Teachers union chief rips Trump’s education pick: ‘Jeb Bush likes her’ — but parents don’t

Teachers union chief rips Trump’s education pick: ‘Jeb Bush likes her’ — but parents don’t:

Teachers union chief rips Trump’s education pick: ‘Jeb Bush likes her’ — but parents don’t

The president of American Federation of Teachers warned that Betsy DeVos had spent decades trying to destroy public education — which she would oversee if the U.S. Senate confirms her as secretary of education.

Randi Weingarten, the AFT president, got a close-up look at what DeVos had done to Michigan’s schools after 30 years of lobbying to defund public schools in favor of unregulated charter schools.

“She has worked both to drain the public schools of funding, (and) things that she’s supported drain the public schools of millions and millions of dollars, so that you have very little that help kids in terms of Detroit and the public schools, and at the same time, the stuff she was supporting — for-profit charters — did just as bad, if not worse,” Weingarten told CNN’s Carol Costello.

Michigan’s charter programs are among the nation’s least regulated, thanks in large part to DeVos’ efforts, and Weingarten said the state has plummeted from the mid-20s to the 40s in national rankings for fourth-grade reading and math.

“I saw what she did firsthand, in terms of buying off the legislature and rewarding her friends and punishing her enemies,” Weingarten said.

DeVos, who is married to Amway scion Dick DeVos, is backed by groups that want to privatize public education and conservative Christian groups that want to undermine the separation of church and state.

“She has been actively trying to defund and destabilize public education throughout the country,” Weingarten said.

Costello asked if DeVos wasn’t more popular in other states, such as Florida, than in her home state of Michigan, where her husband failed in his 2006 gubernatorial run.

“No, Jeb Bush loves Betsy DeVos there — but listen to parents in Florida,” Weingarten said.

Teachers union chief rips Trump’s education pick: ‘Jeb Bush likes her’ — but parents don’t:

Trump's pick for Education secretary could put school vouchers back on the map - LA Times

Trump's pick for Education secretary could put school vouchers back on the map - LA Times:

Trump's pick for Education secretary could put school vouchers back on the map

Fifteen years ago, a controversial question about America’s schools dominated headlines, prompted ballot measures in California and other states and led wealthy philanthropists to dig deep into their pockets in the name of educational reform.

Should government money pay for students to attend private — even religious — schools?

Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s pick for Education secretary, whose confirmation hearings begin Tuesday, was one of the biggest backers of the yes camp.

But after voters in some states, including California, gave vouchers a resounding no, the issue fizzled in all but a few, mostly conservative places.

 DeVos’ nomination — and the president-elect’s backing — could put vouchers back on the map in a major way.

DeVos, a Republican fundraiser from Michigan, has backed school vouchers across the country. And although Trump said little about education on the campaign trail, he did at one point suggest legislation to create a major school voucher program as one of his priorities for his first 100 days. 

The plan calls for $20 billion in federal money — combined with $110 billion from the states —  to give the nation’s poor students $12,000 each toward private school tuition, provided enough funding is collected, according to Trump’s team. The tuition could pay for religious schools as well as boarding schools and academies that focus on a specific subject areas or philosophies.Trump's pick for Education secretary could put school vouchers back on the map - LA Times:

Malloy’s austerity budget strategies are hurting Connecticut - Wait What?

Malloy’s austerity budget strategies are hurting Connecticut - Wait What?:

Malloy’s austerity budget strategies are hurting Connecticut

• Record cuts to Connecticut’s public schools and institutions of higher education.

• Drastic and devastating cuts to vital human services

• Continuation of corporate welfare programs and efforts to coddle the rich.

Governor Dannel Malloy, with the help of the Connecticut General Assembly, is destroying core government programs and undermining Connecticut’s economic path.

This legislative session, the Democrats in the Connecticut legislature will be faced with a choice – continue Malloy’s disastrous policies – or stand up to the bully and pass a fair and honest state budget.

In order to adopt a better budget solution legislators will need to identify new sources of revenue to pay for vital state services and programs.

To that end, Connecticut Voices for Children has released a major report – today – on Revenue Options to deal with Connecticut’s Fiscal Crisis

Providing a light for Connecticut legislators should they decided to do their job and resolve Connecticut’s massive budget crisis, Connecticut Voices for Children released a report today entitled, Revenue Options are Key to Tackling Budget Shortfalls and Supporting Thriving Communities

CT Voices writes;

In confronting budget deficits of more than $3 billion in the upcoming biennial budget, the commonsense choice for Connecticut should be a balanced approach that includes Malloy’s austerity budget strategies are hurting Connecticut - Wait What?:

Last night on WGN. Talking peace and justice. | Fred Klonsky

Last night on WGN. Talking peace and justice. | Fred Klonsky:

Last night on WGN. Talking peace and justice.

