Archives for category: Betsy DeVos

This is a very alarming story about a conservative Christian group funded by Betsy DeVos called the “Student Statesmanship Institute.” Open the story to see the video.

A conservative Christian group with ties to Donald Trump education pick Betsy DeVos once released a promotional video that proudly featured a speaker describing how Adolf Hitler and others indoctrinated children.

The undated video by the Student Statesmanship Institute ― which trains Christian kids to bring their “biblical worldview” to politics and media careers ― opens with a speech by Michigan leader Richard Posthumus, who describes how Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin used children to spread their message.

“Sometimes, it seems like it’s very hard to change the world, the world is so big,” Posthumus says in the video, over a dramatic soundtrack. “But what SSI has done is equip young people with the tools to go out and be ready for the competing ideas that’s in this world.”

The video immediately cuts to another comment.

“Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin: They knew one thing, that to change a culture, to change a country, they had to reach the children,” he says.

It’s not clear how Posthumus prefaced those remarks. But the words are included in a montage of SSI’s “favorite and most inspirational moments over the last 20 years,” according to the clip’s YouTube description.”

Categories Betsy DeVos

Franken: No Democrat Will Vote for DeVos

By dianeravitch

January 27, 2017 //

To stop the confirmation of Betsy DeVos, Democrats must find three Republicans to join them in opposition. Senator Al Franken said that no Democrat would vote for her.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/27/opposition-devos-swells-hope-her-rejection-builds

Priceless comment by Indiana Republican:

“A group of Indiana teachers on Thursday held a sit-in at the office of Sen. Ted Young, a Republican who received donations from the DeVos family, who are heirs to the Amway fortune.

“Why would she pay so much, with so much desire to have this job if she were unqualified for it?” they asked.”

Meanwhile Senate phone lines are jammed with anti-DeVos phone calls.

https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/administration/316321-anti-devos-calls-jam-senate-phone-lines%3Famp?client=safari

Categories Betsy DeVos

Nearly 3,000 Calvin College Students and Alumni Oppose DeVos

By dianeravitch

January 27, 2017 //

Mercedes Schneider reposts a press release announcing that more than 2,750 students and alumni of Calvin College–Betsy DeVos’s alma mater–have signed a letter opposing her nomination as Secretary of Education.

The letter gives the reasons and lists the names.

Categories Betsy DeVos

Senators Flooded with Anti-DeVos Calls, But GOP Senators Holding Firm Behind Incompetent Nominee

By dianeravitch

January 26, 2017 //

Politico reports that Betsy DeVos is the single most unpopular Cabinet choice made by Trump, as judged by the numbers of calls and emails coming to senators.

It appears that all the Democratic members of the Senate HELP committee will vote against her, but so far every Republican is falling into line, despite her abysmal performance at her sole hearing. DeVos showed the public that she was uninformed, knew nothing about federal law, thought that federal protection for students with disabilities was optional (it is not), and displayed complete ignorance about higher education.

Despite all that, the hundreds of millions she has donated to Republicans may be enough to get her confirmed.

In an era when morality and ethics have evaporated, this makes sense. It compromises the credibility of everyone who votes for her and shows how little they care for the education of our children.

Categories Betsy DeVos

Fred Smith: Edwin Arlington Robinson, Meet Betsy DeVos

By dianeravitch

January 26, 2017 //

Fred Smith, professional testing expert and amateur poet, sent the following thoughts on Betsy DeVos (I too read “Richard Cory” when I attended San Jacinto High School in Houston, taught by my favorite teacher, Mrs. Ratliff):

Apologies to Edwin Arlington Robinson. Something about Betsy DeVos reminded me of “Richard Cory.” Robinson’s poetry was opened to us when we were boys in the Bronx at De Witt Clinton High School by my favorite teacher, Mr. McConnell.
Betsy DeVos

Whenever Betsy DeVos came to town,
We ordinary people felt her eyes:
A golden god-blessed woman of renown,
Bejeweled, dressed in wealth beyond all size.

