We know what’s in the bill: attempts to make a more equitable society that sustains and supports the health and well-being of Americans and our environment.
Donald Trump placed a number of unqualified people in important positions. No appointment, though, may have been more destructive than making Betsy DeVos the education secretary. Rather than helping people attain an education, DeVos worked on making it more difficult. The billionaire heiress also turned a blind eye to students who had been defrauded by…
Like other presidents before him, Donald Trump rewarded supporters with roles in his administration. But the 45th president took it to an extreme. Trump’s cabinet was filled with people completely unqualified for their roles. Betsy DeVos was a good example of this. The billionaire heiress was named Secretary of Education. Her tenure was disastrous as…
The second time Donald Trump was impeached, it was his own fault. The former President’s lies about the election had stirred his supporters into a frenzy and they stormed the US Capitol. The first time Trump was impeached, though, was kind of Rudy Giuliani’s fault. The bumbling lawyer had taken off to Ukraine and very…
“Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions.†This phrase has accompanied many a report on how to improve and reform public education in America and, of course, policy statements from education associations that support the work of teachers. To a large degree, the phrase is not just pithy but also has the ring of truth….
A lot of Donald Trump’s cabinet members have been objects of ridicule. Oreo Cookies made fun of Ben Carson after a HUD gaffe. Late night news hosts ripped Wilbur Ross for his physical and behavioral similarities to Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. But no figure has been the figure of more disdain than Education Secretary…
Donald Trump’s cabinet was filled with unqualified an incompetent people. But no one in Donald Trump’s cabinet was as unqualified and incompetent as Betsy DeVos. Trump tapped the billionaire donor to be his Secretary of Education. Time and time again, the Michigan heiress showed just how little she knew about her job. A 2018 60…
Parents across America would like to get their children back to school, but also do so in a safe way. In some areas, that has been difficult. The city of Boston recently shuttered public schools after an alarming rise in positive COVID-19 cases. Despite having the virus, Donald Trump has also pushed for the reopening…
Walking down Main Street, couples, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, cannot be legally denied the right to hold hands, share a hug, or kiss–if Main Street is part of the public square, that is. Move Main Street onto private property, in our America that as a general rule gives precedence to property rights…
Polling indicates that Americans still give Donald Trump an edge over Joe Biden when it comes to their faith in either candidate to manage the economy. While it’s true that, according to a late-August Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump’s approval rating on the economy has dipped 14% since March, putting him in negative territory with 47% approving…
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is isolating herself within her 22,000-square-foot Michigan estate even as she pushes to reopen schools nationwide amidst the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson for the Department of Education pushed back against the reports. “That’s simply not true,” the spokesperson told Salon via email. “Secretary DeVos has held 9 roundtables, 4 briefings, 30…
Speaker Pelosi said that Trump and Betsy DeVos are guilty of malfeasance and dereliction of duty for trying to unsafely force kids back to school.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos refused to answer a simple yes or no question and assure parents, teachers, and students that it is safe to go back to school.
Writing on Twitter earlier this morning, President Donald Trump accused Democrats of orchestrating a political ploy in advocating for schools to remain shuttered because of coronavirus risks. “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS,” he wrote. “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if…
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been sued by 19 attorneys general for overturning a rule that protected students from predatory higher education institutions. The rule dated back to the Obama administration and ensured that schools were denied federal funding if their students graduated with disproportionately heavy debt loads and weakened career prospects. The attorneys…
Amidst the recent mass nationwide uprisings, dominated by the sentiments of the Black Lives Matter movement, an effective reincarnation of the Civil Rights Movement, the Trump administration has continued its efforts to deny transgender people civil rights, denying them equal protections under the law. Let’s look at just two recent examples of the Trump administration…
We’re all in this together. Is anybody else tired of hearing this mantra? I mean, in many ways I love it both as an aspirational sentiment, encapsulating the vision of a cooperative, humane, and compassionate social way of being, and as a statement that captures an undeniable, matter-of-fact aspect of our reality: we are absolutely…
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has fit right in with the Trump administration, treating her government position as opportunity to enrich herself and serve her own narrow ideological interests at taxpayer expense. Given her role in supporting (or not) the public school systems on which the majority of American families depend to educate their children, she…
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced strong opposition to providing any federal relief funding to assist state and local governments losing revenues hand-over-fist and facing mountains of unforeseen expenditures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Betsy DeVos, Trump’s embattled Secretary of Education, has been engaged in ongoing litigation because of her efforts to reverse…
Trump administration members Kellyanne Conway and Betsy DeVos may have been exposed to the coronavirus at CPAC.
