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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/18/17


Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/18/17

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Infomercial for Personalized Learning Implementation and Effects | RAND





Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary
by mike simpson / 2h
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary : Reading Between the Lines on McCleary I had a bit of a dust-up with reporter Melissa Santos at The News Tribune over her story on what teachers and students get from the McCleary-driven budget and her picks for quotes from public education groups. (I'll note I generally like Ms. Santos' reporting.) Who did she quote? Someone
Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education
by mike simpson / 2h
Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education : Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States This article was originally posted on The Progressive and titled: Four Things Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Want You to Know about Education Tax Credits Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a big fan of educational tax credits. In a speech at
The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post
by mike simpson / 2h
The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post : The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos just gave her first major speech about special education — and it raised new questions about her understanding of the issues that students with disabilities face. Again, exactly six months after the first o
Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)
by mike simpson / 4h
Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education) : State Schools Chief Visits Summer Learning Program in Danger of Losing Critical Federal Funding SACRAMENTO— State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today toured the Summer Learning program at Robla Elementary School in the Robla School District to voice his opposition to proposed federal budget cu
More charges filed over charter school fraud claims
by mike simpson / 4h
More charges filed over charter school fraud claims : More charges filed over charter school fraud claims Newpoint indicted on fraud charges related to theft, money laundering PENSACOLA, Fla. - Following the filing of racketeering and fraud charges against two Ohio men accused of siphoning public money from charter schools in six Florida counties, the charter school management company itself has
Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!
by mike simpson / 4h
Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education! : Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education! While parents wonder what will happen to their children with disabilities and their schooling due to the possibility of cuts to Medicaid, we’ve wondered, where’s Betsy? As families try to make sense of the information provided online by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation , it would be nice to see DeVos sp
CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose
by mike simpson / 5h
CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose : FL: Third Grade Readers Lose And another sad chapter in the Floridian assault on education comes to a sad close. We've been following this story for a while. Florida has a third grade reading test requirement-- Florida's third graders must show they can score high enough on the state Big Standardized Test, no matter what else they've done. Florida's
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite
by mike simpson / 5h
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite : DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite Under the direction of Betsy DeVos , the DOE has become little more than an engine for driving school privatization, religious fundamentalism, racism and gender discrimination. Trump's appointment of DeVos to oversee this country's public edu
RANDI SAID: Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com
by mike simpson / 6h
Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com : Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology Already under scrutiny for meeting with students who had been falsely accused of rape, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had the situation escalate when the head of her department’s Office of Civil Rights made troubling generalizatio
Here's Looking at You, Kid Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
by mike simpson / 6h
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all : Here's Looking at You, Kid Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Mississippi: The Only Majority-Black District That Earned an A 2 by dianeravitch / 24min A reader who grew up in Clinton, Mississippi, shared this story, which appeared in the Hechinger Report. She was in third grade when the district integ
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Infomercial for Personalized Learning Implementation and Effects | RAND
by mike simpson / 7h
Informing Progress: Insights on Personalized Learning Implementation and Effects | RAND : Informing Progress Insights on Personalized Learning Implementation and Effects The basic concept of personalized learning (PL) — instruction that is focused on meeting students' individual learning needs while incorporating their interests and preferences — has been a longstanding practice in U.S. K–12 educ
State board, advocacy groups fundamentally disagree over plan for complying with federal education law | EdSource
