Archives for category: U.S. Department of Education
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Betsy DeVos: “Cut My Department’s Budget, Please!”

By dianeravitch
April 8, 2019 //
23

 

Usually, members of the President’s Cabinet go before Congress to defend their department’s budget and to explain the good works the department is doing.

Not Secretary DeVos! She went to a Congressional heading to ask the Appropriations Committee to cut her budget.

Much has been made of her plea to zero out federal support for the Special Olympics, which backfired. Not only were the families of 272,000 participants offended but so were the families of many millions of people with disabilities. Trump quickly res indeed the cut, which was a tiny sliver of the ED budget, equivalent to six weekend trips to Mar-a-Lago by Trump.

Many more programs were jeopardized, as Denis Smith writes here.

“In her testimony before the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday, Betsy DeVos, the anti-public education Secretary of Education, was present to defend $7 billion in proposed cuts to her department. The cuts in the education budget are seen as measures to offset billions in lost revenue from tax breaks for the wealthy that have exploded the federal deficit.

“An examination of Trump’s FY2020 budget shows that the administration is asking to cut the Department of Education’s funding from $71 billion to $64 billion, eliminating 29 programs. In addition to zeroing out popular and proven programs like Special Olympics, which has garnered strong support during its 50-year existence, Pell Grants for higher education tuition assistance, literacy and after-school programs would also be adversely affected by new budget statements.

“Broadcast and print media were all over the story about a cabinet secretary who was as heartless as Genghis Kahn in laying waste to her department’s budget so that money could be freed up for other purposes. The one area that stood out the most was the elimination of $18 million in federal funds for Special Olympics and the added support the program provides for students with special needs….

”The Secretary’s propensity for cluelessness is seen in defending a budget that harms so many children with program cuts yet reserves a huge amount of public funds for charter schools, many of which are run by for-profit management companies. Her advocacy for increased funding for charter schools at a time when massive cuts are proposed for children with special needs is appalling, and when the Department of Education’s own inspector general examined the efficacy of the Charter Schools Program for state education agencies, where federal start-up grant funds are available to establish new charter schools…

”If there was any value in the Education Subcommittee hearing, it is that all should know without any doubt where the priorities of Republicans are in the area of education. Forget about kids and learning. Forget about being civic-minded and making investments in the community through public education. Instead, profit must be the result. In this model promoted by Republican budget priorities, students come in third behind profit/shareholder value and executive compensation for the for-profit school leaders. In this alternative universe, it’s all about people who look at market activity and portfolios and concern themselves with calculating yield on investment.”

The bottom line: Greed is good.

Fortunately, the Democrats who control the Appropriations Committee will not approve any of DeVos’s proposed cuts. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut is chair of the Education subcommittee. She questioned DeVos closely. DeVos will not get anything past DeLauro, a champion for children and public schools.

 

Categories Betsy DeVos, Budget Cuts, Education Reform, U.S. Department of Education

Bombshell Report: Congress Wastes Nearly $1 Billion on Defunct Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
March 26, 2019 //
23

 

The Network for Public Education released a shocking report about waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal charter school program. 

This year, Congress handed out $440 million to charter schools, many of which will never open or quickly close. Trump and DeVos want to increase the annual sum to $500 million.

The Washington Post covered the findings. Valerie Strauss writes:

”The U.S. government has wasted up to $1 billion on charter schools that never opened, or opened and then closed because of mismanagement and other reasons, according to a report from an education advocacy group. The study also says the U.S. Education Department does not adequately monitor how its grant money is spent.

“The report, titled “Asleep at the Wheel” and issued by the nonprofit advocacy group Network for Public Education, says:

  • More than 1,000 grants were given to schools that never opened, or later closed because of mismanagement, poor performance, lack of enrollment or fraud. “Of the schools awarded grants directlyfrom the department between 2009 and 2016, nearly one in four either never opened or shut its doors,” it says.
  • Some grants in the 25-year-old federal Charter School Program (CSP) have been awarded to charters that set barriers to enrollment of certain students. Thirty-four California charter schools that received grants appear on an American Civil Liberties Union list of charters “that discriminate — in some cases illegally — in admissions.”
  • The department’s grant approval process for charters has been sorely lacking, with “no attempt to verify the information presented” by applicants.
  • The Education Department in Republican and Democratic administrations has “largely ignored or not sufficiently addressed” recommendations to improve the program made by its own inspector general.