Justin Kaufmann, host of The Download on WGN and the Brothers Klonsky.

It was more than a little strange walking into the Tribune Tower on north Michigan Avenue last night. The gothic lobby is imposing, as it was meant to be. Engraved quotes from the captains of capitalism surround you like bible verse.

My friend and fellow teacher, Mark Stefanik texted me as the show began, “McCormick is spinning in his grave at the sound of your ideas on his radio station,” referring to the Trib’s founder Colonel McCormick.

It was imposing until Justin Kaufmann, host of the nightly The Download (7-11, 720 AM and streaming over the internet) came bounding into the green room to greet my brother Mike and me.

My brother and I had been invited by Kaufmann to be on his show to talk about Martin Luther King and our history of political engagement.

I remember WGN from the days of Wally Phillips and Roy Leonard, when it was rare to find a listener of the station under the age of 60.

Kaufmann is no Wally Phillips. Wally Phillips would never have had me or Mike on his show. Maybe Milt Rosenberg, the old University of Chicago traditionalist who did a nightly show back in the day. But not Wally.

So, thanks to Kaufmann. He is relaxed, engaging and smart. So is his show. I am now a fan. Kaufmann has worked in the radio business for a couple of Last night on WGN. Talking peace and justice. | Fred Klonsky:

The DeVos distraction? - The Hechinger Report

The DeVos distraction? - The Hechinger Report:

The DeVos distraction?
When it comes to local education, Congress represents the greatest threat

Americans of all political stripes are wary of the federal government’s meddling in education.

Republicans and many Democrats ran successfully last year demanding that the Department of Education stop using billions in federal aid to skew local decision-making.

The new Every Student Succeeds Act, replacing No Child Left Behind, was passed in large measure to return education policies to states and local districts. “Keep Education Local” was a Trump war cry and tweet during the campaign. But the feds are about to meddle in local education again — big time — with the greatest threat not coming from Betsy DeVos but from the Congress.

Related: Betsy DeVos may push vouchers — but how would that impact students with the greatest needs?

According to Education Week, Congress appropriates about $55 billion annually for K-12 education ($12 billion for special education), 8.7 percent of local, state, and federal spending.

Some federal money goes for state operations, some goes to charter and private schools, but the vast majority goes to educate the close to 50 million children in the country’s 14,000 public school districts.

Everyone with children or grandchildren, everyone who may eventually have a child, everyone affected by the nation’s educational standing, everyone, has a stake in these numbers which Congress is poised to drastically change.

There is understandable outrage in some quarters over DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education. She is a conservative donor strongly tied to deregulated charter schools, vouchers, and religious education. The record of the DeVos-inspired charter schools program in Michigan is instructive since test scores actually declined as a result of her market-driven policies.

Related: Will “school choice on steroids” get a boost under a Trump administration?

The fear is that DeVos will use her position to advance this agenda while curtailing Obama’s regulatory and enforcement record especially regarding civil rights. I share those concerns.The DeVos distraction? - The Hechinger Report:

Charter school advocates in two states oppose aspects of Trump ‘school choice’ proposal | EdSource

Charter school advocates in two states oppose aspects of Trump ‘school choice’ proposal | EdSource:

Charter school advocates in two states oppose aspects of Trump 'school choice' proposal

Apects of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal for a massive $20 billion “school choice” program are running into resistance from an unexpected source: charter school advocates in at least two states.

According to the plan he announced last September, the goal would to allow parents to use federal and state dollars to enroll their children “in the local public, private, charter or magnet school that is best for them.”

The plan would include provide parens with tax-payer supported vouchers that could be used to pay for private school tuition.  That has been a central  passion of Betsy DeVos, Trump’s multibillionaire nominee to be secretary of education, who will testify before the Senate Health, Labor, Pensions and Education Committee at her confirmation hearing beginning at 2 p.m. PST on Tuesday. She has also been a vigorous supporter of charter schools, and has been a driving force in promoting charter schools in her home state of Michigan. Her husband, Dick DeVos, the son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, even started one, the West Michigan Aviation Academy in Grand Rapids.

But so far, charter school associations in two states — California and Massachusetts — are expressing concerns about different parts of Trump’s school choice plan.

