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Johnny2X2X

(19,066 posts)
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 02:34 PM Nov 2016

Betsy Devos accepts Education Secretary position from Trump

As a native Grand Rapidian I can tell you this is horrific. The Devos Family are old school Calvinists who believe they are rich because god favors them (not because of the massive illegal pyramid scheme they bilk people with).

Anti Union, she will push for public unions to be illegal. Creationism will be pushed nationwide.

His cabinet picks are sickening, worse than we could have imagined.

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Betsy Devos accepts Education Secretary position from Trump (Original Post) Johnny2X2X Nov 2016 OP
Oh NO! There goes public education WhiteTara Nov 2016 #1
If she and others pulling Trump strings have their way. Hortensis Nov 2016 #7
I expect the Kochs to come visit Scum WhiteTara Nov 2016 #14
Honestly, White Tara, they are currently bigger than next POTUS. Hortensis Nov 2016 #21
Have you seen the movie aggiesal Nov 2016 #22
Yes. It was so stupid and now it's here WhiteTara Nov 2016 #23
Our Theocracy will put Iran to shame! HAB911 Nov 2016 #2
Voucher and charter school advocate. WillowTree Nov 2016 #3
There are no words to describe as to how devastating this will be for public education. demmiblue Nov 2016 #4
Here is the Freep article: demmiblue Nov 2016 #5
Elections have consequences Thrill Nov 2016 #6
indeed... it's so freaking depresisng to see this shit play out after what we went through with Bush Fast Walker 52 Nov 2016 #17
For profit primary education Johnny2X2X Nov 2016 #8
As a Michigan native I agree with all you have said etherealtruth Nov 2016 #9
Bad bad bad superpatriotman Nov 2016 #10
Pensions Johnny2X2X Nov 2016 #11
I think it would be helpful to other DUers who are not familiar with her... demmiblue Nov 2016 #12
She's the sister of Blackwater founder Erik Prince. octoberlib Nov 2016 #13
oh god, oh god, oh god Fast Walker 52 Nov 2016 #15
Devos... so appropriate... we will be devolving... Fast Walker 52 Nov 2016 #16
Expansion of Charter Schools was a ballot question in MA Tracer Nov 2016 #18
Is she also one of those who think that Bettie Nov 2016 #19
Fuuuuuuuu! sakabatou Nov 2016 #20

WhiteTara

(29,718 posts)
1. Oh NO! There goes public education
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 02:36 PM
Nov 2016

Our country will be so dumb that stone age people will look sophisticated.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
7. If she and others pulling Trump strings have their way.
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:03 PM
Nov 2016

Yes. Yet another appointment revealing the influence of extreme-right plutocrats on Trump. Devos's charter schools are only an initial step in the destruction of public-funded education. They still have to make compulsory education and taxation to pay for it unconstitutional, but they've made it clear that's on the agenda.

WhiteTara

(29,718 posts)
14. I expect the Kochs to come visit Scum
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:27 PM
Nov 2016

any day now. Maybe they'll wait until he is in the WH and they'll try out the seat behind the desk in the oval office.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
21. Honestly, White Tara, they are currently bigger than next POTUS.
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 07:18 PM
Nov 2016

They were extremely powerful before we elected Trump, and so were the DeVoses. Now...! No hoping for 8 years of limited power for them, struggling to get part of their agenda passed and then retiring.

These are the people who will decide if Trump will be allowed to stay in office. They're probably already considering who to put into office and move into various positions in 2018 and 2020.

United we can take them down. That's why they and others like them have spent the past 40 years working extremely successfully on dividing us.

For what they've been up to for decades, I found Jane Mayer's "Dark Money" very enlightening, but she's discussed it a bit in articles and interviews that are on line as well.

demmiblue

(36,865 posts)
4. There are no words to describe as to how devastating this will be for public education.
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 02:51 PM
Nov 2016

Fellow Michigander here...the DeVos family is vile (see also, Eric Prince- Blackwater).

You said it... his cabinet appointments are beyond sickening. Double

demmiblue

(36,865 posts)
5. Here is the Freep article:
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 02:56 PM
Nov 2016
<snip>

DeVos' background is a fit for Trump's plans to boost school choice in the U.S., particularly for high-poverty students. She is on the board of directors for the Great Lakes Education Project, which advocates for school choice and charter schools. She also chairs the board of directors of the American Federation for Children, another choice advocacy group.

DeVos and her husband led a failed effort to amend the Michigan constitution to provide vouchers that would allow students to attend private schools at public expense. That's a centerpiece of Trump's education plan. He would invest $20 billion in federal money toward school choice, and expect states to kick in $110 billion of their own money, to provide $12,000 each in school choice funds to the 11 million school-age children living in poverty.

DeVos, from Michigan, is a longtime advocate for charter schools and school vouchers. She leads the advocacy group, American Federation for Children.

"The status quo in education is not acceptable," she said in a statement Wednesday. "Together, we can work to make transformational change that ensures every student in America has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential."


Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/23/betsy-devos-tapped-donald-trump-educations-secretary/94346002/
 

Fast Walker 52

(7,723 posts)
17. indeed... it's so freaking depresisng to see this shit play out after what we went through with Bush
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:35 PM
Nov 2016

how do people fucking forget so easily what a hell that was???

etherealtruth

(22,165 posts)
9. As a Michigan native I agree with all you have said
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:14 PM
Nov 2016

(grew up in SE MI/ metro Detroit, but lived in Grand Haven for a while)

demmiblue

(36,865 posts)
12. I think it would be helpful to other DUers who are not familiar with her...
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:20 PM
Nov 2016

to provide links with statements like these.

Thank you.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
13. She's the sister of Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:22 PM
Nov 2016

ERIK PRINCE, founder of the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and current chairman of Frontier Services Group, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies for attempting to broker military services to foreign governments and possible money laundering, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the case.

What began as an investigation into Prince’s attempts to sell defense services in Libya and other countries in Africa has widened to a probe of allegations that Prince received assistance from Chinese intelligence to set up an account for his Libya operations through the Bank of China. The Justice Department, which declined to comment for this article, is also seeking to uncover the precise nature of Prince’s relationship with Chinese intelligence. https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/

Inside Erik Prince's Treacherous Drive To Build a Private Air Force
https://theintercept.com/2016/04/11/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-drive-to-build-private-air-force/

Tracer

(2,769 posts)
18. Expansion of Charter Schools was a ballot question in MA
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 03:59 PM
Nov 2016

It was handily defeated!

No one in MA was fooled by TV ads proclaiming the wonderfulness of charter schools.

Bettie

(16,110 posts)
19. Is she also one of those who think that
Wed Nov 23, 2016, 05:28 PM
Nov 2016

there should be no free public schools? That it should all have to be tuition based?

She sounds terrible, but I'm curious about this.

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