“Our investigation finds the U.S. Department of Education has not been a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars in its management of the CSP,” it says.”

Carol Burris, executive director of NPE, is briefing key members of Congress today about this wasteful program.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Fraud, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

Trump Budget Would Cut Education Programs by 10%, While Expanding $$ for Vouchers, Charters

By dianeravitch
March 12, 2019 //
19

Education Week describes Trump’s proposed cuts for programs in the U.S. Department of Education. Trump proposes eliminating 29 federal education programs while maintaining level funding for Title 1 and Special Education. The key quote in this article is the one from Secretary DeVos, who says the budget is about “education freedom,” by which she means, “So long, you are on your own, don’t expect the feds to help you.” The administration proposes $5 billion for vouchers and an increase in the federal charter school program to $500 million. It is not clear why the federal government needs to spend any money to start charter schools, since this project is now well covered by the Waltons, the Koch brothers, the DeVos family foundations, Michael Bloomberg, the Broad Foundation, the Dell Foundation, the Arnold Foundation, the Fisher Family Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the NewSchools Venture, the Charter School Growth Fund, and others too numerous to mention.

 

President Donald Trump is seeking a 10 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Education’s budget in his fiscal 2020 budget proposal, which would cut the department’s spending by $7.1 billion down to $64 billion starting in October.

Funding for teacher development under Title II, totaling $2.1 billion, would be eliminated, as would $1.2 billion in Title IV funding for academic supports and enrichment and $1.1 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers that support after-school programs. In total, funding for 29 programs would be eliminated in the federal budget. 

On the other side of the ledger, Trump’s budget blueprint calls for $500 million for federal charter school grants, a $60 million increase from current funding levels. The president also wants $200 million for the School Safety National Activities program, which would more than double the program’s $95 million in current funding—of that amount, $100 million would be used to fund a new School Safety State Formula Grant program. There are no requirements for the grant program related to firearms, according to the Education Department. And the office for civil rights would get $125 million, the same as current funding.

On the school choice front, the department says its main proposal has already been introduced: a federal tax-credit scholarship program from Republicans. The Treasury Department’s budget proposal includes $5 billion for the cost of such a program. 

Meanwhile, the Education Innovation and Research fund would be funded at $300 million, a $170 million increase from fiscal 2019. Of that amount, $200 million would “test the impact of teacher professional development vouchers,” according to a presentation from the Education Department, while $100 million would go toward innovative STEM grants. In addition, the Trump budget would provide $50 million for a pilot program under Title I to help districts create and use weighted student-funding formulas—this pilot program was created under the Every Student Succeeds Actin order to help schools focus money directly on disadvantaged students and those with special needs. Funding for the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarships Program, which provides vouchers to students in the nation’s capital, would increase to $30 million. 

Title I funding for disadvantaged students, the single-largest federal funding program for public schools, remains flat at $15.9 billion in Trump’s budget pitch. Special education grants to states would also be level-funded at $13.2 billion. Also flat-funded are the English Language Acquisition formula grants at $737.4 million. 

“This budget at its core is about education freedom—freedom for America’s students to pursue their life-long learning journeys in the ways and places that work best for them, freedom for teachers to develop their talents and pursue their passions, and freedom from the top-down ‘Washington knows best’ approach that has proven ineffective and even harmful to students,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in a statement about the budget proposal.

On a Monday conference call with reporters, Jim Blew, the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development, acknowledged that Congress and the Trump administration have not been synced up in terms of education spending priorities. 

“The administration believes that we need to reduce the amount of discretionary funding for the education,” Blew said. “That is based on the desire to have some fiscal discipline and address some higher-priority needs.”

Blew indicated that the priorities should be the disadvantaged children and students with disabilities. 

For more details on Trump’s fiscal 2020 proposal for the Education Department, click here. And check out our chart below to see the effects Trump’s budget request would have on different programs.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education, Vouchers

Jan Resseger: The Real Reason DeVos Tried to Fire the U.S. Department of Education Inspector General

By dianeravitch
February 24, 2019 //
11

The Inspector General in every federal department is supposed to be an independent watchdog, a maintainer of high ethical standards and legal propriety.

Betsy DeVos tried to fire the ED Inspector General, and it didn’t go well.

