César Chávez, jail time and migrant justice today

César Chávez, jail time and migrant justice today:

Guest blog: César Chávez, jail time and migrant justice today

The drinking faucet was attached to an overflowing toilet in the middle of the cell. There were no beds. Some of us slept on metal tables; some sat on the sticky floors. I was with a group of teachers arrested nearly a decade ago for demonstrating at the California State Capitol. We were protesting legislators who had blocked the budget, denying students the learning opportunities that all children deserve.

Lockup, even in a county jail, is a place no one wants to be. But from suffragist Alice Paul to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., to César Chávez, jail is a common experience for those who fight for justice in America.

César Chávez, born on March 31, knew that fight well. He wrote, “God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth.” He also said, “When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us.” So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of human beings we are. 

This week America honors César for his work to bring justice to the farmworkers of California. But if César, who led the United Farm Workers, is remembered a hundred years from now, it will not just be for the grape and lettuce strikes and boycotts. It will be because of the  example he set for groups like Migrant Justice.

Migrant Justice, based in Vermont, is organizing farmworkers to improve and advance their fundamental human rights. Its cutting-edge human rights organizing and the concrete victories it has been able to achieve through its approach have become a national model. Migrant Justice carries on the work of César Chávez, earning the immigrant-led organization NEA’s human and civil rights award.

Migrant Justice began its Milk with Dignity campaign in 2015, calling on Ben & Jerry’s to take responsibility for abusing farmworkers’ rights. The campaign had some success, but Ben & Jerry’s has not yet implemented a full César Chávez, jail time and migrant justice today:

Diane's return to Texas. A must read and watch. - Network For Public Education

Diane's return to Texas. A must read and watch. - Network For Public Education:

Diane’s return to Texas. A must read and watch.

On Tuesday evening, I flew to Texas to keep a promise to myself. Three years ago, I was chosen for the annual award of the Friends of Texas Public Schools. The day I was supposed to fly to Austin, there was a huge blizzard in New York City and my flight was canceled. All flights were canceled the next day as well. I skipped in to the event the next evening, and a few weeks later received a beautiful large wooden plaque with my name on it. But I never felt I earned it because I wasn’t physically there. So, I arranged to meet with them again this week. The gods of the air decided not to make it easy, so there was a huge rainstorm, delaying my flight for four hours, and I arrived at 2:30 am the day before I spoke.

This is the talk I gave, no notes, just an informal conversation. I am sorry to say it is posted on Facebook so if you are not on FB, you can’t hear it. I can’t hear it myself as I am not on FB.

After I spoke, I participated in a panel where I learned very encouraging news. I sat with three members of the Texas House of Representatives, two of whom are Republicans. All of them understand the importance of public schools, and all are opposed to vouchers.

To my right was Representative Dan Huberty, the chair of the House Education Committee. He is a Republican from Humble, Texas, near Houston. He recently told the news media that voucher legislation would be “dead on arrival” if it passed the Senate. The Tea Party has put a target on his back, and when he runs again, I will do everything in my power to support him because he is a principled supporter of public education. He announced during the panel discussion that his committee had approved a new appropriation of $1.6 billion for public schools (in 2011, the legislature cut more than $5 billion from public schools and never restored the cuts when the economy revived).

Next was Representative Diego Bernal, a Democrat from San Antonio. He is charming, smart, and a strong supporter of public schools.

Last to speak was Representative Gary VanDeaver from New Boston, who was a career educator and a superintendent in his community. He Diane's return to Texas. A must read and watch. - Network For Public Education:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #9. | Fred Klonsky

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #9. | Fred Klonsky:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #9.

Liliana Diaz and Aide Hernandez. Mike James and Katy Hogan.Download the podcast. Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #9.

First, a word about Logan Bay who has produced our show for the last eight episodes. Logan had a serious accident this week and will not be producing our show for a while. We wish him all the best.

Logan patiently worked with us to get us going on Hitting Left. No easy trick working with these old dogs.

Jamie Trecker will be producing for us until Logan gets back. We hope that is soon.

