John Merrow and his wife joined a group to tour historic sites of the civil rights movement in Mississippi. His post contains the stories and photographs of those frightening times when people put their lives at risk for the right to vote, the right to equal treatment before the law. He recounts history that must not be forgotten: the story of Medger Evers, brutally assassinated; the story of the
I attended a lecture recently at the New York Public Library and heard Paul Krugman speak. The general atmosphere was somber, as it was clear that he was depressed about the election, as were the 1,500 or so people in the audience. To all the pundits who extract lessons for the Democrats, Krugman pointed out that Hillary now has a lead of 2.7 million votes. But she lost because of the Electoral C
Mike Konzcal of the Roosevelt Institute sat down and watched Donald Trump’s campaign speeches in search of the rhetoric that turned out to be effective. Contrary to common belief, working people are not turned off by the rich; if anything, they admired Trump’s opulence and outrageous displays of ostentation. He had made it; they could too. Sort of like Trump University, where the Master of Money
Newly elected presidents often reward big donors an ambassadorship. Thanks for your $3 million, how about the ambassadorship to Sweden? Too cold? How about Jamaica? But Donald Trump has given major posts to six of his big donors . One of them them is Betsy DeVos, who gave $1.8 million. The fact that most of his cabinet consists of generals and billionaires can only be seen as his love of winners.
Donald Trump will continue as executive producer of ” The New Celebrity Apprentice,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, after his inauguration. The role nets him hundreds of thousands annually, and he is not giving it up. He is not releasing his tax returns. Ivanka’s product line is now featured in Walmart. Who knew that winning the presidency would open the door to so many lucrative deals? Vladimir
The Washington Post reported that the CIA concluded that agents of the Russian government intervened in the presidential election to help elect Donald Trump. This is the first time that a foreign government played an active role in an American presidential election. Thus, we have a nativist, nationalistic president who defends Vladimir Putin and appoints right wing extremists, generals, and billi
Caitlin Emma, Benjamin Wermund, and Kimberly Hefling, staff writers at politico.com, took a close look at Michigan and answered the question, what hath Betsy DeVos’s obsession with choice done to the schools of Michigan? Unless you are a choice fanatic like DeVos, the answer is not encouraging. Despite two decades of charter-school growth, the state’s overall academic progress has failed to keep
Andre Perry was one of the earliest charter school leaders in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and one of the few leaders of color. He became disillusioned with some parts of the reforms, especially the marginalization of local community voices. In this article, he calls out reformers who feel they must distance themselves from Trump because of his comments that stirred racism. Perry said the
This weekend there will be a dinner hosted by the Network for Public Education in New York City, and I am the guest of honor. Steven Singer can’t make it to the dinner but he used the occasion to write a beautiful tribute, and I can’t decide if it is an early Xmas gift or an early Valentine. I replied and said, “I love you too, Steven. “For your courage, your wisdom, your strength, your kindness.
If anyone thought that the frequent scandals in the charter sector in Ohio would bring about a new era of accountability and oversight for charter schools, think again. The Ohio Department of Education has hired a charter school activist to run the state’s charter school office. The Ohio Department of Education has hired charter school advocate RaShaun Holliman, the head of the Ohio Alliance for
The Washington Post ran a deeply disturbing story about a boy who became addicted to multi-player video gaming on the Internet. His life was consumed with gaming. His parents were distraught. When they tried to get him to turn off the computer, he had outbursts of rage. His mother asked him, please, turn off the computer. It’s late. Their voices got louder. She doesn’t remember exactly what made
William Doyle is living in Finland as a scholar-in-residence at the University of Eastern Finland. In this post, he describes what Betsy DeVos would learn if she visited Finland. He writes: Donald Trump is promoting “school choice” as he vows to improve the American education system. To achieve this vision, he
