[MB.]

I am watching the US Senate confirmation hearing of billionaire heiress Elizabeth DeVos. She has personally made over 5 million dollars in campaign contributions to the Republican party in the last 5 years alone, while her family has donated 200 million dollars to the Republicans since 1970. Her ideological and political objectives clearly involve privatizing the US education system and dramatically expanding the two tier system. She seems to believe that the students of low income families should abandon college education and go into trades schools, leaving the sons and daughters of the wealthy elite to attend their business and managerial schools. She has no intention whatsoever to reduce the cost of college tuition or to provide any kind of universal systems, instead favouring "faithbased" alternatives amongst other (presumably non socialist) private "options". It seems abundantly clear to me that the billionaire ponzi scheme Amway heiress, whose family business was found liable for defrauding the government of Canada tens of millions of dollars, intends to expand the plutocracy that favours her class of elite oligarchs.

I find her demagoguery to be totally hollow and bland. DeVos has no experience in public education and due to her vast wealth has never experienced managing a student loan, or any student loan related banking. She describes privatization of the school system for the purpose of destroying the public school teacher's authority as "different options" for "expressing opportunity". The US "charter school system" is merely a halfway house towards full privatization which will ensure that elite are not contaminated by exposure to low-income citizens. Mrs. DeVos flatly refused to guarantee that the public school system will not be privatized, repeatedly dodging direct questions from (US Democrats) senators regarding such a guarantee. Her intention is, rather, to "give options to students and parents" which is utterly meaningless demagoguery that means "privatization" at the expense of the education system. She repeatedly states that "faith based" solutions are the right way to go, and favours teaching intelligent design.

The establishment oligarchs loves to talk about "opportunity" but have nothing to say about outcome. Part of the neo-conservative capitalist ideological consensus is that your "opportunities" in the education system justify the possibility of failure. Therefore, failure must be your fault, loser, which we all know is now the ideological basis of the Trump administration.

[One Degree]

I don't like the sound of this either, but the blame needs to be shared. Once again the liberal agenda applied to the school system ignored the flaws and continued on their ideological crusade. Teachers not allowed to touch students even to break up fights. Total loss of control requiring police in the schools. Lowered standards to accommodate poor performing students, etc. Solution? National testing standards which detracted from actual teaching and accomplished nothing. You can not teach without discipline. We tried it and failed and this is the result.

[MistyTiger]

I do not like her at all.

The public school system should not be abandoned just on a whim or because she does not like the poor kids who can get their meals at school.

It is terrible that she does not support bringing down the cost of college tuition. Going to college can be a good experience for young adults who have never left home and they get to follow their interests.

You can not teach without discipline. We tried it and failed and this is the result.

I agree. My mom was educated in Taiwan and she tells me about her experience. In a room of 60 students, you can hear a pin drop, no one makes a peep. It always amazes me every time I hear it. They have a more rigid system over there and their education system is among the best in the world. It is not #1 but in the top 10 or top 20.

From a young age, kids should be taught how to study and they should be encouraged to work hard, not play so much and not eat so much in class. My mom never heard of snack time till she came to the states. We do not need to teach kids to love to eat, they will figure it out.

[Stormsmith]

I am a little dubious of her aims as an administer of education. Oughtn't she be looking at how to improve education, to put America back in the top ten and not just acting as an advocate of privatisation?

[Decky]

Back on top? Was the US ever on top? It is very good at poaching educated people from other countries but not all that good at educating its own people (who mostly seem to think the world is few thousand years old and that Noah forgot to save dinosaurs on his arc).

[The Immortal Goon]

In an attempt to drain Washington’s swamp of insiders and billionaire donors, incoming president Donald Trump has nominated insider and billionaire donor Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. Yesterday, for over three hours, senators questioned her on her positions relevant to education, and, as might be expected, the Twitter commentariat spent the afternoon trying to own DeVos or trying to own the people trying to own her.

But nobody owned DeVos as hard as DeVos herself. While comfortable with a couple of home-base talking points—namely “letting the states decide,” i.e. defunding public schools—she grimaced through all other questions with the ineptitude of her possible future boss but none of his cocksure, idiot swagger. The results are a blend of the heated, sardonic policy debates of an Armando Iannucci script and the wince-worthy awkwardness of a Ricky Gervais dark comedy. They must be watched.

Here is former vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine delving into a heated war zone of meaninglessness and emerging victorious:

[video in link]

Al Franken, the junior U.S. senator from Minnesota, offered up a simple question about the debate as to whether standardized testing should gauge students’ proficiency or their growth. If you are not up on that debate, that is okay. You have not been nominated to be secretary of education. When DeVos had no idea what it was, Franken prodded her toward sputtering clarification.

[video in link]

Perhaps most outrageously, when questioned about guns in schools by U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, DeVos responded: What if grizzly bears attack?

