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Donald Trump picks billionaire Betsy DeVos to be education secretary

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N

Neifirst

Member
darkwing said:
how does someone who has never held a teaching position become head of education of the most powerful country on earth
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Arne Duncan was never a classroom teacher either, and the charter school project has been a bipartisan effort for some time. Democrats on the federal level have been no friend to teachers.
 
P

Palette Swap

Member
A liberal paper will interview Trump, ask him about access to education, he'll answer "I think education for everyone is tremendous, absolutely tremendous", and people will pat themselves.
 
O

Odoul

Member
FUCK.

I'm at ground zero of this emergency manager, austerity, privatization nightmare that is Michigan.

I don't think this country knows just how horrible a decision has just been made.

http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/06/08/detroit-school-legislation-backed-by-charter-advocates-was-years-in-the-making

...has been years in the making. To understand this, look no further than former Metro Times reporter Curt Guyette's June 1996 cover story (scanned and re-republished below), "Born Again Schools: The Right's Vision for Public Education in Michigan."

In this exhaustively researched — and dare we say prophetic — piece, Guyette zeroes in on Gov. John Engler's 1993 introduction of charter schools and the billionaires funding this "school reform" movement. Not surprisingly, many of the names we recognize today as big backers of today's legislation (ahem, the DeVos family) were big financial supporters of the charter movement in the 1990s.

Why would these billionaires be so intent on charter school expansion? As Guyette explains it, the four main financial backers of Michigan's charter school movement (the Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation, the Prince Foundation, the Orville and Ruth Merillat Foundation, and the Cook Charitable Foundation) are also supporters of a series of religious issues and groups that advocate for the "christianizing" of American politics. In short, charter schools were a step towards these individuals' ultimate goal of getting public funding for parochial schools.

"To reach that goal, the groups promoting 'school reform' have mounted a relentless attack on the state's education system," Guyette wrote, later adding, "But that alone wouldn't be enough. To galvanize Michigan parents and taxpayers behind the idea of school choice, the reformers needed a Trojan horse that could effectively blur the lines between public and private education: charter schools."
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And this idiot fucking country just turned the henhouse keys over to the wolves.

Trump is a dumber, ruder, more obstinate Rick Snyder.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this country is fucked.
 
R

Rektash

Member
Soon to be taught in biology classes across the country:

- Abstinence instead of sex-ed
- Creationism instead of evolution
 
W

wildfire

Banned
I've been telling myself that Trump represents a comprehensive threat to our country's future but I've still haven't fully appreciated how extensive the damage could be.

This is the next four years this country is literally going to be tripping on bath salts. Who knew the Baby Boomers were also the slacker generation?
 
B

biggersmaller

Banned
platakul said:
YUP. Public schools grow communities and the teachers are invested and watch kids grow and often then teach their kids

Charters are fly by night shacks built for the grift
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LOL - many are, it's true. However, the one I was involved in had a great mission of true Spanish immersion and motivated core of local parents. It's been successful for over a decade.

Some districts are corrupt and the public dollars deserve to be squeezed out of them to community charter schools. It's not as simple as district=good / charter=bad.
 
I

ishibear

is a goddamn bear
I can't think of a more terrifying choice...

6 fucking years in college and for the first time ever, I think I should change majors...
 
E

Enco

Member
1. Says something moderately sensible that makes you think he might not be a complete failure
2. Does something extremely stupid

Seems like a cycle now.
 
M

Mathieran

Banned
Between trumps climate change and education picks I wish I didn't have children. At least my daughter is in 3rd grade so she's not completely fucked, but my son is only 2 so the schools will be shot by the time he's school age.

I'm gonna have to work extra hard to make sure my children grow up educated. At least I live in a liberal, well educated city. Not all of our public schools are great though.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
This is all about slowing down the rate at which the new generations turn to prigressivism in conservative states, and potentially reverse course in non-conservative ones where there are highly religious minorities.

It's all about votes for conservatives.

You can shave a few points off the US GDP thanks to this pick.
 
I

Imperfected

Member
I mean, I would be okay with this if they just came out and said, "Fuck climate change, fuck education, and fuck equality. We're gonna be the last generation and we're gonna live it up while the whole thing burns around us."