Lilian Diaz and Aide Hernandez joined us to share the experiences of a group of Logan Square young people who are exploring their indigenous roots and as Latinas, their connections to Native people.

Their journey took them to Standing Rock during the occupation to stop #DAPL.

Then we are joined by Katy Hogan and Mike James.

We have been friends with Katy and Mike since forever and getting together Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers #9. | Fred Klonsky:

MORE ON THE COLLEGE BOARD’S EVASIONS AND LIES ABOUT COLLECTING AND SELLING YOUR CHILD’S PERSONAL DATA - NYC Public School Parents

NYC Public School Parents:

MORE ON THE COLLEGE BOARD’S EVASIONS AND LIES ABOUT COLLECTING AND SELLING YOUR CHILD’S PERSONAL DATA

College Board officials belatedly responded to Cheri Kiesecker’s post describing their practice of collecting and selling personal student data without parental consent –and and their response is included at the end of her article in yesterday’s  Washington Post Answer Sheet.

Interestingly,  they did not deny that they sell students’ personal data – or in their words, “license” the data for a fee to institutions, for-profit corporations, and the military.

You can see how they admit this on their website — at the cost of 42 cents per name.  Selling this data is a violation of law in many states including NY and Colorado, and also a violation of the Student Privacy Pledge, which the College Board has signed.

And despite their claims to the Washington Post that “When students take the SAT and PSAT, the proctor instructions make clear that some items on the questionnaire are optional, and they may skip if they prefer not to answer,” nothing could be further from the truth.

First, there is nothing on the student answer sheet to let students know which questions they do not have to answer.

And if you read the script for proctors, as specified in the 2017 PSAT supervisors manual,  on pp. 10-12, you can see how evasive, confusing and ambiguous are the instructions that are supposed to be read aloud to students.

After asking students to fill out  their (obligatory) names and addresses, this is what the proctor is then supposed to say:

There is nothing in this script indicating that providing information about high school course work is purely voluntary and may be shared with third parties for a fee.

Then come some NYC Public School Parents:

With A Brooklyn Accent: Whatever Party They Represent, Charter Supporters Love Tests

With A Brooklyn Accent: Whatever Party They Represent, Charter Supporters Love Tests:

Whatever Party They Represent, Charter Supporters Love Tests

As many of us having been warning for many years, support for charter schools crosses party lines. This is not only true in New York State where Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Senator John Flanagan take huge contributions from the charter school industry, it is true nationally, where President Donald Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy Devos are at least as strong a supporter of charter schools as was Barack Obama and Arne Duncan.

Those seeking to protect their children from nationally aligned tests and a curriculum that turns instruction into little more test prep are getting no relief from the new administration. in fact, there is going to be more, not less support for charter schools from this administration. Since the best funded and most powerful charter chains are huge supporters of national testing and the rating of schools and teachers on the basis of student test scores. we are likely to see even more testing.

Nowhere is this more apparent in New York State where the largest and best funded charter school chain, Success Academies, just issued an edict saying that no child in their schools is allowed to opt out of state tests. And this makes perfect sense when you realize that Success Academy's campaign to raise the charter cap is all based on the higher test scores its schools get than neighboring public schools.

So here is something that every parent in New York State and around the country needs to realize- every time someone asks elected officials to support charter schools, it means that testing will become MORE important and oppressive, not only in the new schools created, but in With A Brooklyn Accent: Whatever Party They Represent, Charter Supporters Love Tests:

Understanding Racism as Systemic and about Power | radical eyes for equity

Understanding Racism as Systemic and about Power | radical eyes for equity:

Understanding Racism as Systemic and about Power

You are an hourly worker in a non-union (euphemistically called “right-work-work”) state. Your immediate boss is abusive and unfair often, but in ways that are nearly impossible to prove.

This is your first real job, and you develop a deep resentment for that boss—eventually coming to despise all bosses and people in authority.

That manager uses tactics that workers believe are abusive and unfair because the manager has decided all workers are lazy and unwilling to work without threats and constant authoritarian oversight.