For riches were the robes she always wore,
And we mere humble always feared to delve
Too deeply ‘neath the smile and crown she bore,
Whose mission was to save us from ourselves.

We did not know what darkness might belie
Such crafted goodness she put on display;
How many she had buried or could buy,
When anybody dared stand in her way.

And one day, as if queens could know the poor,
When asked what she would do to lift all schools,
She deigned not say, but that cold smile we saw
Said “One thing I know: Money sets the rules.”

~fred

Categories Betsy DeVos, Billionaires

An Interview with Julian Vasquez Heilig: Charter Schools Don’t Serve Black Children Well

By dianeravitch

January 26, 2017 //

Joan Richardson of Phi Delta Kappan interviews scholar Julian Vasquez Heilig about opposition to charter schools by the NAACP and other civil rights groups.

He explains that the Trump administration will try to destroy public education:

With a Trump administration, this (NAACP) resolution has more importance than ever before because he’s said that he’s going to pump billions of dollars into charter schools and vouchers, which are really partner market-based school choice approaches.

It’s also important because DeVos’s view of what a charter school means is antithetical to what many “education reformers” support. Trump is supporting forms of parent choice and privatization that are beyond what even the Democratic education “reformers” have been supporting. So it remains to be seen if the reformers move toward Trump or if they continue with their argument that there are some good charters but that these other forms of market-based choice are not desirable.

Charters have not satiated the privatization and private-control proponents. In fact, it has become readily apparent that charter schools were just the initiation of the conversation for private control and privatization in other forms such as vouchers.

Trump’s election may turn the tide in favor of private control and privatization of public education. Donald Trump promised in the campaign that his administration would pass the School Choice and Education Opportunity Act and perhaps spend billions on school choice in the first 100 days. So while the NAACP and many in the civil rights community may be supporting community-based, democratically controlled education, the bully pulpit of the presidency may enforce a new era of private control and privatization of the public education system.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization, Vouchers

Jeff Bryant: The Big Charter School “Accountabilty” Lie

By dianeravitch

January 25, 2017 //

Jeff Bryant writes here that Betsy Dezvos lied (or used “alternative facts”) when explaining her supposed views about accountability to the Senate HELP committee.

http://educationopportunitynetwork.org/new-reports-reveal-the-big-charter-school-accountability-lie/

Not only did she offer alternative “facts” (lies) about her own views on school accountability, but the actual fact is that charter school “accountability ” is an illusion, a falsehood, a lie.

Michigan and Florida–Jeb Bush’s protectorate–are leading exemplars of no-accountability charters.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools

Bill Boyle: Betsy DeVos and the Problem of Institutional Racism

By dianeravitch

January 25, 2017 //

Bill Boyle notices a fact that has been obvious to everyone except corporate reformers for the past 15 years: almost every school that is labeled “failing” enrolls mostly children of color. In Michigan, the home state of Betsy DeVos, every community that is targeted for state takeover and for an emergency manager is majority people of color. Corporate reformers look at schools with low test scores, and they see dollar signs, not children with unmet needs. At present, 38 schools in Michigan have been declared “failing schools.” They are slated for closure. This was surprising to hear, because when I participated in a four-way debate last week with Matt Frendewey of DeVos’s American Federation for Children on NPR, he insisted that public schools are never closed in Detroit or Michigan, only charter schools. Twenty-four of the 38 schools slated for closure are in Detroit.

Bill Boyle writes:

“Let’s be clear and name this- Betsy DeVos is a huge proponent of institutional racism.

“How do you spot institutional racism? It’s pretty easy.

“First, here is what you don’t do. You don’t go looking for individual racists. I honestly don’t know DeVos’s personal ideas on race. I am certainly not naming her as a racist. Her intentions are beyond by my ability to determine. More so I don’t see her personal intentions as particularly relevant. (The same goes for Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions. Who cares if those who know him claim he’s a nice guy? See below.)

