If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog

If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy

I will never be Secretary of Education.

Frankly, I’m just not qualified.

I’m only a classroom teacher. The powers that be don’t trust someone like me with that kind of responsibility. It’s okay to give me a roomful of impressionable children everyday, but there’s no confidence I can make sound policy decisions. For that we need someone with experience in management – not schools, pedagogy, children or psychology.

The presiding incumbent in this prestigious position, John King, somehow overcame that handicap. He had taught for three whole years at a charter school, but the bulk of his experience is in administration – administrating a Boston charter school with high suspension and attrition rates. He also was New York State Education Commissioner, where he single-handedly dismantled the state system of education and sparked one of the largest parental revolts in the nation in the state’s opt out movement.

The previous Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was much more qualified, having never taught a day in his life. Before getting Congressional approval, he was appointed to run a charter school and later was entrusted as CEO of Chicago City Schools where he likewise blundered his way to the top with policy decisions that devastated a great system of public education.

What do I have to offer compared to all that? I only have more than a decade’s worth of experience helping kids learn. I’m only one of 3% of teachers nationwide who are Nationally Board Certified. I’ve only earned a Masters degree in Education. I only help run a more than 56,000 member national education advocacy group, the Badass Teachers Association, and write a popular blog dedicated to education and civil rights.

I’ve never sunk a major metropolitan school. I’ve never been run out of a populous state chased by citizens armed with torches and pitchforks.

But let’s close our eyes and imagine that somehow through the magic of education bloggery I was whisked into office at the U.S. Department of Education.

What would a person like me do as Secretary?

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1) Respect the Limits of the Job

Though George W. Bush and Barack Obama come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, these two Presidents did more to increase the powers of the Department Continue reading: If I Were Secretary of Education – A Classroom Teacher’s Fantasy | gadflyonthewallblog

DeVos: You Don't Know Dick | YourTango

Who Is Betsy DeVos' Husband? New Details About Dick DeVos Jr. | YourTango
Who Is Betsy DeVos' Husband? New Details About Dick DeVos Jr.

He's heir to a fortune.

Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, is mainly known for her support of school voucher programs and charter schools. In layman's terms, she wants to privatize public education. But who is Betsy DeVos’ husband? Well, there’s no doubt about it that her husband is extremely wealthy.

So, what do we know about Dick DeVos Jr. and their family? Here are 10 things to know about the Amway heir.

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RELATED: Betsy DeVos' School Voucher Plan Hurts Poor Kids. PERIOD.

1. They met in college.

The couple dated while she was a student at Calvin College, a Christian college in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Apparently, he’d come by campus in his Mercedes to pick her up. They married in 1979 when Betsy was 21 and Dick was 23. He says that their relationship is, “based on our honest sharing of love, faith, and commitment. For me, my first commitment is to God, followed by my commitment to my wife Betsy and to our children.”

2. They have four kids.

Photo: AP

Their children — Richard Marvin (Rick) III, Elisabeth (Elissa), Andrea, and Ryan — are all grown now, and the DeVos’ have one grandchild.

3. He has a college degree.

DeVos has a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University, and attended — but didn’t complete — a degree from the Harvard Business School at the Wharton School's Executive Study Programs. He does, however, have honorary doctorates from Grove City College, Central Michigan University and Northwood University.

4. He’s heir to the Amway fortune.

Photo: Getty

Dick is the son of Richard DeVos, the founder of Amway, a “a multi-level marketing company” that has been deemed a pyramid scheme many times. As of earlier this year, his father has a net worth of $5.1 billion. In 1991, Dick DeVos was appointed the president and CEO of Amway, after his father purchased the Orlando Magic basketball team. He only served the position for two years before working for the Windquest Group, an investment management firm.

5. He was involved in the family business even as a child.

DeVos has said, “I still remember when it was in the basement of our home when I was growing up. I remember the offices being down there and people working down there.” He and his brother Doug were assigned to greet attendees to Amway’s conventions and “helped out with everything from clearing plates during gatherings to ferrying guests to play tennis or waterski. That evolved to speaking in front of groups and even giving product demonstrations.”

6. He ran for governor of Michigan in 2006.

He lost to Democrat Jennifer Granholm by 14 percentage points, and hasn’t run since. But the campaign spent $39 million, of which $35 million was DeVos’ Continue Reading: Who Is Betsy DeVos' Husband? New Details About Dick DeVos Jr. | YourTango

Betsy DeVos Wants To Make It Easier For Religious Schools To Avoid Title IX

Betsy DeVos Wants To Make It Easier For Religious Schools To Avoid Title IX

Betsy DeVos Wants To Make It Easier For Religious Schools To Avoid Title IX
The proposed rule would prevent people from knowing which religious colleges discriminate against women and LGBT students.