The worker attitude about bosses and the boss attitude about workers are, however, not the same because of the imbalance of power.

In the beginning, I mention “non-union” because unionization grew out of a recognition that an imbalance of power (owners/bosses/managers versus individual workers) was often conducive to abusive working conditions (think Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle).

Now let’s transfer this workplace dynamic to how people (usually white people) misread racism.

Too often individuals with race or class privilege respond to charges of racism at the individual level: “What about black people who hate white people?” or “What about this white cop shot by a black man? Nobody’s making a fuss about this incident!” or “I am not a racist!”

Decades after his death—and much like the warped legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.—Malcolm X lingers in the white psyche as proof of black racism toward whites because of his “white devil” refrain.

And just as my hypothetical workplace scenario above shows, there exists, in fact, whites who reject all blacks simply for being black and blacks who Understanding Racism as Systemic and about Power | radical eyes for equity:

Why American Teachers Should Work Less - Teacher Habits

Why American Teachers Should Work Less - Teacher Habits:

Why American Teachers Should Work Less

A Facebook friend of mine (and my former Superintendent) posted an infographic yesterday that compared the number of hours worked by an American teacher to the number of hours worked by other professionals. Here it is:

I took some issue with the 53 hours listed for teachers and said that the difference between those hours and the 40 listed for other professionals is that teachers aren’t required to work 53 hours. In fact, we’re required to work fewer hours than almost every other full-time employee.

Lunch is not typically counted in the 40 hours for other professionals, so we should subtract it for teachers. My teaching day goes from 9:00 to 4:00 with a half-hour lunch, so that means I’m required to work 6.5 hours per day. Multiply that by five for 32.5 hours a week. So the infographic above suggests that teachers work an extra 20.5 hours a week, or about four per day, which seems high. But okay, throw in weekends and maybe.

The response to my suggestion, as I’m sure you can guess because Why American Teachers Should Work Less - Teacher Habits:

John Thompson: OKCPS budget cuts: Four thoughts on tough choices - NonDoc

OKCPS budget cuts: Four thoughts on tough choices - NonDoc:

OKCPS budget cuts: Four thoughts on tough choices

With regard to ongoing talks surrounding OKCPS budget cuts, the Republicans who control the state government are telling us to eat our kids’ education. They — not the local leaders — would starve the schools that serve our poorest children in order to advance charters, vouchers and the entire privatization agenda.

The only way to stop them is to share the pain, unite within it and politically mobilize.

Until we collectively reach that point, however, here are four thoughts about the nature of #oklaed’s latest budget-related crisis.

Blame state budget cuts, not local educators

The first thing to remember when contemplating the OKCPS’s proposed budget cuts is that the Legislature (and the governor) created this mess. Last year, $30 million in reductions were required, and this year’s cuts could exceed $10 million. These deficits were caused by a Republican-controlled state government which has cut per-student funding more than any state in the nation.

And we should not forget that the voters seemed to be on track to ameliorate our education crisis by passing a penny sales tax for teacher pay raises. At the last minute, a fact-free public relations campaign, funded by national as well as state interest groups, swung the election against the initiative.

It’s not a conspiracy

The influence of national and state corporate reformers adds complexity to our local problems. I’ve always tried to see all OKCPS stakeholders as individuals, not as members of reform organizations ranging from Teach for America to the Walton or Broad Foundations or Betsy DeVos’ American Federation for Children. But it is impossible to deny that these reform organizations have pushed a national privatization agenda which contributed greatly to our education woes and which undermined trust.

Moreover, the OKCPS’s proposed school closures would open the door for another round OKCPS budget cuts: Four thoughts on tough choices - NonDoc:

Patty Duke and Helen Keller: Similarities of Greatness

Patty Duke and Helen Keller: Similarities of Greatness:

Patty Duke and Helen Keller: Similarities of Greatness

The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects.
– Helen Keller

I thought I would revisit a past post remembering Patty Duke and Helen Keller. Both women overcame  disabilities. Both had the courage to speak out on difficult and controversial issues.
_________________________

As a young girl glued to the TV, like many, the movie The Miracle Worker had a profound effect on me. I wanted nothing more afterwards than to be a teacher just like Anne Sullivan.

