Tag Archives: dismantling of public education

We’re just one Republican vote away from stopping Betsy DeVos from taking over the Department of Education

By Mark | February 1, 2017

Today, Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced on the floor of the Senate that they would not be voting to confirm President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Assuming neither Senator changes her mind between now and the vote, which is expected to happen as early as […]

Posted in Education, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Betsy DeVos, Dan Sullivan, Dean Heller, Deb Fischer, education reform, Jeff Flake, Jerry Moran, Kansas, Lisa Murkowski, Nevada, Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, public education, school vouchers, Shelley Moore, Susan Collins of Maine, threats to public education, West Virginia | 16 Comments

The fight over the future of public education in America moves to the full Senate, as Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education passes out of committee

By Mark | February 1, 2017

The above photo was taken by my friend Al Hoff today outside an elementary school in Pittsburg. While I imagine it’s possible that someone could have hung the flag upside down by mistake, I suspect it probably has something to do with what’s happening right now in Washington relative to public education. [The upside down […]

Posted in A2Awesome, Education, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Al Hoff, Alaska, Anchorage, Betsy DeVos, Cabinet, charter schools, confirmation hearings, Dick DeVos, education reform, for-profit charter schools, Lisa Murkowski, Maine, PTA, public education, religious fundamentalism, religious intolerance, Secretary of Education, Senate, Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions, Susan Collins, threats to public education, virtual charters | 22 Comments

Elizabeth Warren grills Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos, saying she’s unprepared to protect American tax-payers against the waste, fraud and abuse of higher ed swindlers like Trump

By Mark | January 18, 2017

There’s a lot to discuss about DeVos’s performance during yesterday’s confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. There’s one part in particular, however, that I’d like to share. It’s an exchange between the billionaire anti-public education activist and Senator Elizabeth Warren on the subject of how, as Trump’s Secretary […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Also tagged abuse, Bernie Sanders, Betsy DeVos, confirmation hearings, Donald Trump, education reform, fraud, public education, Secretary of Education, threats to public education, Trump University, waste | 30 Comments

Secretary of Education pick Betsy DeVos caught on tape, talking about defunding public education in order to “advance God’s kingdom”

By Mark | January 16, 2017

With the Senate confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, set to begin tomorrow, the folks at Politico just released a 2001 recording in which the Amway billionaire explains that her work to defund public education has been done in order to “advance God’s kingdom.” Her comments, according to Politico, were […]

Posted in Education, Politics, Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Betsy DeVos, Dick DeVos, for-profit charter schools, Gretchen Whitmer, Jim Fouts, Office of Government Ethics, public education, racism, religious extremism, religious sabotage, separation of church and state, The Gathering, threats to public education, virtual charters, Warren | 69 Comments

Elizabeth Warren gives a preview of the DeVos confirmation hearing in a scathing 16-page open letter to Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education

By Mark | January 9, 2017

Apparently, it’s not just Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow that’s decided to come out aggressively against Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, in advance of the Amway billionaire’s Wednesday confirmation hearing. Earlier today, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who sits on the Senate committee that will be considering Devos’s nomination, sent the candidate a scathing 16-page […]