Archives for category: Betsy DeVos
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Oakland: Jitu Brown and I Will Discuss the DeVos Privatization Agenda

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2017 //
15

On Friday, October 13, join The Network for Public Education Action and KPFA radio for a critical conversation between Network for Public Education (NPE) President, Diane Ravitch and Network for Public Education (NPE) Action Board Member, Jitu Brown.

Diane Ravitch is the author of eleven books on education, including the best-selling Death and Life of the Great American School System, which sparked national resistance to corporate and market-based education “reform.” In addition to serving as President of NPE and NPE Action, Diane is a Research Professor at New York University and a historian of education.

Jitu Brown is a long-time community organizer born on Chicago’s south side. He is a product of Chicago’s public school system and a proud parent and husband. Jitu started volunteering for the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), the oldest black-led organizing community based organization in Chicago in 1991.

In his role as National Director for J4J, he leads an alliance of grassroots community, youth, and parent-led organizations in 23 cities across the country that demand community-driven alternatives to the privatization of and dismantling of public school systems. He has brought great energy and focus to the connection between the attacks on public education and the disempowerment of African American communities all across the country.

He was one of 12 parents, grandparents and community members who put their bodies on the line in a 34-day long hunger strike to save Walter H. Dyett High School in Chicago, the last open enrollment High School in the historic Bronzeville community.

Jitu and Diane will discuss U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ continued attempt to dismantle and corporatize America’s public education system and the #WeChoose campaign, a national coalition composed of powerful education justice organizations. The #WeChoose campaign includes: Network for Public Education, BadAss Teachers Association, Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, The Advancement Project, the Education Justice Network, Alliance for Education, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, Dignity in Schools, Save Our Schools, Institute for Democratic Education in America and Journey for Justice Alliance, whose combined membership represents millions of Americans. Campaign members are joining forces to hold Congress and the Administration accountable in the upcoming education budget hearings.

Ravitch+Brown in Oakland-2

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Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Networkfor Public Education Action Fund, Privatization, School Choice, Vouchers

Betsy Visits McMinnville, Oregon, Today; Parents Unhappy

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2017 //
9

Betsy DeVos is visiting McMinnville High zschool in Oregon today. The parents are not happy about it. They love their public school. They are afraid that Betsy doesn’t. They are right. Betsy thinks their kids should go to charters or religious schools, even lousy virtual charters. Even if only a small percentage should leave, their high school will have to lay off teachers, close down programs, cut the arts.

Bad deal.

She should listen to the parents.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Funding, Oregon

Paul Krugman: Virginia Governor Race is Now the Most Important Race in the Nation

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
30

Paul Krugman has an ominous article about the Governor’s race in Virginia.

Dr. Ralph Northam, who is Lt. Governor, is running against GOP operative, Ed Gillespie, who is running as a white nationalist candidate.

Krugman writes:

Ed Gillespie, the G.O.P. candidate, is trying to pull off an upset by going full-on Trumpist, doing all he can — with assistance from the tweeter in chief — to mobilize the white nationalist vote. He’s accusing Ralph Northam, his Democratic opponent, of dishonoring the state’s Confederate heroes. (Funny how people who accuse their rivals of being unpatriotic worship men who engaged in armed rebellion against the United States.) He’s not only accused Northam of being soft on illegal immigration, but he’s insinuated that this somehow makes him an ally of a violent Central American gang.

These cynical ploys probably won’t change many minds in a state that disapproves strongly of Trump and all his works. But they might mobilize enough angry white voters to swing the election if Democrats don’t come out in equal force.

Whatever happens in Virginia, the consequences will be huge. If Gillespie pulls this off, all the worst impulses of the Trumpist G.O.P. will be empowered; you might think that things can’t get even worse, but yes, they can…

Folks, right now this is where the action is: Virginia is now the most important place on the U.S. political landscape — and what happens there could decide the fate of the nation.

Dr. Northam is a strong supporter of public schools. He is a graduate of Virginia’s public schools.