[video in link]

Kaine was trying to get her to commit to the idea that if schools take federal funding they should have some federal oversights. She did not. Which is typical, the Party of Order always loves the idea of balancing the budget, unless there's some way to just give federal pork to their states with no strings attached just because.

Franken gives a decent (though still not convincing) argument as to why schools should be measuring growth instead of proficiency. She has no fucking clue what he's talking about, even though this is an education 101 question.

The third link, as mentioned, has her trying to say that schools probably have guns already to keep bears away.

My father always said, "There's only two reasons to vote Republican: Because you're rich, or stupid."*

It's the self-described deplorable poor rednecks chanting for change that are patting themselves on the back for what they have: a billionaire using political leverage to put a billionaire in charge of something she does not understand, that will only affect a plebeian culture she (apparently) thinks lives beneath her mountain constantly fighting bears

*For the record, the Democrats don't choose wildly different representatives either.

[MB.]

To be fair, one of the few things Elizabeth Devos said that was true is that some Alaskan school districts do have a bear problem

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlif ... ured-teen/

[The Immortal Goon]

Using that to make a blanket federal decision for the 99.9% of public schools that aren't plagued by bear attacks is sort of like demanding that every school be equipped with space toilets since astronauts learn things in space.

[Stormsmith]

because ya here about kids being attacked in there classrooms by grizzlies every flipping weak...

[MistyTiger]

Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

The prevalence of bears are only in certain parts of the US like the northwest and northeast. I heard about bears when I lived in the state of WA and then again when I moved up to NH. I know someone in this area who likes to hunt bears and eat the meat.

[The Immortal Goon]

We have bears in Oregon.

I've seen two in the wild. Which is a bit of a feat as they fucking hate being around people. The idea of them walking into town center and then attacking a school is beyond ludicrous. And I'm from rural America. There may be the occasional exception in Alaska, but as implied, there are more Americans in space at any given moment than having run-ins with bears.

[Stormsmith]

Canada speaking. Bears everywhere in the uber-rural areas, and not Infrequently in Farm land areas or near garbage waste areas. I hear of them in the neighbourhood every summer. Bring in the cats and the trash. If you have to be outside make little noise, take a radio along. Riders carry jingle bells. You'll be fine.

Cougars are a different kettle of fish.

[Beren]

The American working class get what they deserve.

[Truth To Power]

I am a little dubious of her aims as an administer of education. Oughtn't she be looking at how to improve education, to put America back in the top ten and not just acting as an advocate of privatisation?

The aim is obvious: an electorate stupid and ignorant enough to vote against their own interests more reliably.

[MB.]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/b ... ion-234580

Will DeVos be a weakened Education secretary?
Her bruising confirmation battle could hamper the effort to build support for the president's $20 billion school choice plan.
By KIMBERLY HEFLING 02/02/17 08:23 PM EST
170202_betsy_devos_1_gty_1160.jpg

The tens of thousands of calls and emails to derail Betsy DeVos' confirmation all but guarantee she would begin her tenure as Education secretary as a polarizing figure. | Getty


By POLITICO MAGAZINE

If Betsy DeVos survives her confirmation process, the political bruising she’s taken on Capitol Hill could hamper her ability to govern and build support for President Donald Trump’s sweeping $20 billion school choice plan.

The tens of thousands of calls and emails to derail her confirmation all but guarantee she would begin her tenure as Education secretary as a polarizing figure without the usual honeymoon period to get her bearings — or to repair fraught relationships with school groups and Capitol Hill.


Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate education committee, has already threatened to question “every decision she makes.”

“There is a lack of confidence,” said Denise Marshall, executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, which assists parents of students with disabilities. “The onus is on her to reach out and create that trust and build those relationships because we don’t have a foundation in that regard right now.”

Historically, Education secretaries have seized the secretary’s bully pulpit and traveled around the nation to promote their ideas. But that may be more challenging for DeVos since several mainstream K-12 organizations — including influential special education groups — have opposed her confirmation. Her poor performance during her confirmation hearing reinforced concerns about her lack of conventional classroom experience and commitment to public schools.

GettyImages-631929870.jpg
Pro-DeVos TV ads attack Democrats as ‘full of rage and hate’
By ALEX ISENSTADT
DeVos would presumably be the cheerleader in chief for Trump’s promise to encourage vouchers and charter schools — an effort showcased in a $20 billion plan he rolled out on the campaign trail and in his selection of DeVos to run the department.

But she’s had to repeatedly reassure even Republican senators such as Susan Collins of Maine and Deb Fischer of Nebraska that she would not impose vouchers on any state.

“While I’m a strong supporter of school choice, I am also respectful of state and local decisions on this issue,” DeVos wrote to Collins.

