so that The Legislature (the General Assembly) has a super-majority of Republicans. The General Assembly is currently redrawing Congressional districts to eliminate Democratic seats before the 2026 Congressional elections. All this in a state that elects a Democraric Governor!

Of course, the General Assembly enacted vouchers and removed income limits. The state now subsidizes the tuition of all students in private and religious schools. The biggest beneficiaries are religious schools.

The state is on track to spend $600 million this year for vouchers, most of which subsidize students in religious schools. Many of these schools use a Bible-based curriculum.

That is $600 million of public taxpayer money that should have been spent on public schools, schools that educate all children, not just those they choose.

The News-Observer reported:

Nearly 100,000 North Carolinians are now getting Opportunity Scholarships — meaning taxpayers are subsidizing tuition costs for most of the state’s private school students.

As of Oct. 6, 98,917 students were receiving Opportunity Scholarships — a 204% increase from two years ago and a 23% increase since last school year. The number of voucher students has exploded since state lawmakers opened the program last school year to all families, including wealthy families and those already attending private schools. 

The number of voucher students will continue to rise because the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority is still accepting applications for the spring semester.

“North Carolina is on track to see over 100,000 students use an Opportunity Scholarship this year,” said Mike Long, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. “PEFNC is fully engaged to ensure every scholarship is used and that schools have the capacity to serve families: expanding private school seats through our EduBuilder initiative and maintaining vital outreach so parents know their options.

“Together, these strategies sustain both access and opportunity, making school choice real for every North Carolina family.” 

It’s a milestone in the state’s education history that’s being criticized by supporters of public schools. 

“It’s unfortunate because the dollar signs are so huge and our public schools are really struggling, and it’s a direct result of lack of support and financial investment in our public schools,” said Heather Koons, a spokesperson for Public Schools First NC.

The Opportunity Scholarship program has changed since it began providing vouchers to 1,216 students in the 2014-15 school year. The program was initially promoted by Republican lawmakers as a way to help low-income families pay for private schools to escape low-performing public schools. 

Over time, the program’s demographics have shifted from majority Black to majority white as lawmakers raised the income eligibility limits. Now 75% of voucher students are white. That’s compared to 63% in the 2023-24 school year, when there were still income limits for receiving a voucher. 

Family income is still used to determine the size of the award. Voucher amounts range from $3,458 to $7,686 per student for this school year.

Most of the Opportunity Scholarship students are using the money to attend religious schools. 

“The true beneficiaries of this program are the students and families who now have the opportunity to access a Christian education that aligns with their values,” said Kevin Mathes, superintendent of North Raleigh Christian Academy.

Existing private students getting new vouchers 

Opening the program to all families also coincided with state lawmakers sharply increasing voucher funding. 

The state has awarded $279.9 million this semester, putting it on pace to give $559.8 million to private schools by the end of the school year. 

 In comparison, the state awarded $185.6 million two years ago and $432.2 million last school year. The increase in awards coincides with private schools encouraging both their existing and new students to apply for Opportunity Scholarships. Public Schools First NC found several private schools also raised their tuition as they got more voucher money. A report from the state Department of Public Instruction indicated most new voucher students last school year were existing private school students. 

Voucher students used to account for a minority of North Carolina’s private school students. In the 2023-24 school year, there were 32,549 Opportunity Scholarship students out of 131,230 private school students statewide.

Last school year, there were 80,472 voucher students out of 135,738 private school students. This school year’s statewide private school enrollment figures won’t be released until next summer. 

“I really think we’re just creeping up and up and up so that all the students and all the private schools that accept vouchers are going to be subsidized,” said Koons of Public Schools First NC.

Are private schools discriminating against voucher students? 

Public Schools First has accused state lawmakers of using taxpayer dollars to discriminate against students and families because private schools can limit who they enroll. In contrast, public schools are supposed to accept all students. 

Public Schools First singled out North Raleigh Christian Academy, which has received the most money from the Opportunity Scholarship program so far this school year at $3.1 million. 

North Raleigh Christian’s admissions requirements include that at least one parent must be a Christian and students must score at grade level. In addition, the student handbook says “students with IQs of 90 or less are not enrolled because of the difficulty they will have in achieving academic success.” 

Koons contrasted the amount North Raleigh Christian is now getting for voucher students compared to the $541,217 it received two years ago when the state still had income eligibility limits. The school is on pace to far exceed the $4.3 million in voucher money it received last school year. 

“Wealthy families are now getting a state-subsidized tuition payment to go to a school that excludes students who may be challenging to teach,” Koons said. 

Mathes, North Raleigh Christian’s superintendent, defended the school.

“Our admissions process considers each applicant holistically, with thoughtful attention to how NRCA can responsibly serve students within the scope of our mission and available resources as we partner with families in their children’s education,” Mathes said. 