In a letter to California legislators last month, the California Charter School Association came out strongly against any effort by the  Trump administration to Charter school advocates in two states oppose aspects of Trump ‘school choice’ proposal | EdSource:

Gov. Brown’s proposed budget lacks new funds to combat teacher shortage

Michigan: Academic Performance Has Been Declining as “Choice” Increases | Diane Ravitch's blog

Michigan: Academic Performance Has Been Declining as “Choice” Increases | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Michigan: Academic Performance Has Been Declining as “Choice” Increases

Spurred by the financial clout and political power of the DeVos family, Michigan has embraced choice. A charter advocate wrote earlier to claim that the state has made unparalleled gains, thanks to choice. I knew this was wrong, but was on a car trip and couldn’t look up the NAEP data. In fact, Michigan’s academic performance relative to other states is in free fall.

On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the only reliable barometer of test performance, Michigan has gone into a decline over the past dozen years.

Michigan, already sliding toward the bottom nationally for fourth-grade reading performance on a rigorous national exam, is projected to fall to 48th place by 2030 if the state does nothing to improve education.

That finding is included in a report out today from Education Trust-Midwest, a nonpartisan education research and policy organization based in Royal Oak. The organization analyzed more than a decade’s worth of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — or NAEP, a tough exam given to a representative sample of students in each state.

In 2003, Michigan ranked 28th in fourth-grade reading. In 2015, the state was ranked 41st.

“We’re certainly not on track to become a top 10 state any time soon,” said Amber Arellano, executive director of the organization. “It’s totally unacceptable for the economy, for business and especially for kids themselves.”
Among the 2015 NAEP results highlighted in the report:

• Michigan ranked 41st in fourth-grade reading, down from 28th in 2003.

• The state ranked 42nd in fourth-grade math, down from 27 in 2003.

• It ranked 31st in eighth-grade reading, down from 27th in 2003.

• It ranked 38th in eight-grade math, down from 34th.

The report is focused on the fourth-grade reading results because of how crucial it is for students to be able to read well by the end of third grade. But students have also struggled in math.

The achievement problem crosses demographic lines. Consider how various demographic groups in Michigan compared with similar Michigan: Academic Performance Has Been Declining as “Choice” Increases | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Emails from Jeb’s Cheat’s for Change and Foundation for Excellent Profit in Ed show nonprofits and government working hand in hand to lead states to Common Core and Online Learning

Emails from Jeb’s Chief’s for Change and Foundation for Excellence in Ed show nonprofits and government working hand in hand to lead states to Common Core and Online Learning – Missouri Education Watchdog:

Emails from Jeb’s Chief’s for Change and Foundation for Excellence in Ed show nonprofits and government working hand in hand to lead states to Common Core and Online Learning

Jeb Bush has heavily promoted Common Core; he’s even been referred to as the godfather of ed reform. Betsy DeVos, our newly nominated US Secretary of Education,  is listed as a Board Member on Jeb’s (Pro-Common Core) Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Side note:

For those claiming to be opposed to Common Core,  ending Common Core means:

No aligned standards, No aligned assessments, No teacher accountability based on aligned assessments, No data collection and sharing without parent consent – Return FERPA to pre-2011. No national student database and create laws to protect against data mining.

For those claiming to want School Choice, True  School Choice means:

Let teachers and local schools, parents, and communities choose curriculum and assessments, without penalty.  Let teachers teach.  Ensure option of real books, real teachers, paper-pencil for parents who don’t want their children exposed to screens.  Let students and parents own their data, choose how or if it is shared outside of school.

Common Core involves more than “just standards“.  We need to truly end it.

Common Core was made possible by collaboration between federal and state government and a vast web of nonprofit and nongovernmental entities, and money.  Lots of money. It relies on massive data collection,  teacher accountability based on aligned assessments (eventually embedded formative assessments with real-time data collection), teacher re-training,  moving to online and “blended learning” curriculum instead of text books, changing the traditional knowledge-based education system into a social-emotional  21st century competencies and supply of children as “human capital” for a global workforce.

If you need proof of these statements, look no further than this treasure trove of emails from education reformers like Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, (FEE),  and another Pro-Common Core reform group of state education Emails from Jeb’s Chief’s for Change and Foundation for Excellence in Ed show nonprofits and government working hand in hand to lead states to Common Core and Online Learning – Missouri Education Watchdog:

Can Betsy DeVos Apply Her School-Choice Beliefs as Secretary? - The Atlantic

Can Betsy DeVos Apply Her School-Choice Beliefs as Secretary? - The Atlantic:

Can Betsy DeVos Transform From Lobbyist to Policymaker?
Trump’s pick for education secretary will need to prove that she can apply her ideologies in a practical way.

The hearings on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as the next U.S. secretary of education are shaping up to be an angry grudge match between the proponents of school choice, for which the Michigan billionaire and President-elect Donald Trump have been fierce advocates, and the defenders of traditional public-school organization and funding, including teachers’ unions.