I just sent him a contribution. I hope you will too.

Betsy DeVos and family gave $100,000 to Gillespie to keep white nationalism strong. Don’t let them win.

You can also help flip the Virginia legislature from red to blue by supporting these 9 candidates with one gift.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Virginia

Ohio: 9 Out of 10 Score Worse Than Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
6

Stephen Dyer, senior fellow at Innovation Ohio, writes that Ohio’s public schools overwhelmingly outperform its charter schools.

“Under Ohio law, school districts that score in the bottom 5 percent on the state’s “performance index score” are elligible to have charter schools open in those communities. Trouble is that 9 out of 10 charters currently score worse on the performance index score than the median district did to receive this “challenged school district” designation. http://bit.ly/2ybBV2b”

Calling Betsy DeVos! I know you are “not a numbers person,” but please don’t push failure.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Ohio, Testing

Minnesota: Abundance of Choice Destabilizes Neighborhood Schools and Produces High Levels of Segregation

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
11

This story about Minnesota shows the good and the bad effects of school choice.

Betsy DeVos will read it with pleasure. She can now point to Minnesota as an exemplar of school choice, one that fulfills her goals.

Those who care about democratically controlled public schools that have civic obligations, such as diversity, will see it as a nightmare.

The charter schools of Minneapolis are highly segregated and proud of it. The most popular charter school is almost completely Asian. Other charters are almost completely black or overwhelmingly white.

Remember the Brown decision of 1954? Minnesota doesn’t.

The proliferation of charters has forced public schools to cut their budgets, their programs, their staff.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Privatization, Segregation

Virginia: DeVos Funds Republican Candidate in Governor’s Race

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
18

In Virginia, the governor’s race will determine the future of public schools in the Commonwealth. Teachers unions are supporting Dr. Northam, who is currently Lt. Governor and also a pediatrician. Dr. Northam is a graduate of public schools in Virginia. The unions spend their members’ dues, the dues of people who work in classrooms daily. The billionaire DeVos family has spent money for Gillespie, a Republican operative and lobbyist with no experience in education or elected office.

“The Democratic Candidate Dr. Ralph Northam is a strong supporter of public schools. His opponent Ed Gillespie wants to introduce school choice with privately managed charters and public funding of religious schools.

“The outcome of Virginia’s race for governor, the country’s marquee statewide election this year, will have widespread significance for the state’s roughly 1.29 million schoolchildren, political observers and education experts say.

“The governor’s race matters a whole lot for what public education will look like in Virginia in the days ahead,” said Sally Hudson, an assistant professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Virginia.

“The contest pits Republican Ed Gillespie, who has received more than $100,000 in donations from the family of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, against Democrat Ralph Northam, who has accepted at least $465,000 from teachers unions.

“Gillespie and Northam both want to boost teacher pay — Virginia ranks 32nd in the nation in that category — support more workforce training and rework the state’s Standards of Learning tests, a measure for school accountability and student achievement.

“But they diverge sharply when it comes to public charter schools and using tax dollars to help parents pay tuition at private schools.

“Gillespie wants to expand the state’s charter schools beyond the eight in operation. As a state senator Northam voted against loosening restrictions that govern the establishment of charter schools, and as a candidate for governor he has advocated investing in traditional public schools.”

When Betsy DeVos says she wants to leave decisions to the states, she forgets to mention that she is trying to buy control of States that have not yet turned red.

The good news: Dr. Northam is leading in the polls. Virginia parents are alert to the threat to their public schools.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, School Choice, Virginia

Sex, Booze, and Death in America’s Frat Houses

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
17

If you want to know the meaning of Betsy DeVos’ indifference to sexual assaults on campus, you should read John Hechinger’s engrossing book TRUE GENTLEMEN: THE BROKEN PLEDGE OF AMERICA’S FRATERNITIES.