by mike simpson / 7h
State board, advocacy groups fundamentally disagree over plan for complying with federal education law | EdSource : State board, advocacy groups fundamentally disagree over plan for complying with federal education law After much talk and testimony at a nine-hour meeting, the State Board of Education made modest changes last week to its draft of the state plan for complying with the Every Student
Asking too much of high school graduates but not enough of businesses that employ them - The Hechinger Report
by mike simpson / 7h
Asking too much of high school graduates but not enough of businesses that employ them - The Hechinger Report : Asking too much of high school graduates but not enough of businesses that employ them The Chicago mayor’s new preparedness initiative is good, but doesn’t go far enough The adage, “To whom much is given, much is expected,” can’t just apply to high school graduates. Beginning with the c
If an elected official tells you the school funding problem in Illinois is a formula, they are telling a lie – Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 8h
If an elected official tells you the school funding problem in Illinois is a formula, they are telling a lie. The school funding problem in Illinois is adequate revenue. – Fred Klonsky : If an elected official tells you the school funding problem in Illinois is a formula, they are telling a lie. The school funding problem in Illinois is adequate revenue. By Bev Johns Is ANY politician telling the
Sac City recruits Filipino teachers to fill unmet special education needs | ABC10.com
by mike simpson / 8h
Sac City recruits Filipino teachers to fill unmet special education needs | ABC10.com : Sac City recruits Filipino teachers to fill unmet special education needs Sacramento City Unified School District has begun filling special education teacher positions with Filipino teachers because it can’t find enough qualified teachers to take on the demanding job. “We’ve exhausted all options of recruiting
What Nicholas Kristof Left Out in Column Promoting Bridge International Academies | janresseger
by mike simpson / 8h
What Nicholas Kristof Left Out in Column Promoting Bridge International Academies | janresseger : What Nicholas Kristof Left Out in Column Promoting Bridge International Academies Over the weekend, the NY Times published Nicholas Kristof’s puff piece about Bridge International Academies (BIA), the private, for-profit education start-up trying to get a foothold in Africa and India. Kristof has def
Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. Episode #24. The show must go on. – Fred Klonsky
by mike simpson / 9h
Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. Episode #24. The show must go on. – Fred Klonsky : Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. Episode #24. The show must go on. As my brother correctly pointed out, I am letting him do the heavy lifting this week, along with Susan Klonsky. I am 3,000 miles away in the middle of the Atlantic on the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. Created by volcanos,
NYC Educator: In a Shocker, Campbell Brown's Website Attacks ATRs
by mike simpson / 9h
NYC Educator: In a Shocker, Campbell Brown's Website Attacks ATRs : In a Shocker, Campbell Brown's Website Attacks ATRs Over at Campbell Brown's blog, to which I will not link, there's a hit piece on ATR teachers. Evidently it's a disgrace to pay teachers who don't teach, but it's also terrible if they're allowed to teach. It's written by a lawyer who has never taught, and who boasts of helping t
About La. Supt. John White’s Father, Peter A. White (And More) | deutsch29
by mike simpson / 9h
About La. Supt. John White’s Father, Peter A. White (And More) | deutsch29 : About La. Supt. John White’s Father, Peter A. White (And More) In June 2017, FutureEd, “an independent think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy,” published this interview with Louisiana state superintendent John White. In the interview, White pitched school vouchers by implying that he attend
Marie Corfield: #TrumpWorld & #USWomensOpen: This Is Not Normal
by mike simpson / 10h
Marie Corfield: #TrumpWorld & #USWomensOpen: This Is Not Normal : #TrumpWorld & #USWomensOpen: This Is Not Normal Members of SOMA stage a peaceful, silent protest at the LPGA Women's Open at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ, July 16, 2017 First, congratulations to all the women who participated in the LPGA Women's Open July 14-16. Golf is their job, their passion, their life. This post is
Wall Street Zombies: Coming Soon to a Pre-K Near You – Save Maine Schools
by mike simpson / 10h
Wall Street Zombies: Coming Soon to a Pre-K Near You – Save Maine Schools : Wall Street Zombies: Coming Soon to a Pre-K Near You In July of 2013, beneath the veneer of Dr. Seuss, some of the nation’s wealthiest and most influential power players met to discuss one of Wall Street’s latest profit-making schemes: reaping big financial rewards off early childhood education programs. The event – title
This Week in Education Organizing - July 14, 2017 | Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools
by mike simpson / 10h
This Week in Education Organizing - July 14, 2017 | Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools : This Week in Education Organizing - July 14, 2017 Welcome to the Fight-Back! In this week’s Welcome to the Fight-Back dispatch, we focus on activities planned next week in Denver, where the annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is taking place. ALEC, of course, is the right-wing p

