POLITICAL: DeVos Confirmed as Ed Secty

[the_mother_thing]

https://www.apnews.com/53d48c109fd74ff68659e8795e70521e/DeVos-confirmed-as-Education-secretary-as-Pence-breaks-tie

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed school choice advocate Betsy DeVos as Education secretary by the narrowest of margins, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie in a historic vote.

One down, several more to go ...

 

[lovedogs]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

 

[E B]

Her family shelled out plenty of $$$$ for it.

 

[ksinger]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

No, she wants to make sure that public funding of education becomes a private income stream for individuals and certain groups, particularly churches.

Growing the theocracy, one school district at a time.

 

[BeekeeperBetty]

There goes special education in most of the US. I have a child who is in full time special ed, and when she said she didn't think schools should have to take special ed students, and didn't know about IDEA my jaw dropped. And still the GOP voted to confirm. If this doesn't show their true colors, what will?

 

[katharath]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

 

[lovedogs]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

No, she wants to make sure that public funding of education becomes a private income stream for individuals and certain groups, particularly churches.

Growing the theocracy, one school district at a time.

Ahh yes, the ultimate goal of "building God's kingdom" under the guise of "school choice". She is horrific.

 

[katharath]

Her family shelled out plenty of $$$$ for it.

Textbook pay for play.

 

[lovedogs]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

 

[ruby59]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

I am not that familiar with her.

I do believe in choice - if that means charter schools. Not everyone can go to a Catholic school or family afford a private school.

But the highlighted does concern me.

Every child deserves a quality education.

That is something I am proud of in my city where children with handicaps were mainstreamed into regular classrooms as much as possible.

 

[siamese3]

Wasn't Trump going to change all the Washington insider "pay to play" business? Sad! Not fair!

 

[Calliecake]

Ad yet things still seem to get worse. I had oral surgery a few days ago and was given some good drugs. Funny nothing seems to deaden the pain of this administration

 

[Tekate]

Ad yet things still seem to get worse. I had oral surgery a few days ago and was given some good drugs. Funny nothing seems to deaden the pain of this administration

Threadjack!

Me too Callie, I had to have one of my implants taken out due to a big infection! starting over on that one.. other one seems fine at this moment.. Hope you are Aok!

 

[Tekate]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

I am not that familiar with her.

I do believe in choice - if that means charter schools. Not everyone can go to a Catholic school or family afford a private school.

But the highlighted does concern me.

Every child deserves a quality education.

That is something I am proud of in my city where children with handicaps were mainstreamed into regular classrooms as much as possible.

You cannot get more American with our core value of a community school(s). Church, school, home.. but those kids who live in an area of poor community schools, charter schools can be a lifesaver. I think vouchers will be harder to fly with the supreme court because the money could be used for religious schoools. One of the reasons why private schools do well is they are allowed to expel kids, for academics, antics, insubordination etc. Public schools cannot do that. We guarantee education. All kids are deserving of the best education possible. Special needs, exceptional, average kid.. all deserve the best we can offer.

 

[Calliecake]

Ad yet things still seem to get worse. I had oral surgery a few days ago and was given some good drugs. Funny nothing seems to deaden the pain of this administration

Threadjack!

Me too Callie, I had to have one of my implants taken out due to a big infection! starting over on that one.. other one seems fine at this moment.. Hope you are Aok!

Threadjack!!!

Kate, I hope you are beginning to feel better and the infection is clearing up. Everything the doctor did was to prepare for an implant. I cant believe how swollen I am. I vaguely remember him saying something about adding bone, screws and doing something to the muscle. No screws are visible. No implant for a few months as everything needs to heal. Sorry I even started this.

 

[katharath]

Ouch!! Feel better soon Callie!! (Tekate, I hope you're better at this point).

 

[katharath]

Here's a handy pic showing the money DeVos gave to the Republicans who voted for her confirmation (Murkoswki got money, but did vote no). Sorry so blurry, I saved it from a tweet and can't get it to look clearer

 

[Calliecake]

Ouch!! Feel better soon Callie!! (Tekate, I hope you're better at this point).

Thanks Katharath!!! FYI you will NEVER be placed on my ignore list! Thank you for your great posts

 

[ruby59]

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

I am not that familiar with her.

I do believe in choice - if that means charter schools. Not everyone can go to a Catholic school or family afford a private school.

But the highlighted does concern me.

Every child deserves a quality education.

That is something I am proud of in my city where children with handicaps were mainstreamed into regular classrooms as much as possible.

You cannot get more American with our core value of a community school(s). Church, school, home.. but those kids who live in an area of poor community schools, charter schools can be a lifesaver. I think vouchers will be harder to fly with the supreme court because the money could be used for religious schoools. One of the reasons why private schools do well is they are allowed to expel kids, for academics, antics, insubordination etc. Public schools cannot do that. We guarantee education. All kids are deserving of the best education possible. Special needs, exceptional, average kid.. all deserve the best we can offer.

