Carol Burris
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Today, 7:56 AM
Well, the veil is off. With the nomination of a billionaire who has lobbied for privatization of Michigan schools, it is clear that Trump/Pence are serious about their plans.
I don't need to tell you what they are; you already know.
NPE will be fighting that effort, starting with a letter campaign to the Senate asking them to vote "no" on DeVos. We are starting up now and ramping up in the months ahead.
Please put this link on your Facebook page and share it widely.
Please send your own letter today.
Thank you all.
Carol
31 comments:
OH, they're leading it. Oh
Laughable. The whole thing is gone. Without parents leading this, forget it. Common core was done in by parents not teachers, and especially not the unions - don't forget Mike's threat to punch us in the face (Randi loved it).
NPE is led in large part by parents. People like R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs.
All the sudden, administrators and teachers are protecting the same turf, against students' interest. It won't go far.
Even most democrats don't support this idea.
Fighting DeVos appointment is pointless. None of the candidates put forth were any better. Those who expect a public school supporter are delusional.
Abigail Shure
At least we can now come together and oppose the education secretary as a true enemy. Before, our union leadership was lukewarm in opposing the terrible Obama appointees who did great harm to public education simply because they were part of the Democratic party.
Abigail- When liberals fought Judge Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court back in 1987, we ended up with a better nominee. Some Republicans even voted against him I think. He was extreme and went down 58-42. We got Anthony Kennedy as a nominee. Not great but a much better choice than Bork.
The far right is not happy with DeVos either.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/betsy-devos-education-secretary
Months ago, I read a right wing blog about education. When I read the comment section, the comments were similar to any "lefty" blog. I think both sides have a lot in common, at least about education.
Agree with Abigail Shure. I don't think James understands that the policy is going to be $20 of redirected federal aide no matter who is the secretary. Bork and Kennedy both had independence after their selection process. Secretary level positions are not a different branch of government. They have no such independence.
Oh, but don't worry. R.E.M. will, what, save us or something? Gee great. Worked great on election day.
Okay, with all due respect to writer of this blog, it's readers and myself, but can someone explain this to me as if I was a fifth grader. What's going to happen? Are there all of a sudden going to be new construction on existing Catholic and private schools to handle all of these new and once public school students that new will have vouchers to attend? Is new charter school construction going to hit 100, 200 or 300 plus in the five boroughs to make space for what this Trump administration wants? Or is the New Republican administration going to make it much easier for now existing schools whether struggling, average or above average to fail thus creating the slow process from once public school to later charter? I don't know, my first two scenerios seem like a moonshot - maybe my last seems legit, but again, I don't know. So how does anyone see this playing out in the years to come.
6:56,
Using Newark as an example, the district has made great progress in closing district schools and opening charters. As a result, there are many school buildings up for sale. There are also a number of private schools in the community. A magic wand would not be required to fast forward this project. My only concern would be where would all the ELLs, special needs students and those with challenging behaviors be dumped?
Abigail Shure
James,
Would you prefer Rhee or Moskowitz? It is a crap shoot.
Abigail Shure
It is not worth looking like whiners fighting this nomination. It'll be approved. Focus on the fact she now hates common core like we do. A union boss - led effort against her will only build support for her.
Beyond that, her nomination makes very little difference anyway. Not like a supreme court judge, for example. She'll be better than King and Duncan.
There are Republicans from the Lamar Alexander wing who are not hell bent on destroying the public schools. This is from Diane Ravitch:
Who is my choice? Glad you asked that question. I support Williamson (Bill) Evers, whom I have known for nearly 20 years. He is not mean, unlike some of the other candidates. He is at heart a libertarian and won’t shove federal policies down everyone’s throats. He is the only choice Trump might make that would do the least harm.
Have to look back at history but since 1993, presidents have withdrawn six cabinet nominations due to public and/or senate pressure. Better to fight right away than to just give in and try to make the best of things.
"She'll be better than King or Duncan." I hope you are right but fear the worst.