 “While private schools like NRCA do not have access to the same range of specialized resources as public systems, we work diligently to serve students well within our capacity and to recommend alternative settings when another environment might better meet a child’s needs.”

Categories Education Reform

Texas Farmers Can’t Find Laborers to Work Their Fields

By dianeravitch
October 22, 2025 //
8

Jack Herrera of The Texas Monthly asks whether farming can survive without laborers. His article is titled “Are We Living Through the End of Texas Farming?“

Didn’t anyone in the Trump administration think about the impact of their draconian deportation policies on farming, the tourist industry, and other sectors where immigrants are employed? Apparently not.

Trump claimed he intended to deport “the worst of the worst.” The murderers, rapists, repeat offenders. But in fact, ICE is deporting hard-working people who have not committed crimes and who have contributed to our economy.

Even though Brooke Rollins, the Secretary of Agriculture, has warned Trump about the impact of deportations on farmers, nothing has changed. ICE continues to round up farm laborers, threatening the nation’s food supply.

Herrera writes:

As we broiled beneath a relentless sun in the Chihuahuan Desert, next to countless rows of improbably green cotton plants, I expected Ramon Tirres to tell me that water is his most precious resource. In the valley south of El Paso, Tirres grows cotton and pecans, and for the past 23 years, he’s farmed in the midst of historic drought. But as the wiry 71-year-old toed the dirt next to one of the canals that waters his fields, Tirres told me he’s facing a more pressing shortage: “The big issue we’re having now is finding workers,” Tirres said. “God almighty, is it hard.”

Three years ago, Tirres began working to get an H-2A employment visa for a Mexican farmhand, one of a small pool of workers who could handle the massive John Deere harvesters, the sophisticated machines that use GPS to navigate down furrows without veering an inch off course. “I need him—I was looking forward to having him,” Tirres said. “Irrigation, hauling, driving the tractor, cultivating—he could do it all.” The visa process was going well, and around January, the worker received news that it was looking likely he’d get approved. Then in March, after President Donald Trump took office, the man called Tirres and told him that working as an immigrant in the U.S. now carried intolerable risks. “He got scared,” Tirres said. “He told me, ‘I hear the talk that [immigrants] are getting shipped out to Venezuela or El Salvador—and I don’t want that to happen to me.’” He gave up on the visa process. 

Labor shortages are crippling agriculture across the U.S., and they’ve got the attention of everyone from farmers in El Paso to top officials in the White House. For generations, farmers have struggled to find American-born workers, and in recent years, the number of Mexican farmworkers in the country has decreased, dangerously shrinking the labor pool. In 2022, a national survey of farmers found that close to half—46 percent—said they didn’t have enough workers and that they were struggling to hire more. “We are losing farms in America at a rapid pace and there is no question that our broken workforce system is partly to blame,” Zippy Duvall, the American Farm Bureau Federation president, said in March of that year. 

Brooke Rollins, Trump’s secretary of agriculture, is well aware of the problem. At a forum in February, she talked about meeting with farmers across the country. “Almost every single conversation, every single one, labor comes up, so it’s clearly a top issue,” Rollins said. She has had to contend with an inconvenient fact: More than 42 percent of farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented. As farmers raise the alarm about critical worker shortages, the Trump administration is actively deporting those workers—or scaring them away. In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted huge raids in California, Nebraska, and Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. In the Valley, ICE raids have not come for farms, but the fear of them has been disruptive. According to the most recent survey from the National Center for Farmworker Health, as many as 80 percent of farmworkers in Hidalgo County are undocumented. Farmers have reported that fears of ICE raids have led many of their workers to stop going to work. Food has been left rotting in fields and warehouses. Over the summer, South Texas farmers told reporters that they weren’t just low on workers—they had zero workers left; even those with papers were afraid to show up. “One hundred percent, one hundred percent don’t want to come out of fear of being picked up even if they are doing it the right way,” one farmer told the Valley Central News. 

Categories Accountability, Bigotry, Cruelty, Economy, Texas

Nancy Bailey: Remembering Why There’s Special Education Law

By dianeravitch
October 22, 2025 //
4

Nancy Bailey understands the need for special education services. She spent many years in the classroom as a teacher of students with disabilities. She was a principal and has a Masters and Ph.D. in the field. She is a relentless crusader for students, teachers and public schools. Like me, she opposes privatization of public funds. She knows that many charter schools and vouchers exclude students with special needs. Unlike public schools, charters and vouchers choose their students.

Nancy and I wrote a book together titled EdSpeak and Doubletalk: A Glossary to Decipher Hypocrisy and Save Public Schooling. In collaborating with her, I learned that she is a wise, dedicated, and deeply informed person. It’s a fun read for anyone who wants to cut through the misleading jargon of the day.