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Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/17/17
by mike simpson / 23h
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/17/17 Featured Post Teacher Pay Penalty Driving Educators Away From Profession A detailed critique of a PBS-run education documentary - The Washington Post by mike simpson / 29min A 

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Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary:

Reading Between the Lines on McCleary


 I had a bit of a dust-up with reporter Melissa Santos at The News Tribune over her story on what teachers and students get from the McCleary-driven budget and her picks for quotes from public education groups.  (I'll note I generally like Ms. Santos' reporting.)

Who did she quote?

Someone from LEV and someone from Stand for Children. 

Now there is WSPTSA or Washington's Paramount Duty or Parents Across America but no, she picked two ed reform groups, both funded by Gates.  If the News Tribune and the Seattle Times want to go to the same Gates-driven well for quotes on public education, that's their call. 

But then, no fair being whiny when you get called out for it.  I consider it a public service to let people know because the Times and the Tribune certainly aren't telling their readers who these groups are and who funds them.

Oh and speaking of LEV, here's a few tidbits at their website:

On McCleary - "But in short, it means that our state may be moving on to the next stage of education advocacy in this state — from Does this satisfy McCleary? to What do we need to do to address the growing gaps in our system between historically underserved students and their college-bound peers?"

Is LEV saying that all students on the other end of the achievement gap are all going to college? I hadn't seen that data and that kind of statement would Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary:
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Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education

Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education:

Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States

Image result for Four Things Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Want You to Know about Education Tax Credits


This article was originally posted on The Progressive and titled:

Four Things Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Want You to Know about Education Tax Credits

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a big fan of educational tax credits.  In a speech at the American Federation of Children’s Policy Summit on May 22, she showcased Denisha Merriweather, who used a tax-credit scholarship to attend a church-affiliated private school in Florida. (The American Federation for Children,  a group that pushes school privatization, is a group created by Betsy DeVos and her husband Dick.)
Merriweather is the same student President Trump introduced during his address to the Joint Session of Congress when he promoted “school choice”for students in public schools.
The DeVoses, through the American Federation for Children, also happen to be major contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council, which drafts corporate-friendly model legislation for Republican state lawmakers. ALEC wrote model legislation titled The Great Schools Tax Credit Program Act.
Education tax credits are similar to school vouchers. A voucher is money paid by the state to cover private school tuition for a student. Voucher money comes straight out of public school funds.
Vouchers are unconstitutional in eighteen states and one of the reasons is that the money can go to a religious school, crossing the line between church and state.
School vouchers have also yielded poor results. Research shows that low-income voucher students take losses academically and most don’t recover over a two-year period.
In a “scholarship tax credit program,” the money bypasses the state and instead goes through a go-between, a “scholarship granting organization” to a private school to pay a student’s tuition in full or in part. Typically, these organizations keep 10 percent of the Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education:
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The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post

The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post:

The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education



U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos just gave her first major speech about special education — and it raised new questions about her understanding of the issues that students with disabilities face. Again, exactly six months after the first ones.
DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who has called traditional public schools a “dead end,” has had something of a troubled past in talking about this issue. At her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, she answered a question about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), indicating that she didn’t know it was a federal law that all states had to enforce.
IDEA requires public schools to provide a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities, and in her response, she said that she thought it was up to the states to decide on IDEA enforcement. She was later asked if she was unaware that IDEA was a federal law, and she conceded, “I may have confused it.”
Then in a letter to supposedly clarify her perplexing comment at that hearing, she said she knows IDEA is a federal law and said she wants to provide students with disabilities more educational opportunities, which is in line with her antiabortion agenda.  But in that letter, rather than talk about how traditional public school districts can improve their offerings for these children, she praised a voucher program in Ohio that allows eligible families of special needs students to use public funds to attend a private school. What she didn’t mention, however, was that the program — as well as most other voucher programs  — requires participating families to agree to give up special education due-process rights they are given under IDEA.
[The telling letter Betsy DeVos wrote to clarify her position on U.S. disabilities law]
At that time, Denise Marshall, executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) issued a statement that said in part:
It’s clear that Betsy DeVos is not, nor has ever been an advocate for children with disabilities. The fact that she didn’t understand the basics about education concepts or the three essential federal education laws is embarrassing and her lack of knowledge on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is appalling. We are alarmingly concerned. Furthermore, she advocates for vouchers writ large — as if they can solve every family’s dilemma.
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Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Visits Summer Learning Program in Danger of Losing Critical Federal Funding