That wasn’t enough to persuade Collins, however, who declared on Wednesday that she would oppose DeVos’ nomination. Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski came out a short time later, saying that she, too, would vote no on the nomination after hearing “from thousands, truly, thousands of Alaskans who have shared their concerns about Mrs. DeVos.”

Democrats are expected to be united in their opposition.

While Trump’s selection of DeVos has energized many school choice advocates who see vouchers and charter schools as an effective way to help low-income kids stuck in failing schools, those ideas are a much harder sell in some areas, particularly in rural states and towns.

As it stands now, a 50-50 split is expected on her Senate confirmation vote, which could come as early as Monday. That means Vice President Mike Pence would be called to cast the deciding vote — a first for a Cabinet secretary nomination.

DeVos would start out with limits that most of her predecessors did not. The 2015 education law that updated No Child Left Behind explicitly bars the secretary from incentivizing states to adopt certain standards, such as the controversial Common Core math and reading standards for K-12.

And neither she, nor the Trump administration, has yet to spell out their education plan. Even with Trump’s promise to increase funding for charter schools, it’s unclear how that would be funded or carried out — although making changes to the tax code to encourage expansion is one possibility. Less still is known about the administration’s plans for higher education, as lawmakers begin work this year on a rewrite of the law that governs federal student loans, which could include an overhaul of accreditation and loan policies.

170202_jonh_king_jr_getty_1160.jpg
Former Education Secretary King speaks out against DeVos, Trump
By CAITLIN EMMA
Peter Cunningham, a former top aide to former Education Secretary Arne Duncan, suggested that DeVos will have to go out of her way to meet with groups — and do a lot of listening to win people over.

“If there is a more balanced side, this is the time to show it,” he said.

That view was seconded by Noelle Ellerson of AASA: The School Superintendents Association, who said DeVos will have to reach out to teachers and superintendents who don’t like her if she wants to appeal to them.

“It’s a necessity of that office to be open, transparent and facilitating conversations — especially the tough ones where you don’t agree,” she said. Her group has remained neutral on the confirmation.

To be sure, some of what DeVos wants to do might be accomplished regardless of her perceived mandate.

With Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, Democrats may complain but they have little ability to stop DeVos.

“A lot of us screamed about the Obama administration, but that didn’t really matter,” said Michael Petrilli, president, of the conservative-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

If Democrats challenge DeVos on everything she does, she might do “what she thinks is appropriate without undue concern,” said Rick Hess, an education scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

“In some ways, I think that will make things more challenging for her and other ways, I think it will be liberating,” Hess said.

But the Education secretary — more than many Cabinet officials — touches the lives of millions of Americans and even Republicans would be likely to push back against plans that they regarded as harmful to local schools or unpopular with their constituents.

Of course, even without Congress, DeVos could make policy through guidance and regulations. One of the most controversial moves of Obama’s Education Department was to issue guidance on the handling of sexual assault cases under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination. DeVos has promised to hold schools accountable for violating Title IX, but advocates worry she will interpret it differently.

160830_Kellyanne_Conway_AP_1160.jpg
Conway slams Democrats as 'crybabies' for not confirming Trump's Cabinet picks
By LOUIS NELSON
When asked about the animosity toward DeVos, HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander this week blamed it on tension left over from the “very testy” November election.

“I expect her to assemble an experienced team of people, once she’s confirmed,” Alexander said.

Similar assurances came from Ed Patru, a spokesman for a group of allies backing DeVos, who insists the contentious confirmation fight won’t have a lasting impact. He said Democrats’ leftward slide has created a climate that he predicted would lead to more 50-50 deadlocks in the Senate.

“I think this is the new normal,” Patru said.

But several education groups said they will be watching to see how much of an effort DeVos makes to engage with those who work directly with students and their parents.

“Her success will depend on engaging principals, assistant principals and other education stakeholders,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Caitlin Emma and Michael Stratford contributed to this report.

https://qz.com/900769/betsy-devos-trump ... -on-feb-6/

The vote is tied at 50-50 but will take place on February 6, 2016.

[MistyTiger]

I read a headline yesterday that she plagiarized in her speech. That is such a great way to start!

Let's see if I can find it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpos ... bb11683ade

[The American Lion]

I read a headline yesterday that she plagiarized in her speech. That is such a great way to start!

It's not plagiarism, but alternative writing styles.

[MistyTiger]

It's not plagiarism, but alternative writing styles.

Um ok. How lame!

[The American Lion]

Um ok. How lame!

Welcome to Trump's America. Where everything has an alternative under the Trump administration.

[MB.]

Vice President Pence as President of the Senate cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Elizabeth DeVos by 51-50 vote today as Education Secretary.

Now the billionaire elite can get back to programming the underclass to serve as the plebeians for the managerial patrician class.