In the beginning, Betsy DeVos didn’t seem to understand IDEA. Now it looks like she is out to get rid of it! Here is her recent statement in response to an Education Week writer’s question about reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. I think Congress needs to seriously look at the commitment they made […]
Betsy DeVos and the Let Public Schools Die Then Privatize Them Tour
Here are some observations of Betsy DeVos and her Rethink Schools tour. Autism in Douglas County One of the schools she visited was the Firefly Autism House the private school which received attention in the landmark Supreme Court case Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Parents received funding to place their child at Firefly […]
5 Reasons Why the Teacher Shortage Concern is A Hoax!
No doubt, many children aren’t getting the general or special education teachers they deserve, especially in poor schools. There probably is a real teacher shortage. However, school reformers have been squawking about a teacher shortage for years. If policymakers cared, they would have put programs into place to address this shortage. They would have sought […]
Betsy DeVos and Denying Flint’s Children Special Education
How can a state that poisoned its children with leaded water, now put roadblocks in their way to get the special education services they need to improve their lives? Where’s Betsy? There can be no denying that what happened in Flint impacts education and public schools there. Families need support. We should be getting ongoing […]
Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!
While parents wonder what will happen to their children with disabilities and their schooling due to the possibility of cuts to Medicaid, we’ve wondered, where’s Betsy? As families try to make sense of the information provided online by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, it would be nice to see DeVos speak out in support […]
Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?
The new American Health Care Act (AHCA) will be a disaster for children with special needs. The GOP still doesn’t discuss what those cuts will mean to children with disabilities, even though they appear to be praying awfully hard. Back in May, in a PBS report with Judy Woodruff, correspondent William Brangham told us that […]
Betsy DeVos Should Resign!
Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery. ~Horace Mann It’s Teacher Appreciation Week and a woman who never taught a day in her life was just booed during commencement at a well-known, highly regarded historically black university. She […]
XQ Super Schools vs. Teachers and Great Schools
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Many teachers are being bombarded by gifts and thank you notes as they are appreciated for what they do. In Grand Rapids, the YMCA, the science museum, universities, and the local school district, with millions of dollars of funding by “XQ: The Super School,” are conspiring to replace teachers and their […]
Tennessee Legislators Cry, “Thank God for Memphis!”
Many voucher plans are popping up in state legislatures across the country. Here’s what’s happening in Tennessee. By Jim Gifford No matter what, many Tennessee legislators know a good deal when they see it. If a proposed new bill or untested program concerning public education is considered too risky or is unpopular with the constituents […]
Is Betsy DeVos Getting Rid of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services?
Who will Betsy DeVos choose to run the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)? Anyone? Will she leave the position vacant? Will the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services be dismantled? Education Week is reporting she hasn’t chosen anyone yet. One would think, since she didn’t understand the meaning of the […]