Jan Resseger explains what happened here.

Now, however, it turns out that DeVos’s motive for trying to fire Sandra Bruce was far more suspicious than just an attempt to hire someone who would protect the pet projects of the Department. It looks as though DeVos tried to fire Sandra Bruce because, as part of her job as Inspector General, Bruce was investigating DeVos’s reinstatement last November of Departmental approval for a shady accrediting agency of for-profit colleges, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). Late in 2015, The Obama Department of Education had removed approval of ACICS as a federal accreditor of for-profit colleges.

As usual, Resseger gets to the heart of the matter.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Ethics, For-Profit, U.S. Department of Education

Farewell to the Early Childhood Programs at U.S. Department of Education

By dianeravitch
February 7, 2019 //
17

 

 

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that a key policy post was given to a person who previously worked for the Walton Family Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. She came through Leadership for Educational Equity, which is TFA’s political training program. Vouchers for babies?

 

Meet the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s New Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs

Image removed by sender. Directors Laurie VanderPloeg and Annie HsiaoHello, Early Learning Leaders!

I am excited to introduce myself. I am Annie Hsiao, and I have joined the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) as the deputy assistant secretary for policy and programs. In this role I will provide leadership for OESE’s discretionary grants, including the early learning work and ED’s collaboration with the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to administer the new Preschool Development Grants — Birth through Five program.

Most recently, I was the senior advisor to the acting assistant attorney general of the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that position, I advised on policy, strategy, and programs in the division charged with awarding all of the agency’s grants, promoting crime reduction, and supporting victims of crime; as well as with public safety, rule of law, and juvenile justice reform. Prior to that, I was the director of strategic partnerships at Leadership for Educational Equity, a program manager at the Charles Koch Foundation, and a program officer at the Walton Family Foundation. I also served as the director of education policy at the American Action Forum, and, with an appointment from the George W. Bush administration, as the director of government and community relations at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

I am originally from California, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Asian American studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University.

OESE and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) look forward to continuing their partnership to promote positive learning experiences for our youngest learners!

During this busy time of the year, we hope you take time to check out some of the resources we are highlighting this month, including exciting work from the Early Learning Research network and a great opportunity from our colleagues at HHS for individuals interested in promoting developmental screenings to become an Act Early Ambassador.
Categories Billionaires, Childhood, Pre-K, K, Early Childhood Education, U.S. Department of Education, Walton Foundation

Federal Government Dishes Out Hundreds of Millions to Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2019 //
13

Just in case you thought that charter schools were very well funded by the Walton Family (the richest family in the world, at nearly $200 billion), the Koch brothers, the DeVos family, Reed Hastings, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, John Arnold, Philip Anschutz, and a slew of other billionaires, think again.

The U.S. Department of Education will award nearly $500 million to expand charter chains this year.

Here are the list of grantees, all of them already overflowing with private and state funding.

Why, you might ask, is the Department of Education (and Congress) funding already well-funded privately managed charter schools?

Why give this kind of money to schools that don’t need it, when there are so many underfunded public schools?

Ask the Republican party. Ask Betsy DeVos. Ask Arne Duncan. Ask Corey Booker. Ask Hakeem Jeffries.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

Randi Responds to Betsy’s Lies on FOX News

By dianeravitch
November 27, 2018 //
17

Oh, I can’t wait until the House of Representatives begins to question Secretary DeVos about her reversal of civil rights protections, her reversal of federal protections for students with debt incurred at fraudulent for-profit colleges, and her continued efforts to destroy the federal role in protecting students, whether in K-12 or higher education. Instead of protecting those in need, she protects predators. She is a very grizzly Secretary of Education.

She appeared on FOX News today for 10 minutes and attacked public education and teachers’ unions.

Randi Weingarten responded:

For Immediate Release
November 27, 2018

Contact:
Andrew Crook
607-280-6603
acrook@aft.org
http://www.aft.org

AFT’s Weingarten Responds to Betsy DeVos’ Lies on Fox News

WASHNGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos attacked teachers’ unions today on the Fox Business Network:

“Betsy DeVos is showing her true colors. We are fighting for the safe and welcoming public schools that kids deserve, healthcare protections so people aren’t one pre-existing condition away from bankruptcy, affordable college without life-burdening student debt, and decent wages. Since she is against all of that, Betsy is attacking the unions that create a voice for teachers to advocate on these issues. As secretary of education, it is her sworn duty to help kids and their communities reach their full potential. Comments like these do the opposite, and she knows it.”