Nancy wrote about the origins and need for special education on her blog.

She wrote:

Donald Trump is destroying programs that help Democratic and Republican kids, including special education. He seems not to understand why laws exist to protect students.

Linda McMahon is eliminating the U.S. ED, without Congressional approval, which oversees critical federal laws for public schools, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). She fired the special education staff, mostly ending the department.

Health and Human Services (HHS) might manage special education, but HHS is a massive program with problems.

The Arc, an organization that supports those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, describes why this wouldn’t be a good idea.

…this move might be viewed as promoting a medical model of disability—one that treats disability as a diagnosis to be managed rather than recognizing students as learners with potential. Framing students with disabilities through a medical lens risks stigmatizing, segregating, and isolating them from their peers. It undermines decades of progress toward ensuring that students with disabilities are seen and supported as general education students first.

Some believe states will provide better accommodations. But history shows this has failed before. It’s why a federal mandate was created.

McMahon’s reckless changes, ending special education without viable solutions, demonstrate a lack of concern for a vulnerable population.

Those who have worked in the field over the years — parents and teachers — can certainly think of ways to help public schools better address student needs, including those with special education needs.

But that’s not what this is about. McMahon has no professional educational background to understand schools, students, children with disabilities, or the history of special education, or to make meaningful changes. She’s in this role to end services. She repeatedly brags about this claiming the U.S. ED isn’t necessary.

Instead of better funding for special education, which parents and teachers have demanded for years, she’s giving $500 million to charter schools, and, sadly, some Democrats will be onboard. They’ve wanted to privatize America’s schools for many years.

However, in all the years since their existence, charter schools have rarely been a solution for children with disabilities. Students are often counseled out and rejected, especially those with emotional and behavioral disabilities, ADHD, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Private schools are supposed to serve children with disabilities but religious schools are exempt. And who’s monitoring these schools which often don’t have the resources or the qualified staff to run good programs.

Also, importantly, charter schools and private schools don’t always include students with disabilities in general classes, called inclusion. Charter schools segregate children into disability groups for those with dyslexia, or schools for intellectual and developmental disabilities, much like the 1800s when children stayed at home or were primarily given religious classes.

Children don’t get opportunities to socialize with their peers and without oversight, these schools might not assist children to learn and find independence.

McMahon, by not enforcing the law that mandates public schools open their doors to children with disabilities, creates a dangerous situation, that will result in children with disabilities sliding backwards in time.

Make no mistake, special ed. has consistently been underfunded, but the belief that every child can learn and be educated is a promise Americans should support and protect.

Parents are told the law remains, but a law must be enforced, or it will likely fall apart. Reviewing history is necessary to remember why such a law became significant.

Warning! The following links include pictures and videos that are difficult to view.

Burton Blatt’s Christmas in Purgatory

In 1965, Burton Blatt and photographer, Fred Kaplan, began a research project at a Connecticut center for the developmentally disabled. They visited five state institutions in the east that housed individuals with developmental disabilities. Kaplan carried a miniature spy camera on his belt, secretly snapping pictures as they toured the facilities. They never identified the institutions, likely understaffed.

You can view Christmas in Purgatory HERE.

Burton Blatt increased our awareness of the inhumane treatment of those with disabilities, his legacy is described here. 

As an advocate of deinstitutionalization, he helped initiate community living programs and family support services. In his clinical work he emphasized the provision of education to children with severe disabilities, those whom he called “clinically homeless.” As a national leader in special education, he called for programs to integrate students with disabilities into public schools and worked to promote a more open society for them….

Here’s what to watch for and what we’ve already seen.

  • More unaccountable charter and private schools that exclude children with disabilities.
  • A reduction or end to IEP (Individual Educational Plan) or 504 plan meetings.
  • More charter and private schools lacking inclusion, e.g., Schools for Dyslexia, Autism, etc.
  • Vouchers that won’t cover the total cost of private school tuition.
  • Private schools that reject students with disabilities, especially those with more severe disabilities.
  • Fewer qualified special education teachers.
  • More unaccountable homeschools.
  • The threat of another eugenics movement.
  • Children with difficulties in the classroom being ignored because there are no special education services.
  • Unproven online programs or cyber schools known to fail.
  • An increase of religious schools and curriculum.
  • Abuse, as there will be less oversight, less teacher preparation, and more behavioral difficulties.
  • Children sent home or expelled from school for acting out and not following rules.
  • A return of badly run state institutions with little oversight.

For many who remember 1975 and the beginning of Public Law 94-142, who fought for children with disabilities to be served in their public schools, ending the All Handicapped Children Act —now IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) —is a bitter pill.

How will America turn this around? There doesn’t seem to be any silver lining at this time. The best hope is for a new President who makes education, public schools, and special education a priority.

Categories Education Reform
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