Like you said, for those children who live in an area of poor community schools, charter schools is a way out for them.

I mentioned before, that my mom was in that same predicament for me when the schools in my area became dangerous. She even considered a Catholic school for me as a last resort, Private school tuition costs were prohibitive.

I ended up at a Hebrew school that was very orthodox. I was not comfortable there but had to wait it out until we could afford to move into another city with better schools.

Charter schools would have been a G-d send, in my situation,

 

[katharath]

Ouch!! Feel better soon Callie!! (Tekate, I hope you're better at this point).

Thanks Katharath!!! FYI you will NEVER be placed on my ignore list! Thank you for your great posts

Thank you for the kind words! I feel the same way about you/your posts. (Now I'm creeping away from the threadjacking... )

 

[BeekeeperBetty]

A bill was just introduced to the House to eliminate the Department of Education.

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

I am not that familiar with her.

I do believe in choice - if that means charter schools. Not everyone can go to a Catholic school or family afford a private school.

But the highlighted does concern me.

Every child deserves a quality education.

That is something I am proud of in my city where children with handicaps were mainstreamed into regular classrooms as much as possible.

They're not doing it strictly out of the goodness of their hearts, it is federal law. It's called IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and it is under the ADA, subsection B. It states that a child with disabilities is entitled to a "free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment." The part you are talking about is the "least restrictive environment" part. That means mainstreaming whenever possible. In order to place kids in a more restrictive environment you have to go to great lengths to justify it. We tried to mainstream my son for years, but in the end he needed to be in a full time special ed class, and he has really thrived.

So, anyway, your school might have taken kids with disabilities seriously anyhow. Some states do (like California). But some states don't (like Texas). This is why it is federal law.

Our public schools stunk when I was a kid. The local Catholic school took me in as the charity kid. We were not members of the parish, but they gave me a free education and even free uniforms.

 

[ruby59]

A bill was just introduced to the House to eliminate the Department of Education.

This is a tragic day for education in our country. She is under qualified, knows nothing about relevant issues, and wants to de-fund public schools.

Yes. Ignorance and greed win again!

It will be interesting to see how the backlash affects Republicans in areas like mine (swing state where we frequently lean blue). My Repub rep was hit very hard with requests to vote no, but he didn't. His Twitter page is full of voters (from both sides) who pledged to vote him out if he did this.

Good. I hope every single spineless GOP member who deep down knew she (and others) were a nightmare but wanted to vote along party lines gets voted out. They deserve it for screwing over all the kids who need public education/special education, etc.

I am not that familiar with her.

I do believe in choice - if that means charter schools. Not everyone can go to a Catholic school or family afford a private school.

But the highlighted does concern me.

Every child deserves a quality education.

That is something I am proud of in my city where children with handicaps were mainstreamed into regular classrooms as much as possible.

They're not doing it strictly out of the goodness of their hearts, it is federal law. It's called IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and it is under the ADA, subsection B. It states that a child with disabilities is entitled to a "free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment." The part you are talking about is the "least restrictive environment" part. That means mainstreaming whenever possible. In order to place kids in a more restrictive environment you have to go to great lengths to justify it. We tried to mainstream my son for years, but in the end he needed to be in a full time special ed class, and he has really thrived.

So, anyway, your school might have taken kids with disabilities seriously anyhow. Some states do (like California). But some states don't (like Texas). This is why it is federal law.

Our public schools stunk when I was a kid. The local Catholic school took me in as the charity kid. We were not members of the parish, but they gave me a free education and even free uniforms.

Bettey, my nephew has Down's Syndrome. Back in the early 1980s My sister in law had to fight every obstacle thrown at her to get him the education he needed. And believe me it was like running into a brick wall.


I remember when my children were in grade school, almost a decade later.. Children of all abilities were there with a personal aid. Chaotic at times, yes, but my children have told me they never enjoyed school so much.

Some, depending on ability, moved up to the middle and high school as well.

 

[BeekeeperBetty]

I'm not being argumentative with you. I'm just stating that mainstreaming kids is federal law.

 

[telephone89]

Any hp fans?

 

[ruby59]

I'm not being argumentative with you. I'm just stating that mainstreaming kids is federal law.

Actually, I am sympathizing with you and all parents whose children need extra help in school, and they are not getting it.

Yes, I know it is federal law. But it does not always work well. My nephew was mainstreamed, but all it amounted to was him being warehoused until he was 21.