Categories Betsy DeVos, Civil Rights, Student Financial Aid and Student Debt, U.S. Department of Education, Unions

James Harvey: What the Election Meant for Education in Various States

By dianeravitch
November 10, 2018 //
5

James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable, reports on the implications of the recent elections for education in many states. That organization is the opposite of the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, in that its members are certified superintendents, mostly from mid-size school districts.


Lost in the partisan noise around Tuesday’s midterm elections was a lot of school news. A former superintendent is ready to move into the Wisconsin governor’s mansion, initiatives in states across the nation will shape education moving forward, and the changing of the guard in the U.S. House of Representatives portends changes in committee makeup, leadership, and legislative emphases. Thanks to Politico, Education Week, and the Committee for Education Funding, we have early intelligence on some of these developments.

State-by-State News

Arizona: Voters refused to expand the state’s education savings account program, a voucher program that allows families to draw public funds to pay for private school tuition and other education-related expenses.

Alabama: Voters backed a referendum allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools and other public buildings.

Colorado: Voters refused to generate an additional $1.6 billion for K-12 education by raising corporate taxes and state income taxes for people earning $150,000 or more annually.

Connecticut: Jahana Hayes, 2016 National Teacher of the Year, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Oklahoma: Voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed school leaders to tap into funding typically reserved for school construction and use it in other ways such as for teacher salaries. Meanwhile, Melissa Provenzano, assistant principal at Bixby High School, and John Waldron, a social studies teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, won seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives .

Pennsylvania: Mary Gay Scanlon, who served on the Wallingford-Swarthmore school board in suburban Philadelphia from 2007-2015, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

South Carolina: Voters shot down a proposal to allow the governor to appoint the state superintendent of education. The position remains an elected office.

Wisconsin: Tony Evers, a former school superintendent in Oakfield, Verona, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, went on to be elected state superintendent of public instruction. On Tuesday, he beat incumbent Governor Scott Walker and is set to move into the governor’s mansion in January.

Teachers Seeking Office: Nationwide, NEA identified 1,800 teachers, retired teachers, and academics running for state legislative seats. There is, as yet, no comprehensive count of their success or failure.

Changing of the Guard in the House of Representatives

Insider’s Baseball: The new Congressional makeup means that ratios of CEF Logo Democrats and Republicans on committees in the House and Senate must be revised for the 116th Congress, which convenes in January. House committees will add Democratic slots (and staff) and lose Republican slots (and staff). The reverse will be true in the Senate. Precise ratios await final vote results.

Likely Key New House Committee Leaders:

Rep. Bobby Scott (Va) — Committee on Education and the Workforce, which will probably reclaim its traditional title of Committee on Education and Labor

Rep. Nita Lowey (NY) — Committee on Appropriations (jurisdiction over tax treatment of private school tuition)

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT) — Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education

New Legislative Emphases

Analysts downplay the chances of major new legislation. House Democrats, however, have outlined their legislative priorities. These include a number of education initiatives to be paid for by revising the tax cuts enacted in the 115th Congress:

Making good on the pledge the Federal government first made in 1975 to pay for 40 percent of the excess costs of educating students with disabilities

$50 billion for K-12 school infrastructure and resources

$50 billion over ten years to increase teacher compensation and to recruit and retain a diverse workforce

$107 billion in combined federal, state, and local resources to invest in physical and digital school infrastructure, creating 1.9 million jobs.

Increasing support for Title I schools

Reauthorizing IDEA and the Higher Education Act

More vigorous oversight of the Department of Education and its regulatory actions.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Funding, Politics, U.S. Department of Education

Disgrace in San Antonio as Charter Vultures Destroy Public Education

By dianeravitch
October 22, 2018 //
27

This article by Tom Ultican tells the sordid story of rich elites who have cynically decided to destroy public education in San Antonio.

They have cumulatively raised at least $200 million to attract charter operators to San Antonio, a figure which includes funding by the U.S. Department of Education and local plutocrats. The lead figure is a very wealthy woman named Victoria Rico, who sits on the boards of multiple charter chains. Rico and her friends have decided to re-engineer and privatize public education in San Antonio. Rico is working closely with Dan Patrick, the State’s lieutenant governor, who loves vouchers, hates public schools, and was the Rush Limbaugh of Texas before winning election to the State Senate.