I see Wisconsin as the model for what is ahead. National right to work. It might not be so bad since we are in a so called progressive state but this is not going to be pretty.
Wisconsin is an excellent example of an electorate fed up with the mouthy union bosses. They (and the NYT) said Walker should go - the populace returned him with a higher margin. Very instructive, one would think, for Randi.
Randi is looking for her seat at the missing table.
Abigail Shure
So the same folks who think wailing in the streets following a failed election is a good idea, complaining about the newfangled electoral college system following a failed election is a good idea, demanding a recount following a failed election is a good idea, think a union boss publicly bemoaning a presidential nominee is a good idea?
Even if one of those four is actually a good idea, lack of credibility ensures all four efforts fail AND make the Dems look worse and worse.
The party of Hillary, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, and Randi Weingarten is in complete shambles. And yes, I know those are not rich old white men like those 'deplorable' Republicans.
Any chance somebody with common sense will put the Democratic party on a 12 year course back to power? And yes, 12 is not a typo.
Blame the Democrats and then cry that things are worse. Blame Carol Burris, blame Leonie Haimson, blame Randi, Elizabeth Warren or whoever you want but never look in the mirror. We are our own worse enemy because we sit back and do nothing.
We lost in Wisconsin because after the strikes in Madison didn't work, we changed to an electoral strategy behind the Democrats. Big mistake. Forget politics, we should have gone on a long strike and stayed out for as long as it took while we were still viable public sector unions. Instead, we relied on politics and lost badly. If only labor will use its weapons, instead of being too high minded to actually stop going to work. We have the power but choose not to use it and then we wonder why we lose.
From Ravitch: Ignore at our own peril Ms. Shure and Mr G.
When the federal government turns against public education, as the Trump administration promises to do, that is unprecedented. We don’t need to be soothed and promised that its threats to public education are not real. They are real. They build on the opening to school choice created by the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the Walton Foundation and the think tanks that they have underwritten as part of their “policy advocacy.”
Parents and educators and concerned citizens must mobilize to oppose the Trump privatization agenda.
12:03,
The government has long ago turned against public education. Would Ravitch like me to write a letter to my dear Senator Booker, the man who was instrumental in charterizing Newark Public Schools and the man who has never seen a Wall Street con artist he did not like? Would it be better for me to write to my dear Governor Christie who is working hard to make sure that I will not collect a pension? Should I write to my State District Superintendent who is in court to end LIFO in Newark? Ravitch supported ESSA, which breathed new life into the Standardized Testing Dragon. The party is over folks. These are the last nails in the public education coffin.
Abigail Shure
You guys in New York can write to your dear Governor Cuomo who has provided you with a lovely evaluation system and is chipping away at ending the public school monopoly. He has also given Ms. Moskowitz carte blanche to flout governmental oversight. How about ordering a bunch of T-shirts and taking your kids and their parents out for a day's political rally? How would that fly in NYC? How are all those co-located schools working out? I mean the ones where they took away your library, your gym and your art room.
Abigail Shure
That is the fighting spirit that made the union movement grow. Let's just surrender. We're already dead.
They won. We lost. Let's just make a Vichy deal. That is the thinking of Ms Shure. Makes Randi look downright militant.
If people like Abigail have given up, we are truly in desperate shape.
I'm willing to give Trump a chance...just not with this, which is my livelihood.
'They won. We lost. Let's just make a Vichy deal. That is the thinking of Ms Shure. Makes Randi look downright militant.'
Saturday, November 26, 2016 1:06:00 PM
1:06 Let's avoid that discredited Trump=Nazi narrative ginned up by the media and the name-calling lefties.
Engaging the new education secretary on areas we can agree on is smart. A union boss publicly attacking her is stupid. The electorate does not love union bosses and tends to react in opposition to their utterances. To be plain, what Randi says she hates, the public will love.
You sound like Randi. Let's get a seat at the table.
UPDATE: Booker is a member of DFER. DFER endorsed DeVos. Need I go any further?
Abigail Shure
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