I can get on board with that. I'm a terrible person and a shameless hedonist. I just can't abide the sort of monumental stupidity that insists there's any sort of future in this course.
 
B

besada

Banned
Plinko said:
Just a brief reminder that Betsy DeVos has never once been a teacher or any other sort of school official, and yet here she is. Drain the swamp, am I right?
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Yes, she's a trust fund kiddie and political dilettante. To give her husband something to do, they started an aviation focused charter school called West Michigan Aviation Academy.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
I hope someone somewhere is making a trump timeline where we can see the level of "what the fuck" rising higher and higher as the next four years go by.
 
S

SoRuffShoNuff

Member
Odoul said:
FUCK.

I'm at ground zero of this emergency manager, austerity, privatization nightmare that is Michigan.

I don't think this country knows just how horrible a decision has just been made.

http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/06/08/detroit-school-legislation-backed-by-charter-advocates-was-years-in-the-making



And this idiot fucking country just turned the henhouse keys over to the wolves.

Trump is a dumber, ruder, more obstinate Rick Snyder.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this country is fucked.
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I know you posted that to be a negative but you wouldn't believe how much people in the south say the schools are going downhill because we removed Christ from them. If this woman can get more schools with a religious tenor down here she will be seen as a Saint. That is one belief held by black and white people here.
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
EloquentM said:
I hope someone somewhere is making a trump timeline where we can see the level of "what the fuck" rising higher and higher as the next four years go by.
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I went past what I previously thought was my upper limit of "what the fuck" a few months ago.

I've been in completely uncharted territory ever since.
 
O

onadesertedisland

Member
So, the incoming executive branch, it's looking like the worst possible thing for the nation. Are conservatives even happy with this? I mean, if these people get their way, it really might cause the country to take a tremendous shit it will not recover from. No hyperbole.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
Akuun said:
I went past what I previously thought was my upper limit of "what the fuck" a few months ago.

I've been in completely uncharted territory ever since.
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It's okay I understand. Sometimes it can be hard to come to grips with reality mimicking cartoon super villainy.
 
D

darkwing

Member
onadesertedisland said:
So, the incoming executive branch, it's looking like the worst possible thing for the nation. Are conservatives even happy with this? I mean, if these people get their way, it really might cause the country to take a tremendous shit it will not recover from. No hyperbole.
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in this specific case, they want Christ and prayers back in schools, conservatives are happy with this
 
S

Skatterd

Member
onadesertedisland said:
So, the incoming executive branch, it's looking like the worst possible thing for the nation. Are conservatives even happy with this? I mean, if these people get their way, it really might cause the country to take a tremendous shit it will not recover from. No hyperbole.
Click to expand...

Hate to say it, but most of the ones I know don't pay that level of attention to any of this.
 
B

BlitzKeeg

Member
ishibear said:
I can't think of a more terrifying choice...

6 fucking years in college and for the first time ever, I think I should change majors...
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Please don't. We're going to need more amazing teachers over the next four years than ever before.

My only hope is that the incredibly strong teachers unions will slow this shit as much as possible. At least in my state.

We are truly in the Post-Truth/Education future.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
People like her who get to make big decisions about education without knowing a single fucking thing about education are the reason I don't teach in the US.

Everyone who screeches about common core should be throwing a fit about people like this instead. Common core isn't the problem, it's business focused idiots who don't know the first thing about teaching and decide to buy poorly made teaching resources from companies that rely on ignorant administrations or business connections on school boards. That's where all those math questions people throw a hissy fit about come from.
 
D

DasPenguin

Member
darkwing said:
can't imagine what the public school in the US would look like after 8 years
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They've already made a ton of documentaries on the state of public schools, especially in the poor neighborhoods. I can't imagine how you could make those schools worse. 50% of the kids in some schools won't even pass high school, and your high school is a joke to begin with.

Why can't you just invest in public schools, get rid of private schools and offer the same education for everyone? Oh yeah, that would mean some of the poor folks would have a better chance to reach that elusive American dream and you couldn't just buy your way to the top anymore.
 
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