But looking beyond that could reveal whether DeVos has the ability to shift from her historical role as a relentless advocate for policies and candidates consistent with her philosophical views to a new emphasis on effectively executing the best policies for students. To date, DeVos’s activities have primarily been as a lobbyist through the organization she founded, the nonprofit American Federation for Children. The organization is committed to “creating an education revolution” by promoting vouchers, charter schools, and other “pro-choice” initiatives at the state level.

Success as education secretary depends not only on the ability to manage the sprawling education bureaucracy but also on one’s flexibility in responding to the practical constraints he or she will inevitably confront when attempting to apply broad theories. If DeVos’s overall educational political theory is not a legitimate source of opposition, an unwillingness to modify tactics in the face of new facts is. In the educational domain, intense emotions have led well-intentioned partisans on all sides to doggedly pursue ideologically driven strategies with disastrous results. This phenomenon has played out repeatedly in not just the public sector, but in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors as well. Significant evidence suggests that DeVos shares this tendency. Indeed, in all three domains—public, for-profit, and nonprofit—critics argue that DeVos has demonstrated a propensity for allowing ideology to trump effectiveness.

The impact of the education policies DeVos championed across the nation is Can Betsy DeVos Apply Her School-Choice Beliefs as Secretary? - The Atlantic:

DeVos Hearing Today: Why the Senate Should Not Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary | janresseger

DeVos Hearing Today: Why the Senate Should Not Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary | janresseger:

DeVos Hearing Today: Why the Senate Should Not Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

Late this afternoon the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold the confirmation hearing on President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education.

This blog has extensively explored Betsy DeVos’s commitment to breaking the bond between government and education through the expansion of vouchers and unregulated charter schools. As she declared in a speech last year, “Government really sucks.” But there are additional reasons to be very concerned about Betsy DeVos’ record.

A brief from People for the American Way summarizes the national organizations which Betsy DeVos has founded or on whose boards of directors she served until she resigned from those positions when she was nominated as Education Secretary: “Betsy DeVos is… the co-founder and current chair of the boards at the anti-teachers union state advocacy groups Alliance for School Choice and American Federation for Children (AFC) and a close friend of teachers union opponent Campbell Brown, who also serves on AFC’s board.  DeVos also sits on the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (Jeb Bush’s foundation).  Through the DeVos Family Foundation, the DeVoses have given millions to anti-teachers union and pro-privatization education groups; recent tax filings show donations to the Alliance for School Choice, the American Enterprise Institute, the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the Heritage Foundation, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, and the Institute for Justice.  The foundation is listed as a supporter of Campbell Brown’s The 74 website. Betsy DeVos’s American Federation for Children further connects the DeVos family to right-wing corporate reform groups; it is listed as an education partner of the right-wing-fueled National School Choice Week Campaign…. School Choice Week DeVos Hearing Today: Why the Senate Should Not Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary | janresseger:

Betsy DeVos' Confirmation Hearing: What to Watch For - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Betsy DeVos' Confirmation Hearing: What to Watch For - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Betsy DeVos' Confirmation Hearing: What to Watch For

It's finally happening: Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at her confirmation hearing Tuesday. 

In the past, confirmation hearings for an education secretary have typically been bipartisan love fests. But that's not going to be the case this time around.

DeVos' background as a voucher supporter who has never worked in a government, in a school district, or attended or sent her kids to public school has generated big backlash from educators and civil rights groups. In fact, 38 groups who don't always see eye-to-eye on K-12 issues—including Democrats for Education Reform and the teachers' unions—sent a letter Tuesday to Senate education committee leaders oppossing DeVos' nomination.  

At the same time, Republicans—including former GOP presidential nominee Mitty Romney and former first Lady Barbara Bush—have embraced DeVos as someone who can train a set of fresh eyes on K-12 policy. And she'll be introduced by former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who has Betsy DeVos' Confirmation Hearing: What to Watch For - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

BREAKING: Post-Katrina New Orleans Schools Costs More, Admin Salaries a Main Reason | deutsch29

BREAKING: Post-Katrina New Orleans Schools Costs More, Admin Salaries a Main Reason | deutsch29:

BREAKING: Post-Katrina New Orleans Schools Costs More, Admin Salaries a Main Reason

On January 17, 2017, the Education Research Alliance of New Orleans (ERA) released a report entitled, “Does School Reform Equal Spending Reform?”

The short answer is no, and those who push to decentralize a school district in the name of “choice” should be prepared to spend more if for no other reason that a loss of economy of scale– in other words, of paying for the loss of centralized operations.

