The Real Origins of the Religious Right
“They’ll tell you it was abortion. Sorry, the historical record’s clear: It was segregation.”
This SCOTUS Decision is HUGE!
“The Supreme Court’s fourth decision is Carson v. Makin. This is a big one. In a 6–3 opinion by Roberts, the court holds that Maine violated the free exercise clause by refusing to provide public funding to private religious schools.”
https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1088_dbfi.pdf
This has been the plan all along! Gut Public Education. The Lemon Test no longer exists. Vouchers were the first attempt to fund private, religious, choose the students, education. This is the end result.
Judge rules DeVos must testify in lawsuit over student loan forgiveness
‘Bye, Betsy’: Educators Celebrate the End of the DeVos Era
Orwell Nailed It!
Second Federal Judge Slams DeVos Plan To Send Federal Funds To Private Schools
Judge Rejects Betsy DeVos Plan To Send Federal Funds To Private Schools
Betsy Devos’ refusal to honor student loan forgiveness shows her disrespect for the law
July 12, 2020 – DeVos removes all doubt of her incompetency
This is WRONG! Private schools are PRIVATE schools for a REASON. They were created to NOT be told what to do (Brown v Board of Education and Engel v Vitale) NO Tax Dollars should go to an entity that was formed to say “No Thank You!” School Choice = Schools Choose:
Education Dept. Rule Limits How Schools Can Spend Vital Aid Money
Senate Overturns Student Loan Forgiveness Rule
Betsy DeVos’s Brother:
“According to the Times, one of the former spies he recruited, an ex-MI6 officer, copied files and recorded conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the nation.”
Erik Prince Recruited Ex-Spies to Help Project Veritas Infiltrate Left-Wing Groups: NYT
One of my Platform Planks – Abolish the Federal Department of Education:
Education Dept. to Cut Off Federal Funding for Some Rural Schools
Congresswoman Tells Betsy DeVos, You Are ‘Out to Destroy Public Education’
House Democrats condemn Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ handling of loan forgiveness program
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT MEMOS STIR DEBATE AT BETSY DEVOS HEARING ON FORGIVING STUDENT LOANS
Betsy DeVos Overruled Education Dept. Findings On Defrauded Student Borrowers
Betsy DeVos And The High-Stakes Standoff Over Student Loan Forgiveness
Broken Promises and Debt Pile Up as Loan Forgiveness Goes Astray
Betsy DeVos at risk of subpoena after refusing to testify before House education panel
Betsy DeVos held in contempt for violating court order on student loan collection
Federal judge holds DeVos in contempt in loan case, slaps Education Department with $100,000 fine
BETSY DEVOS COULD FACE JAIL AFTER JUDGE RULES SHE VIOLATED 2018 ORDER ON STUDENT LOANS
Betsy DeVos violated a court order to stop collecting on some loan debts. A judge is weighing whether it’s contempt
Sallie Mae execs tan at Maui retreat while student debt crisis tops $1.6 trillion
Inside the Education Department’s effort to ‘obstruct’ student loan investigations
Betsy DeVos calls $5 billion school tax credit plan ‘the conservative answer to what ails American education’ — and says, incorrectly, that it won’t cost the government money
What The? 1st Amendment – Free Exercise Clause, Establishment Clause? 10th Amendment, States and Education?
Trump administration says joint UNC, Duke program portrays Islam too positively
Trump administration demands UNC, Duke revise joint Middle East studies program
The Trump Administration Can’t Force Colleges to Further Its Anti-Muslim Agenda
Abolish the US Department of Education!
Trump Picked His Perfect Education Secretary in Betsy DeVos
DeVos Education Dept. Begins Dismissing Civil Rights Cases in Name of Efficiency
99% of applicants were rejected from government student loan forgiveness program
99% Of Borrowers Rejected By Expanded Student Loan Forgiveness Program
Student-loan borrowers demand justice from Betsy DeVos — ‘I don’t feel like I should pay for an education I never received’
Students may get justice?
