The Associated Press reports that the lawyer who was chosen as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Education was involved in defending Florida’s decision not to prosecute Trump University for fraud. As a top aide to Florida’s attorney general, Carlos G. Muniz helped defend the office’s decision to sit out legal action against Trump University. Now the president is naming him to be the top l
From Politico Education (yesterday): CONSUMER AND LABOR GROUPS BLAST DEVOS’ DECISION TO SCRAP OBAMA-ERA OVERHAUL OF STUDENT LOAN SERVICING. On Tuesday, DeVos halted Obama-era plans to overhaul how millions of student borrowers pay back their federal loans including new consumer protections for borrowers and contract provisions aimed at boosting the quality of federal loan servicing. Sen. Elizabet
Jonathan Pelto reports that Connecticut Governor Malloy will not run for a third term. He has spent his time in office promoting the charter school agenda and undermining public schools, the teaching profession, and higher education,
The Washington Post reports that Steve Bannon is on thin ice with Trump. He made the mistake of feuding with Jared Kushner. Guess he never learned that blood is thicker than water and family is always first. Sad. Inside Bannon’s
In an inexplicable move, Secretary of Education DeVos canceled rules –some of which date back to the first Bush administration–to set standards for student loan agencies. This benefits the industry that fattens on student loans, but it will
The legislature in North Carolina never tires of finding new ways to mess up their state’s once-greatly admired public schools. By mandating class size reduction across the state without providing additional funds, districts will be
It is very instructive to scan the long list of organizations that are funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Some will surprise you. Some will not. Here is what we know about this foundation. The Walton Family (beneficiaries of Walmart) is the richest family in America. There are many billionaires in the family. Like Betsy DeVos, they don’t like public education. They don’t like regulation. The
Dana Goldstein is a noted education journalist who joined the New York Times shortly after Trump’s inauguration. As she writes, she began to focus on vouchers since that would be the focus of this new administration. Betsy DeVos has held up the Florida voucher program as a national model, so Goldstein went to Florida to learn about the McKay Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for studen
This article was written by An Garagiola-Bernier and published in the Washington Post. She had a difficult life, growing up in a low-income home, dropping out of high school to help pay expenses, then suffering a debilitating disease that made it impossible to work and required multiple surgeries. She relied on charity to get by, but eventually enrolled in a community college. She made it to Haml
Arne Duncan, same old Arne. Mike Klonsky quotes an opinion piece that Arne wrote praising Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to withhold diplomas from seniors in high school unless they have a definite commitment for college, a job or the military. Arne says that kids drop out because school is too easy. Mike has a few choice words on the subject. If they had rigor…if they had grit…if they were faced with h
ProPublica won a Pulitzer Prize this past week for its excellent journalism. Only days ago, ProPublica and Slate published an expose of a for-profit education company called Camelot, which operates alternative schools. As a result of their story, a district in Georgia has delayed adoption of a $6.3 million contract for three months, to learn more about Camelot and its methods. This story was co-p
This post appeared on Mitchell Robinson’s Facebook page. He is a professor of music education at Michigan State University. The best argument yet for public schools… Donald Trump, Kew-Forest School and New York Military Academy, private Betsy DeVos, Holland Christian Schools, religious Sean Spicer, Portsmouth Abbey School, private Steven Mnuchin, Riverdale Country School, private Mick Mulvaney, C
An unnamed child was suspended by Success Academy Charter School for 45 days after having been accused of physically assaulting his teacher. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/mom-success-academy-failed-son-45-day-suspension-article-1.3044976 “When a 55-pound first-grader tussled with Success Academy Prospect Heights’ assistant principal, the boy’s mom believes the fight was fixed. “The
People who came into education have a strange penchant to work for ultra-conservative politicians, like John White in Louisiana, Kevin Huffman in Tennessee, and Eric Guckian, who was education advisor to the far-right North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory. Now comes this news via Politico Pro. I can’t give you a link because I don’t have a subscription (they told me it costs $3,500 and I run a very
Mercedes Schneider, who teaches high school in a Louisiana public schools, points out in this post that State Superintendent John White’s contract expired, so he is now a month-to-month employee. He can’t get a contract without eight of the state board’s 11 votes, and he only has seven. White, who comes from TFA and Joel Klein’s administration as chancellor in NYC, was appointed during the reign
Both houses of the Maryland legislature endorsed legislation to limit the hours of standardized testing in the schools. But don’t celebrate. The limit is 2% of instructional time. That means that students in elementary and middle schools may be subjected to 24 hours of standardized testing! High school students may be tested for 26 hours! How humane. A third grade student–eight or nine years old–
Here’s another story of a teacher who is leaving. She can’t live on her salary. “Local schools are facing their new spring rite of passage — waves of resignation notices from teachers leaving Oklahoma for higher-paying jobs out of state. “Shelby Eagan was recruited here from Missouri four years ago, but she wasn’t a hard sell. “Oklahoma is home. My mom was born here, my grandma lived in Bristow.
There is a photograph circulating on Twitter of a teacher recruitment fair in Michigan, in a large room with many tables staffed and ready for recruits. But the room is empty. It is a sad picture, dramatizing the effect of the current policy atmosphere on the profession. Please note that the empty job fair was held in Michigan. That is Betsy DeVos’s home state. Apparently in her dream school of t
Despite the significant research demonstrating the failure of cyber charters, they continue to expand, according to a new study by the National Education Policy Center. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was an investor in the worst of the cyber charter chains, the for-profit K12 Inc. started by Michael and Lowell Milken and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is not clear whether she dives
Tim Slekar is dean of education at Edgewood College in Wisconsin and a veteran teacher educator. He has watched and fumed and protested and spoken out as Governor Scott Walker and his puppet legislature wage war on public education