SACRAMENTO— State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today toured the Summer Learning program at Robla Elementary School in the Robla School District to voice his opposition to proposed federal budget cuts that would harm this program and many others in California and the nation.
President Trump has proposed eliminating all funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers. These centers run After School, Summer Learning, and other Expanded Learning programs.
Nationally, his proposed cuts would remove $1.2 billion in funding. In California, the proposed cuts would take away $137 million of the total of $730 million spent on Expanded Learning programs, or about 18 percent of the total budget.
“Today we are shining a light on the wonderful Summer Learning and After School programs that engage, teach, and inspire 860,000 students in California each year,” Torlakson said. “President Trump’s proposed budget cuts could devastate Summer Learning and After School programs. These proposed cuts are short-sighted, counterproductive, and just wrong. As leaders, we should be searching for ways to help our students thrive, rather than blocking proven paths to success.”
Torlakson urged all members of the public to join him in fighting against the proposed cuts by contacting members of Congress.
“Expanded Learning programs are effective,” Torlakson said. “They help improve student attendance, cut dropout rates, reduce juvenile crime, and boost academic success. For every dollar we spend on these programs, we save $9 in societal costs.”
Furthermore, they are especially helpful to students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In California, 81 percent of students in these programs are eligible for free and reduced price lunches.
In addition, these programs are highly popular among parents.
The Summer Learning program at Robla Elementary School serves about 100 students. Students participate in a variety of activities such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects, geography, music, art, and physical fitness. Eighty-seven percent of the students qualify for free and reduced meals.
If the Trump budget were to pass, Robla School District would lose about 44 percent of its budget, $96,000 out of a total of $218,498, forcing destructive program reductions.
Torlakson, a former a high school science teacher and coach, knows first-hand the benefits of high-quality after school and summer programs that combine academics, recreation, art, music, drama, and homework assistance. As a state legislator, he authored bills beginning in 1998 to create, expand, and increase standards for Expanded Learning programs in California.
Expanded Learning is just one educational area targeted by Trump for cuts. His proposed budget also would slash teacher training, mental health, advanced coursework, and nutrition programs for students from poor families.
His proposed health insurance legislation would take away health insurance for millions of children from low-income families, making it more difficult for them to be healthy and ready for school.
Torlakson applauded California for boosting state funding for After School Education and Safety Programs by $50 million in the recently passed state budget, but said that federal money is still critical for California programs.
# # # #
Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
 Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):
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More charges filed over charter school fraud claims

More charges filed over charter school fraud claims:

More charges filed over charter school fraud claims

Newpoint indicted on fraud charges related to theft, money laundering


PENSACOLA, Fla. - Following the filing of racketeering and fraud charges against two Ohio men accused of siphoning public money from charter schools in six Florida counties, the charter school management company itself has been indicted on several charges.
Newpoint Education Partners, LLC (“Newpoint”), which formerly managed charter schools in Escambia, Bay, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas Counties; and School Warehouse and Red Ignition, which were vendors used by Newpoint, have been charged in Escambia County with thefts of hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds in connection with fraudulently billing charter schools for computers, furniture, equipment, and curriculum services and then laundering the proceeds of the thefts through multiple bank accounts to conceal the alleged crimes. 

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Marcus May, owner of Newpoint, is facing fraud and racketeering charges as a result of an investigation into the misuse of millions of dollars in state grants given to his company to run charter schools.
Prosecutors say May obtained millions of dollars in state grants from 2008 to 2015 through “grossly over-estimated enrollment figures” at charter schools, and over-inflated the cost of educational equipment to be purchased.
The money was spent on a down payment on a home, homeowners association fees, the lease of a car, country club dues, credit card payments and other personal expenses.
According to the charging affidavit, May obtained a $350,000 grant to run a charter school in Duval County, where he said there were 225 students. In fact, there were only 54. May is not yet in custody.
The owner of a business that sold equipment to Newpoint Education Partners is also charged in the scheme.
Last year, a grand jury indicted Newpoint Education Partners, as well as three other vendors.
State Attorney Bill Eddins alleged in a release that May obtained more than $1 million in public money More charges filed over charter school fraud claims:


Big Education Ape: Florida files criminal charges against Akron-area Newpoint charter school founder - News 5 Cleveland - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/06/florida-files-criminal-charges-against.html
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Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!:

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!