“What is relevant are the effects and outcomes of the policies that she supports. These are very, very easy to determine. And they clearly support institutionalized racism.

“It goes without question that DeVos has supported the narrative of “failing schools” and that she has funded it. In the state of Michigan this has led to a number of weird policies (the ability of the SRO to close schools being only one) that have become institutionalized through the financial backing and political influence of DeVos. (As an excellent example of how DeVos exerts pressure, see here.)

“So let’s dig a little deeper.

“What do these 38 schools on the SRO closing list have in common? They are in areas of high concentrations of poverty, and high populations of African American students. This is called a “disproportional outcome,” one that has a disproportionate effect on a particular group of people. In this case, we are talking about poor Black communities. Poor Black communities are having their schools taken from them. Poor Black communities are having their schools being named as failures, which allows us to avoid considering the racialized economic conditions that actually led to these communities having high concentrations of Black students who also tend to be struggling with poverty. Schools are being named as failures while hiding the fact that those in power have failed those communities.

“It is shameful.

“And it is, by definition, institutionalized racism.

“Maybe we should ask, does closing schools work?

“The answer is yes if your goal is to continue to steal resources from those most in need of them.

“The answer is no if you are hoping to support these communities.

“Hell no.

“Not even close.

“As an example, Muskegon Heights public school district was completely charterized as a result of the having been overtaken by emergency management in 2012. The whole district was given to a private company to run as a charter district. In 2014, that company left in the middle of the school year because the profit wasn’t what projections hoped for. It remains charterized.

“And it is now is on the closure list.

“Oh well.

“Muskegon Heights district is 95.6% Black with a poverty rate of 61.7%. Hmm…”

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers, Michigan, Racism

Hundreds of Calvin College Students and Alumni Speak Out Against Betsy DeVos

By dianeravitch

January 25, 2017 //

Betsy DeVos is a graduate of Calvin College, a small Christian college in Michigan. Hundreds of students and alumni signed a letter opposing her nomination for Secretary of Education.

It is a thoughtful letter. I hope she reads it. I hope the U.S. Senate reads it. I visited Calvin College and lectured there about 10 years ago. I was very impressed by the kindness and goodness of those I met. Now I remember why.

The letter expressed these concerns, which I share:

1) While many of us were inspired by our time at Calvin College to make education a professional commitment, Mrs. DeVos was not. She has never worked in any educational institution as an administrator, nor as an educator. If the position of the Secretary of Education requires the individual to have an intimate knowledge of the tools used by educators, which we believe it does, Mrs. DeVos does not qualify.
2) Many of us entered Calvin College directly from Christian high schools and spent our entire elementary and secondary school years in these institutions, as did Mrs. DeVos. While we appreciate the opportunity to thrive and learn that is provided by these educational systems, we recognize that the vast majority of K–12 students are educated in the public school system. Because of this, we believe that any individual who is nominated to be Secretary of Education should have a strong commitment to public education, which Mrs. DeVos does not.
3) We believe that Mrs. DeVos’s commitment to education is limited to her advocacy of and financial contributions to religious and charter schools. Having the financial resources to promote one’s ideological point of view and endorse elected officials who share that ideology is not equivalent to the preparation that comes from being an educator or educational administrator.
4) Finally, in the first day of her confirmation hearing, Mrs. DeVos indicated a lack of support for federal policies regarding educational systems that receive public funding. This is especially concerning given that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title IX, which ensure that all students’ educational experiences are free of discrimination that impedes learning, are not of value to Mrs. DeVos.

Our undergraduate education prepared us to be engaged and informed citizens who support public servants who seek to serve effectively and competently. This is precisely why we oppose the nomination of our fellow alumna, Betsy DeVos, for the position of United States Secretary of Education.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Privatization, Religion, School Choice, Separation of church and state