Then there are issues related to those running the decentralized schools– the administrators.

In the ERA report, these individuals were the principal reason (pun intended) for the finding that post-Katrina New Orleans publicly funded education (which is now chiefly done by charter schools with their own charter management orgs.) costs 13 percent more ($1,358) per pupil than it does in comparable Louisiana school districts– districts with comparable per-pupil spending pre-Katrina.

The greatest increase for New Orleans schools goes to its administrators, as ERA reports:

Spending on administration in New Orleans’ publicly funded schools increased by 66% ($699 per student) relative to the comparison group, far more than the overall spending increase. Of this increase, 52% ($363 per student) is due to a rise in total administrative salaries. Roughly one-third of the increase in administrative salaries is due to hiring more administrators, and the remainder is due to higher average salaries per administrator.

In an attempt to explain the possible reasons for the astounding administrative costs BREAKING: Post-Katrina New Orleans Schools Costs More, Admin Salaries a Main Reason | deutsch29:

TBFURMAN: A New Gulen Connection At ISBE

TBFURMAN: A New Gulen Connection At ISBE:

A New Gulen Connection At ISBE



Big week ahead. Betsy DeVos gets her confirmation hearing tomorrow. The bar for Secretary of Education is pretty low, but she's not fit for the office. Trump is probably under the impression that all public schools are "a disaster" and that they all need to go, or whatever. He's such a dumbass; I can't even imagine what's going through his hair at any given moment.

Here's a pretty good explainer on Betsy DeVos.

 

In other news, Rich Miller has reported an executive appointment by Governor Destruction:

Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Jason Barclay to the Illinois State Board of Education. Barclay’s experience in state government coupled with his time working with an Indianapolis charter school make him uniquely qualified for the position. 

Barclay is currently the General Counsel of Athletico Physical Therapy. Previously, he was General Counsel in the Office of Governor and oversaw the legal departments of Illinois’ Executive Branch. He also worked as a partner at Barnes & Thornburg and as an attorney for former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. 

In addition to his work as an attorney, Barclay helped found a technology-focused charter school in Indianapolis and served on its board. He has also volunteered for DARE.
Barclay earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his law degree from the University of Virginia. He lives in Hinsdale.

Barclay's no stranger to Illinois government, but just to clarify a point about his experience in Indiana--- he was apparently the lawyer for the Gulen-linked Indiana Math and Science Academy, one of the nineteen search-warrant targets of the 2014 FBI multi-state raid on Concept Schools. That investigation has fallen TBFURMAN: A New Gulen Connection At ISBE:

Speaking Up for Diane Ravitch | tultican

Speaking Up for Diane Ravitch | tultican:

Speaking Up for Diane Ravitch

January 7th this year, Diane Ravitch posted “STOP: Our Government Wants to Create a National Database about Everyone, Including YOUR Children.” As with many of Diane’s posts, she was amplifying the work of someone else. This time it was a post by Cheri Kiesecker at the “Missouri Education Watchdog.” It provided evidence about the dangerous loss of privacy facing American society – especially students. It highlighted the big money in datamining. I forwarded Diane’s post through Facebook and Twitter. Soon, that post was shared again on Facebook where it drew more than fifty mostly derogatory comments. Not about datamining or profiteering but about Diane Ravitch.

Attacking Public Educations Best Ally

The person who shared from my Facebook page wrote, “I stopped sharing any of Diane Ravitch’s posts but I had to share this one from Gretchen Logue ‘s blog from October 2016.” One comment read, “I stopped reading her blathering a while ago. To think she didn’t understanding what was being done until the latter part of 2016 is simply horrifying, her being a ‘leader’ in the education advocacy arena.” Another commenter impugned her integrity writing, “Diane has also promoted groups on her website that her sons company has major investments in… salesforce being one – and what do you think it’s mission is? Expansion of Digital learning.”

It seems that Diane’s mostly youthful and idealistic detractors charge her with not understanding that competency based education (CBE) is an existential threat to public schools and the teaching profession. I find this disquieting because I absolutely love what I see from some of these detractors. I see their passion for good, their skilled intelligence and their selfless dedication. I wonder why can’t they see that Diane Ravitch is their best and most important ally?

Outcome based education was one of those great education fads of the 1990’s and it was a total dud. Digital badging and students “learning” from software packages developed by Reed Hastings’ company are repugnant ideas. It is an attempt at profiting from education on the cheap. Is it possible that even wealthy corporate sponsors cannot continuously sell bad ideas? Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying, “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

Possibly Diane Ravitch judges the privatization movement supported by Speaking Up for Diane Ravitch | tultican: