CURMUDGUCATION: WV: Did Trump Just Kick Betsy DeVos (plus, Hidden Donor Shenanigans)

CURMUDGUCATION: WV: Did Trump Just Kick Betsy DeVos (plus, Hidden Donor Shenanigans)

WV: Did Trump Just Kick Betsy DeVos (plus, Hidden Donor Shenanigans)

Is it hyperbole to suggest, as Huffington Post does, that West Virginia's Senate has gone to war with teachers (again). I'm always reluctant to use combat metaphors, but at a bare minimum, the West Virginia Senate is showing teachers a big fat middle finger.

It's not just the Senate is making its third attempt to implement the same policies that prompted two previous teacher strikes. On top of trying to jump start charters and vouchers, the bill also aims to beat teachers into submission by closing the loophole used previously and threatening their jobs. The loophole was simple-- strikes are already illegal in the state, but in anticipation (and in some cases in sympathy with) the previous walkouts, superintendents canceled school. If school isn't in session, it's not a strike. The bill forbids superintendents to pull any such shenanigans in the future. And if teachers still walk out, they can be fired. This is not policy; it's punitive.

Where does the Senate get the giant brass cojones for this?

You stand up to Betsy. Or for her. Whose side am I on, again?

Well, Betsy DeVos piped up to throw her weight behind the reform bill, saying that the legislature should get it done. And today, Trump decided he would enter the fray by tweeting his support for the governor, typing in part, "Keep up the great work, @WVGovernor Big Jim Justice - I am with you!"

That's a curious choice for cheerleading, because Big Jim Justice has been a little testy with both DeVos and his fellow GOP legislators. He in effect told DeVos to back off and characterized her call to "get it done" as her getting "way, way, way over her skis." At a town hall last week he expressed a great deal of frustration with the Senate. Recall that the last CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: WV: Did Trump Just Kick Betsy DeVos (plus, Hidden Donor Shenanigans)