Trump’s Education Chief in Hot Seat Over Student-Debt Collection
Since
DeVos tightens rules for forgiving student loans
Wow! I hate to say I told you so Senator Alexander, How a powerful senator schooled Betsy DeVos
but… I told you so:
My Response to Senator Lamar Alexander on Betsy DeVos’s Confirmation to the U.S. Department of Education Secretary
BY DAVID LIMBAUGH
Mrs. DeVos is a horrific choice for this important position and must be rejected.
MY Senator, Lamar Alexander, (@SenAlexander) issued a statement today that I have a lot of issues with.
Washington Post: Sen. Alexander: Betsy DeVos is not an education extremist and should be education secretary
“Democrats desperately are searching for a valid reason to oppose Betsy DeVos for U.S. education secretary because they don’t want Americans to know the real reason for their opposition.“
I am not nor never have been a Democrat. I am 57 years old and have NEVER voted in a Democratic Primary. I have a lot of valid reasons for NOT having Betsy DeVos in charge of OUR U.S. Department of Education. Her reply on IDEA should be reason enough. She also has no idea how student loans work and how public education actually operates. My final reason? The blatant appearance that if someone gives enough money over a long length of time he or she can use that to reach a position of power. Just out of curiosity, over the years, how much of the DeVos family contributions went in to your and other Senators’ Leadership PACs? OpenSecrets.Org is a great place to look if you can’t remember.
“That real reason? She has spent more than three decades helping children from low-income families choose a better school. Specifically, Democrats resent her support for allowing tax dollars to follow children to schools their low-income parents’ choose — although wealthy families choose their children’s schools every day.”
No, she has helped THE SCHOOLS choose THE low-income families they want to accept into a ‘better’ school. Again Senator Lamar, I am not a Democrat, but what I resent is the equality of this based on one big reason,
KIDS CAN’T PICK THEIR PARENTS!
How is is remotely fair that some kids get this supposed step up while kids whose parents do not care enough to be involved in the process supposedly get ‘left behind’? What guarantees EVERY low-income student gets the ‘helping hand’ instead of just the students the schools ‘cherry-pick’? Wealthy families can afford private school tuition. I believe Mrs. DeVos is familiar with that concept.
“Tax dollars supporting school choice is hardly subversive or new. In 2016, $121 billion in federal Pell Grants and new student loans followed 11 million college students to accredited public, private or religious schools of their choice, whether Notre Dame, Yeshiva, the University of Tennessee or Nashville’s auto diesel college. These aid payments are, according to Webster’s — “vouchers”-exactly the same form of payments that Mrs. DeVos supports for schools.”
No – that is not true! Per Merriam-Webster: Voucher
“Definition of voucher
1 : an act of vouching
2 a : a piece of supporting evidence : proof
b : a documentary record of a business transaction
c : a written affidavit or authorization : certificate
d : a form or check indicating a credit against future purchases or expenditures
3 : a coupon issued by government to a parent or guardian to be used to fund a child’s education in either a public or private school”
A Grant is not a Voucher! – no coupon involved with a Pell Grant! Pell Grants are available based on financial need. Students are not rejected for Pell Grants because a certain school only wants to accept certain students. In college, a student has to be accepted and then Pell Grants and student loans come into play. If a student does not get accepted into Notre Dame, Yeshiva, or the University of Tennessee that student still has other options, from Nashville’s auto diesel college to a junior college or other academic avenues. In a voucher system, if a student does not get the right lottery number or does not have the proper grades the option did not rest with the student, but the school. More importantly, if a student’s mom and or dad do not even care to apply for him or her, then that student has been denied an equal opportunity to education, something a wise man named Thomas Jefferson thought was pretty important. According to the GOP I USED to know and love, that was an important issue in America, equal opportunity for all.
“America’s experience with education vouchers began in 1944 with the GI Bill. As veterans returned from World War II, federal tax dollars followed them to the college of their choice.
Why, then, is an idea that helped produce the Greatest Generation and the world’s best colleges such a dangerous idea for our children?”
These two paragraphs are so disingenuous. The G.I. Bill was not education ‘vouchers’, they were ‘scholarships’ given as payment/reward for the G.I.’s service. The country had a lot of men coming back from a World War and the economy needed educated workers and a new generation of college graduates. These were ADULTS choosing their future career and school choices. They were not depending on their mothers and fathers to get them into a good school. I am not saying vouchers/charter schools are DANGEROUS, I am stating that they are NOT FAIR!