I lived in Michigan, and the Michigan School for the Blind, which closed in 1995, was where I wanted to teach. I got to visit the school as a college student. I changed my major to a different area of special education, but I never will forget that movie and the effect it had on me.

I always admired Patty Duke greatly for that performance and later because she had the Patty Duke and Helen Keller: Similarities of Greatness: 

How taxpayers pay for religious education

How taxpayers pay for religious education:

How taxpayers pay for religious education

At Colonial Christian, an Indianapolis school on the northeast side that receives public funds through Indiana’s private school voucher program, students are warned they can be kicked out of school for “promoting a homosexual lifestyle or alternative gender identity.”

At even more voucher-accepting schools, families are required to sign statements of faith as a condition of enrollment, affirming that they hold the same religious beliefs and values as the school.

Theology classes are required for four years at Bishop Chatard High School, as are hours performing service and outreach. And some schools, including Bethesda Christian in Brownsburg, require a recommendation by a pastor.

Those admissions standards reflect arguably the most controversial aspect of Indiana’s voucher program, also known as school choice scholarships. The GOP-driven program allows religious schools to receive public funds. At the same time, those private schools can reject students who don't affirm certain religious precepts — and impose religious requirements on those who are accepted.

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Opponents of the program say it amounts to the state allowing private schools to discriminate. But advocates point to an Indiana Supreme Court ruling that determined the state's voucher program to be constitutional. They say vouchers give low- to middle-income families access to their tax dollars to place their child in the best situation for them — and that may involve a faith-based education.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld Ohio's voucher program. Vouchers are "neutral" on religion, the 2002 ruling said, because families have a choice in what type of school their children attend, without any greater incentive to go to religious schools.

At Colonial Christian, which last year received $340,000 in state dollars, the school is “very clear about who we are up front with every family,” said Kevin Suiter, the school’s administrator.

The school’s website reflects that transparency, where along with the same-sex ban, it states families must "faithfully attend" the school’s parent church, Colonial Hills How taxpayers pay for religious education:

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Burning Down the Schoolhouse

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Burning Down the Schoolhouse:

FL: Burning Down the Schoolhouse

Florida (Motto: If you can't make a buck from it, what's the point?) is taking steps to bring its public school system into the final stages of Death by Charter. It's time to spread some more gasoline and light yet another match.

Because this is a purely political move, it has to have a ridiculously cynical name. So the Florida legislature is working on a bill to move students to "Schools of Hope." Actually, the bill used to call them "Schools of Success," but somebody probably figured that was promising waaaaaay too much, so "Schools of Hope" it is.

The bill, which just passed out of the House Education Committee, commits $200 million to opening charter schools in the same neighborhoods as schools with low grades on Florida's A-F scale.

Here's the idea. Say your school cafeteria is having trouble. Many of the students it serves are malnourished and come to school hungry. The facility is underfunded and in disrepair, and the budget doesn't allow you to get the very best of food (in fact, you have reason to believe that some the funding for your cafeteria that serves mostly black students has been shifted cross town to a mostly-white cafeteria). Students often can't afford to buy full meals in your cafeteria. The state judges your effectiveness on how much the students weigh. You beg for help, but instead the legislature adds an ever-increasing number of hurdles to getting your work done and berates you for thinking that they can just throw money at the problem.

And then, one day, they decide that the solution is to offer a multi-million-dollar grant to any McDonald's that will build a restaurant across the street from the school.

Or maybe you live in a house that's been in your family for decades, and the state comes and sets fire to it, and then refuses to send a fire department. But they do offer multi-million dollar grants to any hotels that want to build a place across the street. 

That's the proposal. Let's see if we can put the final touch on killing these public schools and moving all the students into charters. 

Of course, the legislators are totally doing it For The Children.

Here's House Speaker Richard Corcoran, one of the leaders of this initiative. "No longer will we rob children of dignity and hope. Now every single child will be afforded an opportunity of a world class education." Because nothing is more dignified and hopeful than being used as a profit-generating pawn.