While parents wonder what will happen to their children with disabilities and their schooling due to the possibility of cuts to Medicaid, we’ve wondered, where’s Betsy?
As families try to make sense of the information provided online by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, it would be nice to see DeVos speak out in support of children on this issue.
Never fear. Betsy has been getting some lessons in her Special Education 101 class at Trump University. O.K. I made that  up. I don’t know who’s coaching Betsy.
It couldn’t be Jason Botel, Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. Botel came from Teach for America and KIPP.
I also don’t think DeVos ever appointed an Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!:
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CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose:

FL: Third Grade Readers Lose


And another sad chapter in the Floridian assault on education comes to a sad close.


We've been following this story for a while. Florida has a third grade reading test requirement-- Florida's third graders must show they can score high enough on the state Big Standardized Test, no matter what else they've done. Florida's "Just Read, Florida" (because the way to get students to read is to just insist they do it) is like many versions of this bad idea, and last May, a handful of families put it to the test (with the stubborn assistance of their county school systems-- not all Florida counties chose to be part of this exercise in idiocy). 

Some children opted out of the Big Standardized Test, so their school district declared that despite the fact that some of those children had exemplary report cards, they would be denied advancement to fourth grade. By the end of the summer, the whole sorry mess as in court. That case was gobsmacking in its wrongheadedness, including the moment in which the state argued that teacher-issued grades were meaningless.

But by the end of the summer, sense and decency had prevailed and the state's rule was not only set aside, but subject to some scolding. The parent goals were commendable:

The goal is to have the statute, which allows third grade retention, found unconstitutional and unenforceable. The implications of a positive outcome from this case are significant and far-reaching. 

It didn't matter. In September some of the school districts chose to ignore the court ruling, and CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose:



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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite:

DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite


Under the direction of Betsy DeVos, the DOE has become little more than an engine for driving school privatization, religious fundamentalism, racism and gender discrimination. Trump's appointment of DeVos to oversee this country's public education system threatens a roll-back of every hard-won gain by the Civil Rights Movement in the past 70 years.

DeVos in turn, has named Candice Jackson to head the Office of Civil Rights and turned that office into its opposite. It should be renamed, the Office of Maintaining White Male Supremacy. Jackson's recent comments normalizing campus rape are but the latest indicators of the direction the DOE has taken in regards to civil rights enforcement. DeVos has also slashed OCR budget, basically neutering the office when it comes to enforcement.

DeVos claims she wants to focus on civil rights claims "individually" rather than on institutional racism and discrimination, thereby ignoring this country's legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial segregation and their impact on public education.

What this means in practice is often giving equal weight to or favoring the complaints of individual white men who feel discriminated against by race-based affirmative actions; to Christian fundamentalists who feel that civil rights laws impinge on their religious practices; and to men's rights groups who feel oppressed by feminists or by women who have accused them of rape.

All has brought DeVos into direct conflict with Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. who's among 34 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite:

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RANDI SAID: Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com

Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com:
Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology


Already under scrutiny for meeting with students who had been falsely accused of rape, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had the situation escalate when the head of her department’s Office of Civil Rights made troubling generalizations about campus sexual assaults.
On July 13, Ms. DeVos met with survivors of sexual assault, as well as students who had been falsely accused of sexual assault and disciplined under Title IX, the 1972 law that protects students from discrimination based upon gender, as part of an effort to re-evaluate President Obama’s expansion of the law to include colleges’ investigations of sexual assault complaints.
Questioned Probes’ Balance
The announcement July 11 that Ms. DeVos would meet with men’s-rights group National Coalition for Men Carolinas created a stir, and the controversy snowballed when an interview of Candice Jack­son, head of the Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department, was published the same day by the New York Times in which she said she believed that campus-rape investigations have not been “fairly balanced between the accusing victim and the accused student,” and then suggested that most sexual-assault investigations did not include claims that the blamed student “overrode the will of a young woman.”
“Rather, the accusations—90 percent of them—fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right,’” she said.
Ms. Jackson apologized for her words.
“As a survivor of rape myself, I would never seek to diminish anyone’s experience. My words in the New York Times poorly characterized the conversations I’ve had with countless groups of advocates,” she said in a statement. “What I said was flippant, and I am sorry. All sexual harassment and sexual assault must be taken serious­ly—which has always been my position and will always be the position of this department.”
But for education leaders and advocates for sexual-assault survivors, the damage was done.
‘A Pit in My Stomach’
“That statement put a pit in my stomach when I read it,” Jess Davidson, the managing Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com:


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