It was reviewed in the Washington Post by T. Rees Shapiro, who wrote:

“Here is how Hechinger details one young woman’s experience inside an SAE house in the fall of 2014 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she found herself on a dingy bathroom floor littered with beer cans. “The man pushed her head down and forced her to perform oral sex and, then, intercourse, leaving her raw and bleeding inside. But it wasn’t over yet,” Hechinger writes, continuing the account using the woman’s real name with her permission. “The second man took his turn, forcing Gabriela to perform fellatio.” The encounter ended with a third man entering the bathroom and finding the young woman helpless, Hechinger writes. A savior he was not. “Gabriela was slumped on the floor of the shower, leaning against a wall, her leggings stained with semen, her shirt pulled up over her shoulders,” Hechinger writes. “ ‘Button up your shirt,’ he told her. Afterward, he urinated and left her on the floor, scared and alone.”

“Interestingly, the men who assaulted Gabriela were not members of the fraternity, Hechinger notes, questioning whether SAE acted negligently in allowing conditions for such a brutal attack to transpire amid a party at an SAE house.”

Hechinger writes that between 2011 and 2016, sexual assaults took place at 15 SAE houses out of 230 across the country. Insurance companies, Hechinger notes, “have rated fraternities just above toxic-waste dumps because of claims related to drinking, hazing, and sexual assault.”

Would Gabriela have been able to find witnesses to back up her complaint of sexual assault?

Categories Betsy DeVos, Higher Education

The Resistance Acts at ED Building! Must See

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2017 //
7

Watch this great video!!

Categories Betsy DeVos, Resistance, Supporting public schools, U.S. Department of Education

Mercedes Schneider Gets Out the World’s Smallest Violin for Corporate Reformers Who Object to “Backpack Full of Cash”

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2017 //
22

Mercedes Schneider was interviewed for the documentary “Backpack Full of Cash.” At the time, the filmmakers did not have a title, and they called it “School Reform.” At their request, Mercedes signed a release to allow them to use her words and image in the film. The form is enclosed.

The filmmakers interviewed many other people, including Jeanne Allen, the director of the Center for Education Reform, which is virulently opposed to public schools. Before Jeanne founded the CER to advocate for choice, she worked for the far-right Heritage Foundation. She was among the first of the privatizers who saw the value of using the word “Reform” instead of the Center to Destroy Public zschools.

Allen didn’t like the documentary at all, because it did not praise her efforts to privatize public funding. She also doesn’t like that the filmmakers used her words, quite literally, as the title of the film.

Strangest of all is her complaint that the privatizers are vastly outspent by the unions. She says,

“The teachers unions spend $300 million a year on political races. We don’t have that kind of money.”

Bring out the world’s smallest violin.

The privatization movement is funded by a pack of multibillionaires, any one of which could outspend the unions.

Start with the Waltons, whose net worth is near $50 Billion. Aside from their contributions to political campaigns, they currently are spending $200 Million a year to open new charter schools. Then there is Billionaire Reed Hastings, who recently dropped about $5 Million into the Los Angeles school board race. Then there are Democrats for Education zreform, which pools the money of scores of hedge fund managers. Add billionaire Daniel Loeb, billionaire John Paulson, billionaire Eli Broad, billionaire Joel Greenlight, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, bilionaire Daniel Tepper, billionaire Rex Sinquefield, billionaire Betsy DeVos, billionaire Bill Gates, billionaire Philip Anschutz, billionaire Jonathan Sackler, billionaire JOHN Arnold, and many many more, all of whom have contributed to political campaigns to expand and benefit the privatization movement.

Teachers unions collect money from the dues of their underpaid members. They have skin in the game. Why are billionaires so passionate about defunding public schools?

A reader looked over the list of contributors to the Center for Education Reform. No teachers union has this many rich people contributing to its coffers.