Was there a vote taken in San Antonio? No. Was the public asked whether they wanted to abandon public education? Of course not. The titans don’t believe in democracy. They know what’s best for other people’s children.

They have hired a superintendent, Pedro Martinez, who was “trained” by the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, which encourages school closures, privatization, and top-down management. Martinez has worked in school districts but was never a teacher or a principal and apparently knows nothing about pedagogy. Martinez is a member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change, which promotes privatization and technology in the classroom. He is also a big fan of the faux Relay “Graduate School of Education,” which specializes in charter teachers training new teachers for charter schools and has no professors or research programs.

As a native Texan, this whole deal made me physically ill. It stinks to high heaven. Everyone facilitating this private takeover of public schools should be ashamed of themselves.

They are not “doing it for the children.” They are doing it for their own egos. There are more failing charter schools than failing public schools. What right do they have to destroy the public schools of San Antonio? Who elected them? They have won plaudits from Betsy DeVos, the Koch brothers, and ALEC. They should be held accountable for their assault on democracy. I noticed that the Texas philanthropist Charles Butt refused to participate in this unholy cabal; he prefers to invest his fortune in supporting public schools.

I take this opportunity to name Victoria Rico, Pedro Martinez, and all their rightwing enablers to the Wall of Shame.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Billionaires, Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Chiefs for Change, Corporate Reform, Democracy, Education Industry, Fraud, San Antonio, School Choice, Texas, U.S. Department of Education, Wall of Shame

DeVos Doles Out $399 Million to Charter Schools and Charter Organizations

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2018 //
10

Politico reports the latest federal handouts for charter schools and charter advocacy organizations, as well as to state agencies.

There is no sector of American education less in need of federal funding than charter schools. They have the support of the nation’s largest philanthropies—think Bill Gates, the Walton family, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, etc.—as well as abundant gifts from the financial industry and individual billionaires.

Among the federal grants was $2.4 million to the California Charter Schools Association, the richest lobby in the state, which fights any legislative efforts to establish accountability and prohibit conflicts of interest and self-dealing.

Betsy DeVos has put the Trump administration strongly behind charter schools. The Trump administration puts no money into establishing ethical standards or financial oversight for charters. They pretend to want a “free market,” but free markets are not subsidized by the federal government. In a free market, businesses make it or fail on their own, without public subsidies.

When you see new charters opening, thank DeVos and Trump, as well as the billionaires who have created this new business opportunity.

Politico reports:


EDUCATION DOLES OUT CHARTER SCHOOL GRANTS: DeVos has awarded $399 million in federal grants to expand and support charter schools across the country.

— Eight states received $313.4 million over five years to “support approximately 300 new, replicating, and expanding public charter schools.” The grants were made to state education agencies in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, New York and North Carolina. Bluum, Inc., a nonprofit that provides financial advising to charter schools, received a grant on behalf of Idaho. Charter schools in those areas may apply for a piece of their state’s funding.

— The department also awarded $29.5 million to 32 charter school developers, none high-profile charter operators. Nine recipients plan to use the funding to launch new charter schools in Hawaii, Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan and Maine. The rest of the grantees plan to expand existing charter schools.

— Four groups received grants totaling $39.9 million to help charter schools enhance their credit and tap into private-sector capital to pay for the cost of new school buildings or renovations. Charter schools often lack access to public funding for infrastructure projects, which the grant program was created to address. The grants were awarded to the Center for Community Self-Help, the Charter Schools Development Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

— The last bucket of funding, totaling $16.2 million, was directed to eight recipients tasked with supporting the charter school sector. The list includes some of the most prominent charter school advocacy groups, like the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. As we reported earlier this week, the alliance plans to use its funding to create a national center that will help charter schools acquire and renovate their facilities.

— The grants were made through the Charter Schools Program under the department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. The program has seen a funding boost under the Trump administration, which has made school choice expansion a priority. The fiscal 2019 spending bill H.R. 6157 (115), included a $40 million boost for the program, bringing the overall level to $440 million. The Charter Schools Program has awarded roughly $4 billion since 1995.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education
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