 

[arkieb1]

Wow Trump appoints a billionaire who donated heavily to his campaign to destroy your public education system, to destroy your special education system and impose her own set of religious values upon schools in the US, keep explaining to me why the poor, the marginalised and the forgotten people without voices voted for this guy, I still don't get it, but maybe one day they will fully realise what they have done....

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I am a special education teacher for mostly children diagnosed with autism (only 6 max in a class). I fear so much for my students. It takes so much work for them to make progress and even to maintain their skills. These are very scary times for my students and their families.

 

[katharath]

Wow Trump appoints a billionaire who donated heavily to his campaign to destroy your public education system, to destroy your special education system and impose her own set of religious values upon schools in the US, keep explaining to me why the poor, the marginalised and the forgotten people without voices voted for this guy, I still don't get it, but maybe one day they will fully realise what they have done....

I know. It's humiliating for our country. And those who caused the humiliation are so far gone that they can't even see it. We knew what Trump was; he didn't hide it. Despite that, the old adage is true: you can lead a horse to water, etc.

Please try to remember that millions more of us voted against him. Millions. It feels terrible knowing that the civilized world thinks we're so incredibly stupid.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Posted in another thread but should also be here.

So, let's just see what Mr. & Mrs. DeVos DID contribute in 2016, courtesy of the publicly available FEC logs:
MITCHELL, PAUL III VIA FRIENDS OF PAUL MITCHELL 09/28/2016 1000.00
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTIONS PAC 02/25/2016 50000.00 201603209011621260
AMERICAN CROSSROADS 06/10/2016 50000.00 201607209021679955
ALLEN, JASON EDWARD VIA JASON ALLEN FOR CONGRESS 07/27/2016 2700.00
ALTICOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE ALTIPAC 11/04/2016 5000.00
*GRASSLEY HAWKEYE FUND 06/02/2016 5400.00
*GRASSLEY, CHARLES E SENATOR VIA GRASSLEY COMMITTEE INC 06/06/2016 2700.00
*GRASSLEY, CHARLES E SENATOR VIA GRASSLEY COMMITTEE INC 06/06/2016 2700.00
*GRASSLEY, CHARLES E SENATOR VIA GRASSLEY COMMITTEE INC 06/06/2016 2700.00
*GRASSLEY, CHARLES E SENATOR VIA GRASSLEY COMMITTEE INC 06/06/2016 2700.00
* joint contributions with the hubster
TOTAL: $146,900.

Her hubby - Dick DeVos - made the following (individual) contributions in 2016:
ALTICOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE ALTIPAC 11/04/2016 5000.00
BLUNT, ROY VIA FRIENDS OF ROY BLUNT 09/30/2016 2700.00
BLUNT, ROY VIA FRIENDS OF ROY BLUNT 09/30/2016 2700.0
TOTAL: $10,400.
COMBINED GRAND TOTAL: $157,300.
FTR: Hillary donated almost $2.8M to her OWN campaign (and you see what that got her? )

Now, about those pesky qualifications ... let's take a quick, 10,000' look at Ed Secretaries of days past; this isn't all encompassing; I just threw it together based on an hour's worth of research for gits & shiggles, but it hits the high points:

From an objective perspective looking at FACTS - DeVos is certainly not the 'Mother Theresa' of education, but she doesn't appear completely out of the realm either, or even the least 'qualified' (historically speaking). Six other Secretaries did NOT teach at all prior to taking post; of the four who did, only 3 were in K-12; most don't have a PhD; only 2/3s have a masters; and almost all former Secretaries degrees are non-Education related, many being Law (and we have enough lawyers in DC). And, considering the financial woes at the Dept. of Ed, I'm thinking she might - by virtue of her experience on education & other boards (coupled with an obvious sense for 'staying afloat vs sinking financially' - even be more uniquely qualified to help get the Dept's finances in order. She can bring in a host of more 'education'-experienced folks to serve as DepSec's, advisors, etc. ... just like every other Cabinet head has done/will do. In fact, I would challenge you to find more than a fat handful of historical cabinet picks (aside from Maddog Mattis ) who is actually EXTREMELY or even somewhat relatively 'experienced' in the departments they head up - regardless of party.

Cabinet heads are not brought in to 'do the work', but to lead those who do the work in the implementation of the President's policies. And c'mon ... she's a WOMAN!

Ya'll believe whatever FB meme, tweet, fake news, union directive or PTA bulletin you want. I think she at least deserves a chance, and if she sucks eggs, or makes him look foolish in her performance, Chump will fire her. If someone here wanted to pick the SecEd, perhaps you should've run for President. Considering the clowns left at the end of this past election circus, my left toe probably would have won.

 

[Dancing Fire]

We need to change our school system. Here's how our kids rank compared to other countries...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/06/world/pisa-global-education-rankings/