The US Department of Education wants to make it easier for religious schools to reject the gender equity law Title IX, according to a leaked draft of new regulations.

The proposed Title IX regulations, which were leaked late Thursday by a higher education organization, would automatically exempt religious schools and universities from having to comply with the gender equity law if they have faith-based objections. Title IX already lets religious schools out of following the law, but the department asks them to submit a letter to the government explaining why an exemption is necessary. Schools would not have to do this anymore under the new policy, meaning there would be no way of tracking which educational institutions were opting out of Title IX rules, and why they were doing so.

“There’s no way now for advocates that help students understand what schools are intending to do,” Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, told BuzzFeed News.

Schools could use this exemption to justify their right to expel a student for taking birth control or coming out as gay or trans, according to Warbelow. “It’s incredibly infuriating that the administration is discouraging schools from ensuring that their students understand when the school may take disciplinary action against them,” Warbelow added.

A draft of the proposed regulations, dated Aug. 25, was uploaded to the website of the Association of Title IX Administrators, a professional group for school officials that deal with the gender equity law. The proposals were first reported last month by the New York Times.

The highly anticipated rules lay out how K–12 schools and colleges must deal with sexual harassment and assault allegations. They propose a number of ways to limit the circumstances in which a school has to investigate a sexual assault complaint and to raise the bar for the Education Department to find that a school violates Title IX. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in 2017 that she wanted to change Title IX regulations because too many accused students were being treated unfairly, and many schools used too broad of a definition of sexual harassment.

Tucked away within the draft is a change to how the department handles religious exemptions to Title IX. In order to gain exemption from the civil rights law currently, the highest-ranking administrator at a religious school has to send a letter to the department explaining how a Title IX rule would go against their faith-based convictions — a practice that dates back to the Reagan administration. Religious colleges with rules that can result in punishing students for being gay or having an abortion, for example, would then be assured it was allowed to discriminate against those students without penalty.

During the Obama administration, LGBT rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign pressured the government to Continue reading: Betsy DeVos Wants To Make It Easier For Religious Schools To Avoid Title IX

Top Posts This Week 9/15/18

Top Posts This Week 9/15/18

• 

  KJ and Michele Rhee: Sacramento Charter High School Students Hold Walk-Out in Protest of School’s Recent Changes | FOX40
• 

  Teacher Pay: What Teachers Want Americans to Understand | Money
• 

  Sac High boss resigns, blasts St. Hope leaders for ‘history of neglect’
• 

  This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR
• 

  Stop Corporate Surveillance In Schools: A Movement Supporting People-Powered Classrooms (Webinars 9/11& 12/28 ) – Seattle Education
• 

  Union Membership Narrows the Racial Wealth Gap for Families of Color - Center for American Progress
• 

  Defiant DeVos Ignores Judge's Order, Ends Union Release Time | News of the Week | thechiefleader.com
• 

  LADY LIBERTY: Why is Murphy covering up Christie’s $10 million loan to failing charter school? |
• 

  Wealthy People Are Destroying Public Schools, One Donation At A Time
• 

  A Measure of This Teacher | The Jose Vilson

Posts This Week 9/15/18

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School-year screen-time rules from a teacher | Salon.com

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Stop the Voucher Tax Scam - Network For Public Education

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Incorrect Data Drives Major Education Decisions | The Report | US News

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LAUSD chief signals desire to limit teacher job protections and change funding rules

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The New Standardized Morality Test. Really.

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Since 'Citizens United,' Just 15 Groups Account for 75 Percent of the $800+ Million in Dark Money Spent on US Elections

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Students are waging war on sexist and racist school dress codes — and they’re winning - Vox

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Wealthy People Are Destroying Public Schools, One Donation At A Time

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Sac High boss resigns, blasts St. Hope leaders for ‘history of neglect’

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Arizona charter schools are behaving badly, and only you can stop it

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Those Who Seek to Privatize Public Schools are Working WITHIN the System!

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Top Posts This Week 9/8/18

by mike simpson / 6d

Top Posts This Week 9/8/18 LOIS WEINER: A Lesson Plan for Organized Labor Randi Weingarten Labor Day Message: It’s the union movement that can and must be the catalyst for change #LaborDay #RedForEd #Solidarity @aft