“Mrs. DeVos testified that she opposes Washington, D.C., requiring states to adopt vouchers, unlike her critics who delight in a National School Board imposing their mandates on states, for example, Common Core academic standards.”
I don’t think a lot of people take delight from Common Core. Vouchers are a HOT TOPIC here in your and my state of Tennessee!
Tennessee texting scandal broke too late to derail education voucher legislation
Tennessee’s Long Fight Over Voucher Schools
FBI investigates controversial voucher vote
FBI now investigating controversial school voucher vote
Quid Pro Bros: Lawmaker Says Casada, Cothren Dangled Promotion for Voucher Vote
Tennessee House Democrats Say Glen Casada Tried To Bribe Lawmaker For School Voucher Vote
Voucher vote: Tax money offered as bait, possible bribery
No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Every Child Succeeds are doomed to fail because testing is inherently unfair without reasonable flexibility and common sense. ACT scores motivate students because points equate to money in forms of scholarships. Testing in most circumstances has zero motivation for the students and they are literally in survival mode trying to finish a series of tests.
(Some dirty words – HBO)
“So, who is in the mainstream here? The GI Bill, Pell Grants, student loans, both Presidents Bush, President Trump, the 25 states that allow parents to choose among public and private schools, Congress with its passage of the Washington, D.C. voucher program, 45 U.S. senators who voted in 2015 to allow states to use existing federal dollars for vouchers, Betsy DeVos — or her senate critics?”
We, the American public, are the mainstream. We realize that a person who has no idea what IDEA stands for, has no understanding of terms like Proficiency and Value Added, and has never worked as a teacher or administrator in a public school system and has no background in education academia or degrees in education is totally unqualified for this important job. I can name a dozen people who are highly qualified for this position. With my college degree from MTSU and my background I am more qualified! Mainstream America wants a Cabinet based on Competency and Qualifications, not money and networking.
“The second reason Democrats oppose Mrs. DeVos is that she supports charter schools — public schools with fewer government and union rules so that teachers have more freedom to teach and parents have more freedom to choose the schools. In 1992, Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor party created a dozen charter schools. Today there are 6,800 in 43 states and the District of Columbia. President Obama’s last Education Secretary was a charter school founder. Again, who is in the mainstream? Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama; the last six U.S. education secretaries, the U.S. Congress, 43 states and the District of Columbia, Betsy DeVos — or her Senate critics?”
There is a great video by John Oliver on Charter Schools. I suggest you check it out: (Some Dirty Words – HBO)
I agree there are some great success stories with Charter Schools.
The Ron Clark Academy
There have also been unmitigated disasters:
Ohio’s Charter School Disaster: How Big Profits and Pay-to-Play Operators Have Derailed Reform
Devos State of Michigan:
Michigan Gambled on Charter Schools. Its Children Lost.
Opinion | Charter schools have done more harm than good in Michigan.
Michigan schools ‘on a race to the bottom.’ Is Betsy DeVos to blame?
Michigan charter school closures fire up education debate
I go back to the question of equality and fairness. Does EVERY student have access to a local charter school? Are there qualifications to get in? Same rules for accreditation and veracity of education being provided or rules for evaluating effectiveness? Are you familiar with Devos’s views on this? You may want to research it? Does every student have an involved mom and or dad concerned with his or her education?
“Her critics dislike that she is wealthy. Would they be happier if she had spent her money denying children from low-income families choices of schools?Mrs. DeVos’ senate opponents are grasping for straws. We didn’t have time to question her, they say, even though she met with each one of them in their offices, and her hearing lasted nearly an hour and a half longer than either of President Obama’s education secretaries.”
The Definitive Net Worth Of Donald Trump’s Cabinet
I have zero problems with Mrs. DeVos being wealthy. I have wealthy friends. I (and a lot of Americans) have a problem with some of that wealth for years being funneled into the very peoples’ PACs and Campaigns who are decided her confirmation. Let’s make a deal, every U.S. Senator that voted on her confirmation return every penny he or she has ever received from her and her family. That was one less hurdle for me for her confirmation. I am not grasping at straws. If she was not wealthy or had never contributed to a political campaign, her Lack of Knowledge of the key word in this position, EDUCATION, is reason enough to not confirm her. Her response to IDEA was CHILLING and downright SCARY! No Straw there!