We hear these days about the importance of the African American vote within the Democratic base, and rightly so. This base has played a key role in the Democratic primaries and, according to all indications, will play a key role in determining the Democratic presidential candidate. Democratic candidates would also be wise as well as…
In his State of the Union Address, Trump took a swipe at what he called “failing government schools.†Most of us use the term “public school†or talk about “public education,†as we refer to institutions set up by, for, and of the people. Trump, of course, is talking about public schools, but his choice…
The drama of the impeachment of the nation’s president, reports indicate, simply has not captured the interest or concern of the American audience. Apparently the melodrama of daytime soap operas attracts their attention more than the antics of a corrupt president and administration actively undermining the nation’s security for personal gain at the expense of…
Back in 2004, Thomas Frank’s book What’s the Matter with Kansas? elevated the state as the textbook case of how the Republican party has been able to leverage a platform of conservative social values to sway the electorate to vote against its economic interests. Railing against abortion, affirmative action, big government, elitism, political correctness, and…
When asked about his approach to education in last Thursday’s Democratic primary debate, Pete Buttigieg’s response boiled down the difference between his approach and Donald Trump’s to its most  basic element. “Step one,†he said, would be to “appoint a secretary of education who actually believes in public education.†Buttigieg’s pithy statement put sharply into…
The Education Department’s acting inspector general found that Betsy DeVos broke federal law when she did nothing to block federal funds from being used to arm teachers.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is in the process of writing new rules to expand protections for both students and staff who have been accused of sexual misconduct while protecting the schools and colleges where they work or attend classes. Types of sexual misconduct covered by the proposed new rules include sexual assault, sexual harassment,…
The National Education Associaton and the California Teachers Association are suing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education after they moved to delay rules that protect students who are studying in online programs.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testified on Capital Hill Tuesday saying that the role of guns in school violence was “not a priority” of the Federal Commission on School Safety formed after 17 people were murdered in a Parkland, Florida school shooting in February. In a tweet, the New York Times said “Betsy DeVos…
What if children stopped going to school until gun laws were changed to keep schools safe? That is the radical idea being proposed by former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who wrote on Twitter: “This is brilliant, and tragically necessary. What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe?  My family…
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Koch Brothers are funding a right-wing network that is behind a new secret initiative attempting to discredit teacher walkouts while harming teachers’ unions. There is a nationwide network of right-wing thinktanks that has begun a public relations offensive to counter the positive press being received by the teachers’…
Ever since seventeen children were tragically killed and another sixteen injured last month in yet another school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the nation has been embroiled in a national debate which has been amplified by the survivors of that tragic event. Key to the debate has been the age requirement or…
Democrats and progressives of all stripes will need to paint a vivid portrayal of the wonderful life we might have been living with Hillary Clinton as President and the possibilities they can deliver if they achieve congressional majorities.
“This decision does a disservice to those who have worked hard to address sexual violence. Congress must now act to undo it.”
DeVos claimed the guidelines do not do enough to address the due process rights of those accused of sexual assault and that the victims of sexual assault, those accused and colleges all lose under the current system.
The two rules being reworked by the administration help protect students from shady lending behavior and assist them in finding jobs after college that allow them to pay off their debt.
Betsy DeVos eliminated President Obama’s policies to make student loan repayment easier and to prevent student loan recipients from defaulting.
Although it is true religious Republicans have panted to make public education a theocratic endeavor for a few decades, it is probably true their efforts became paramount after a long-term study’s results last year confirmed their worst nightmare.
18 U.S. Code § 1621: Anyone, after having taken an oath, who willfully lies is guilty of perjury and shall be fined or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
By following evangelical preachers’ edict to legalize discrimination against school-age children, Trump unleashed his theocrats and set a dangerous precedent.
Republicans are learning that they can’t defend the indefensible.
It’s just the latest move in Donald Trump’s quest to turn back the clock on civil rights in America.
*The following is an opinion column by R Muse* One of the downsides of investigating, observing, and opining on the state of American politics is the relatively rare case of uncontrollable rage; not at what’s happening, but that it is happening precisely as no small number of opinion columnists and commentators warned incessantly it would….
When Trump’s controversial Education Secretary Betsy DeVos tried to enter a Washington, D.C. school, protesters blocked the door and would not let her in.
Republicans rammed through the unqualified nomination of Betsy DeVos as Vice President Mike Pence was forced to break the 50-50 Senate tie, as the Trump privatization of public education has begun.
Ralph Reed cites ‘War on Religion’ but as Al Franken has said, “She is fundamentally incompetent” to lead the Department of Education.
The Minnesota Democrat said the Senate should simply tell Devos, “Thank you for your time. We’ll let you know,” and move on to a candidate that is actually qualified to lead the department.
Senate Democrats are within one vote of killing the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Education Secretary after both Republican Senators Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski announced that they would vote no on DeVos.
“Do you think … if your family has not made hundreds of millions of dollars of contributions to the Republican Party, that you would be sitting here today?”
DeVos has an appalling record on civil rights, no experience in or around public schools, and is intent on dismantling the American education system.
Democratic Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to Trump’s Education Secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos, to pay the $5.3 million in fines that have been levied against her super PAC for election violations.
Trump’s choices are unqualified, but they were chosen for their desire to eradicate federal agencies, not their level of competence or expertise.
Efforts to undermine unions diminish democratic operations in our schools and disempower those who are most attuned to what our children need.
DeVos has the potential to undermine progress by diverting resources and failing to uphold government’s responsibility to protect the needs of students.
In one choice, Trump managed to abandon yet another campaign promise, while upsetting teachers unions and his most loyal supporters.