"We have tried everything else," said Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah. "It is our moral responsibility to make this move and provide an option for our kids." Well, almost everything. Not actually CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Burning Down the Schoolhouse:

GREATER SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez

GREATER SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez:

The Legacy of Cesar Chavez

When we are really  honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us.  So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of people we are. ..I am convinced that the truest act of courage..is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice.

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)

On March 31, 2017, Eleven states and numerous cities will hold holidays celebrating labor and Latino leader Cesar Chavez. 
Conferences, marches and celebrations will occur in numerous cities and particularly in rural areas of the nation. A recent film Cesar Chavez:An American Hero, starring Michael Peña as Cesar Chavez and Rosario Dawson as Dolores Huerta presents important parts of this union story.  With the work of the Chicano/Mexican American Digital History Project their story of union organizing will begin to be covered in all public school history texts in California this year, 
The current UFW leadership, as well as former UFW leaders and current DSA Honorary Chairs Eliseo Medina and Dolores Huerta are recognized leaders in the ongoing efforts to achieve comprehensive immigration reform in the nation.

UFW President Arturo Rodriquez says, “We urge Republicans to abandon their political games that hurt millions of hard-working, taxpaying immigrants and their families, and help us finish the job by passing legislation such as the comprehensive reform bill that was approved by the Senate on a bipartisan vote in June 2013,” Rodriguez said. “The UFW will not rest until the President's deferred relief is enacted and a permanent immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, is signed into law.” www.UFW.org

Let us be clear. Chavez was religious, but he was not a saint. Neither were the growers, their Teamster collaborators, nor corporate agribusiness saints. Celebrations should not be about hero worship or uncritical praise, nor should we ignore the present oppression of farm workers in the U.S.
What they did accomplish along with Philip Vera Cruz ,  Larry Itlong, Marshall Ganz, LeRoy Chatfield, Gil Padilla, Eliseo Medina and hundreds of others was to   organize in California the first successful farm worker union against overwhelming odds. 

Phillip Vera Cruz

Each of the prior attempts to organize a farm worker union had been destroyed by racism and corporate power. Chavez, Huerta, Philip Vera Cruz, and the others deliberately created a multiracial union; Mexican, Mexican American, Filipino, African-American, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Arab workers, among others, have been part of the UFW. This cross racial organizing was necessary in order to combat the prior divisions and exploitations of workers based upon race and language. Dividing the workers on racial and language lines, as well as immigration status always left the corporations the winners.
The violent assaults on the farmworkers and UFW from 1960- 1980 along with the current reconquest of power in the fields by corporate GREATER SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez:

What the Charter School Industry Can Learn from Enron - Before It's Too Late

What the Charter School Industry Can Learn from Enron - Before It's Too Late:

What the Charter School Industry Can Learn from Enron – Before It’s Too Late

The CEO of a large energy corporation takes advantage of lax accountability mechanisms and deregulation to funnel company assets into other business interests. These transactions are teeming with conflict of interest and hidden from stakeholders, and, thanks to deceptive accounting practices, massive losses incurred from these partnerships are also covered up. Eventually, it all catches up, and the company collapses. Thousands of employees are sent packing, investors lose billions, and the company’s leaders are arrested and indicted.

This is the story of Enron, the Texas-based company that went bankrupt in spectacular fashion back in 2001, becoming the poster child (the first of many) of the overzealous, reckless brand of capitalism that in many ways came to characterize the decade.

But if you adjusted a couple of the details – strike “energy” and swap out “billions” for “millions” – this scenario could also describe the business practices of more than few players in the charter school industry.

A stretch? Not at all, says Preston C. Green, professor of educational leadership at the University of Connecticut. Green believes the same fraudulent accounting and business schemes that brought down Enron are being duplicated by for-profit entities that own and operate many charter schools. Green, Bruce Baker of Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, and Joseph O. Oluwole of Montclair University connect the dots in a new paper that will be published in the Indiana Law Journal.