Can we say Leadership PACs?
You canceled future hearings because you were afraid to let her get in front of an open mic after the disaster of her first confirmation hearing. A competent, well-versed, confident in their abilities candidate does not have disasters for public hearings. This statement is by no means a straw!
“Now she is answering 837 written follow up questions from Democratic committee members — 1,397 if you include all the questions within a question. By comparison, Republicans asked President Obama’s first education secretary 53 written follow-up questions and his second education secretary 56 written follow-up questions, including questions within a question. In other words, Democrats have asked Mrs. DeVos 25 times as many follow-up questions as Republicans asked of either of President Obama’s education secretaries.”
Basically, she failed the oral test, so let’s get her prepped and let her study for the written exam. Is this test open-textbook or open-notes? Is someone tutoring her or helping her with hints?
“Finally, Democrats are throwing around conflict of interest accusations. But Betsy DeVos has signed an agreement with the independent Office of Government Ethics to divest, within 90 days of her confirmation, possible conflicts of interest identified by the ethics office, as every cabinet secretary is required to do. That agreement is on the internet.”
Here is my Conflict of Interest: https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=DEVOS
“Tax returns? Federal law does not require disclosure of tax returns for cabinet members, or for U.S. Senators. Both cabinet members and senators are already required to publish extensive disclosures of their holdings, income and debts. Cabinet members must also sign an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics to eliminate potential conflicts of interest.”
I could care less about her tax returns. Her lack of competency in the field of EDUCATION is reason enough to just say NO!
“One year ago, because I believe presidents should have their cabinet in place in order to govern, I worked to confirm promptly President Obama’s nomination of John King to be Education Secretary, even though I disagreed with him.”
Hmm.. John King.. You mean Dr. King?
https://www2.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/king.html
“Prior to his arrival at the Department, Dr. King served since 2011 as the commissioner of education for the state of New York. In that role, he served as chief executive officer of the State Education Department and as president of the University of the State of New York, overseeing the state’s elementary and secondary schools (serving 3.1 million students), public, independent and proprietary colleges and universities, libraries, museums, and numerous other educational institutions. Dr. King was one of the nation’s youngest state education leaders at the time of his appointment and the first African-American and Puerto Rican to serve as New York State education commissioner.
Dr. King earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University, a Master of Arts in the teaching of social studies from Columbia University’s Teachers College, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and a Doctor of Education degree in educational administrative practice from Columbia University’s Teachers College. Dr. King was a 1995 Truman Scholar and received the James Madison Memorial Fellowship for secondary-level teaching of American history, American government, and social studies. Prior to joining the Department, in February 2011, Dr. King was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to serve on the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence Commission. In addition, Dr. King served on the board of New Leaders for New Schools from 2005 to 2009, and is a 2008 Aspen Institute-New Schools Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education Fellow.”
This is basically going from a Nobel Prize Winning Nuclear Physicist to Rick Perry – Wait! Trump did that that too!
“Even though they disagree with her, Democrats should also promptly confirm Betsy DeVos. Few Americans have done as much to help low-income students have a choice of better schools. She is on the side of our children. Her critics may resent that, but this says more about them than it does about her.”
Ask the people of Michigan if they agree with that paragraph. Interview parents there and see how they feel. She is not on the side of children. She is on the side of generating revenue through education.
A fellow MTSU alum and friend: DEVOS, SESSIONS MISS HOW FEDERAL LAW AIDS DISABLED KIDS
Lamar, she can not even do her own homework!
DeVos questionnaire appears to include passages from uncited sources
Some other people’s thoughts on DeVos:
Out of options and Betsy DeVos and the twilight of public education and A Case Study for Betsy DeVos’s Educational Utopia
Post-Confirmation: Dear Betsy DeVos
Updates:
SEGREGATION, RACE, AND CHARTER SCHOOLS: WHAT DO WE KNOW?
The GOP’s Biggest Charter School Experiment Just Imploded
A look at the political activities of education secretary Betsy DeVos
A rundown of Betsy DeVos’ most controversial quotes