The Achelis and Bodman Foundations
The Anschutz Foundation
The Apgar Foundation
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Bakke
Mr. Tim Barton
Mr. Brian Bauer
The Honorable and Mrs. Frank Baxter
The BelleJAR Foundation
The Blackie Foundation
The Bonsal Family
Ms. Katherine Brittain Bradley
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
The Broad Foundation
Mr. Eric Brooks
Mr. S. Joseph Bruno and Building Hope
Mr. Kevin Chavous
Ms. Kara Cheseby
The Ravenel and Elizabeth Curry Foundation
The Daniels Fund
Mr. Angus Davis
Mr. Kenneth Davis
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Devereux
Mr. Philip H. Dietrich
The Honorable and Mrs. Pete DuPont
Mr. and Mrs. Terry Eakin III
Mr. John C. Eason
Mr. William S. Edgerly
The Doris and Donald Fisher Fund
Mr. and Mrs. John Fisher
Mrs. Maureen Foulke
Mr. Robert W. Garthwait
Mr. Randy P. Gaschler
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Mr. Philip E. Geiger
The Gleason Family Foundation
Dr. Charles J. Gorman
Mr. Jon Hage
Mr. John P. Hansel
Admiral Thomas B. Hayward
The Honorable Thomas J. Healey
The Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Foundation
The Christopher and Adrianna Henkels Charitable Fund
Mr. Donald Hense
Mr. Robert M. Howitt
Ms. Virginia James
Bob and Lynn Johnston
The Dodge Jones Foundation
Mr. William I. Jones
Mr. Melvin J. Kaplan
Mr. Robert D. Kennedy
The Kern Foundation
Mr. Norman V. Kinsey
Mr. Steven Klinsky
The Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation
Mr. Byron S. Lamm
Mr. Bob Luddy
Mrs. Maryann Mathile
Mr. Thomas McNamara
Mr. Anthony Meyer
The L & S Milken Family Foundation
Greg and Pam Miller
Mr. Michael Moe
Mr. and Mrs. Owen Moen
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Moore
Mr. Gene E. Nicholson
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Oberndorf
Mr. Dennis Odle
Dr. Vivian Pan
Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Peabody
The Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation
The Pumpkin Foundation
The Honorable William J. Raggio
Mr. James S. Regan
Ms. Janice B. Riddell
Mr. Geoffrey Rosenberger, CFA
SABIS Educational Systems, Inc.
Michael and Ellen Sandler
Mr. Daniel P. Schmidt
Mr. Adam Shapiro
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Sills
The William E. Simon Foundation
Ms. Shirley Sontheimer
The Smart Family Foundation
The Honorable H. Cooper Snyder
Mr. and Mrs. William B. Snyder
Mr. John R. Stambaugh
The John Templeton Foundation
Mr. Whitney Tilson
The Walton Family Foundation
Mr. Robert M. Weekley
The Honorable and Mrs. Ronald Weiser
Mr. Helmut Weymar
Mr. Chris Whittle
Jeff and Janine Yass
Ms. Marykay Zimbrick

And Jeanne Allen complains that her side is outspent by the teachers union!

Cry me a river!

How about a deal: Her side agrees to spend not a penny more than the teachers unions on political campaigns and advocacy?

Deal?

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, Privatization, School Choice, Vouchers

DeVos’ Puppet in Michigan Gives OK to Closing More Public Schools in Detroit

By dianeravitch
October 8, 2017 //
10

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is a wholly owned subsidiary of the DeVos family. They have given him about $140,000. That’s real friendship. Now he is running for Governor of Michigan, to lock in the damage that rightwingers have inflicted on what was once a union-friendly State but is now completely controlled by the Greed Industry. Trump has already endorsed Schuette.

Schuette just released a ruling that will please Billionaire Betsy DeVos. No surprise. He decided that it is okay to keep privatizing the public schools of Detroit. It doesn’t matter that the charter sector in Detroit has not performed better than the struggling public s hoops. Detroit may be the next New Orleans, a playground for TFA and charter entrepreneurs.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Detroit, Education Industry, Education Reform, Michigan, Privatization
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