Enron’s undoing can be traced to how it used “related-party” transactions to divert funds from the company to other business interests. The company concealed losses from these transactions from its investors, using deceitful accounting practices that somehow helped line the pockets of its top executives. A similar web of related-party entities, intricate maneuverings, and shady transactions can be found in the charter school sector.

Green says the gatekeepers of the industry – governing boards, authorizers, state education agencies, and the U.S. Department of Education – have failed to “appreciate the fact that certain actors may need even greater surveillance than others” – a defect that led to the abuses at Enron.

“In the case of Enron, the gatekeepers failed to consider the risks that Fortune 500 companies posed to the financial markets,” Green explains. “They wrongly assumed that these entities would play by the rules. As a result, Enron was allowed to engage in its illegal activities for several years without detection. ”

The charter school industry is run by “educational entrepreneurs,”  says Green. “These actors may also run businesses whose interests conflict with the charter schools that they are operating.”

Green and his co-authors cite a number of cases of Enron-like activity in the charter sector, including Imagine Schools, which operates 63 schools in 11 states. Rents for What the Charter School Industry Can Learn from Enron - Before It's Too Late:

Paraprofessionals Come Together to Fight the Stigma of Mental Illness

by John Rosales / 0min

Too often, students with mental health problems suffer alone. Their struggle with eating disorders, substance abuse, disruptive behavior, anxiety, or depression is in many cases cloaked in silence. “Because of a stigma attached to mental illness, people are afraid to even discuss it much less ask for help,” says 

New Astro Turf Trojan Horse for Lausd

Partnership for Equitable Access to Public Schools - Los Angeles:

New Astro Turf Trojan Horse for Lausd

The Partnership for Equitable Access to Public Schools in Los Angeles (PEAPS-LA) works to ensure every child in Los Angeles has access to high quality public schools through an equitable enrollment process.

Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers 

Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers

Partnership for Equitable Access to Public Schools - Los Angeles:

DeVos to Use State Accountability Plans to 'Encourage' School Choice | Education News | US News

DeVos to Use State Accountability Plans to 'Encourage' School Choice | Education News | US News:

DeVos to Use State Accountability Plans to 'Encourage' School Choice
The Education Department is clarifying recent comments from Betsy DeVos, who said accountability plans could be a mechanism for pushing states to provide educational options for parents and children.

The Department of Education’s approval of state accountability plans will not hinge on whether they include school choice policies, but Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will use the process as an opportunity to “encourage” states to adopt those policies, a department official clarified Thursday.

“She will certainly encourage states to think boldly and embrace school choice and provide more options for students,” an Education Department official says. “There is a distinction between encourage and compel. This administration will encourage states to embrace choice and share best practices, but that’s not compulsion.”

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DeVos Says Accountability Systems Could Promote School Choice

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The department official continued: “[The Every Student Succeeds Act] is being implemented based solely on what’s being required by law, and stating anything to the contrary is taking out of context the secretary’s remarks. There’s a distinction between compelling and encouraging, and she’s always been consistent that ESSA will be implemented as Congress intended.”

The remarks in question occurred Wednesday at the Brookings Institution, when DeVos said during an interview that the new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, could be a mechanism for pushing states to provide educational options for parents and children.

Her comments Wednesday, and those clarified through the department official Thursday, roiled the education space as earlier this week President Donald Trump signed into law a resolution that eliminated an Obama-era accountability regulation and in doing so was supposed to prevent future secretaries of education from using its authority to persuade or demand states adopt certain education policies.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Education Committee and chief architect of the education law, did not embrace DeVos’ plan to encourage school choice through the accountability vetting process but reiterated that the law does not mandate states do so.

“Secretary DeVos said that she would follow the law, and the law does not require states to use school choice as an option of fixing schools, so no state should feel compelled to submit a plan they disagree with,” a spokesman for Alexander says.

Alexander has been emphatic about paring back the roll of the federal government and in particular has lashed out about what he sees as the evolution of a “national school board,”DeVos to Use State Accountability Plans to 'Encourage' School Choice | Education News | US News: