Okay --- so WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?

holy god is Kellyanne trying to get her own talk show?

THIS IS AMAZING.

SHe is like a blonde Kardashian/Nancy Grace caricature. omg

omg
she won't SHUT. UP. to hear the other side......omg



headdesk



just going to share this train-of-thought derail:
Is Kellyanne Conway the hired successor for the Donald Trump Apprentice Show? This is all just too too bizarre.

Seriously. This Kellyanne reality tv thing is freaking fiction. omg....

anyway......
@ interupt:

You and I do not disagree at all on those points.
knock knock who's there interrupting cow interrupting cow wh-------mooooooo



OMG OMG

O. M. G.




omg

Kellyanne Conway is utterly off the rails. Lost a marble. Drain bamage. holy god help us this is embarrassing to put her in this situation she is SO FAR underwater here....

poor dear.....





SERIOUSLY ---- WHY IS IVANKA NOT DOING THIS??????

ugh.

If I am concerned about anyone in Trump's cabinet picks right now, it's Betsy DeVos. The results of her hearings didn't sound promising, although I haven't yet watched it personally. She may be in over her head.

But there is some hope. Mary Scott Hunter is a member of the State Board of Education and I met her when she managed to get funds approved for Northeast Alabama Community College's new STEM building a few years ago. She comes across as a very dedicated, compassionate, tough, and resourceful person. She has hope for DeVos.

State Board of Education member Mary Scott Hunter, R-Huntsville, said that while many will talk about DeVos’ commitment to charter schools, school choice is a state decision. Meanwhile, new ESSA guidelines clearly signal that federal overreach in schools will be knocked back, she said.

“So, what’s more exciting to me for Alabama is that if she can successfully reduce the size, scope and overreach of the federal Department of Education, we can do some really important things for our kids,” Hunter said.

Source: www.decaturdaily.com...

If Mary Scott Hunter has hope, so do I.

TheRedneck

This morning I am watching the recorded DeVos hearing. I am not quite 90 minutes into it. She has REFUSED to answer ANY of the "yes" or "no" questions regarding her intentions and support for the concerns brought up by the committee.

The stupid plastic smile on her face makes her look like Michelle Bachmann -- and she appears to be far more concerned about how she looks, with her perfect hair and makeup, and making sure that insipid smile is on her face--- than she is about impressing this panel. It gives me the creeps. She is just offering lip service and deftly NOT answering the very real concerns brought up, but only saying "I look forward to working with you" and smiling.

Like the freaking miss universe pageant rather than a serious hearing. This woman is intending to get the Education Department, lift all of the expected results, she has not answered ONE question yet. No tax returns, no ethics statement, she just keeps yammering about the states being in charge (a mistake, in my expert opinion on education, Children & Families, and public service regarding exactly this -- and having worked in Special Ed myself, both as a parent of gifted students AND as a classroom educator for behaviorally disturbed kids AND as a social worker for families with kids whose needs are not getting met).

This woman is not fit to run a federal department. She intends to gut it and privatize everything. NO.
no.

And stop with the smiling self-conscious Bachmann look, omg. Education is one of my main concerns, as many of you know. This person says she trusts parents to know what to do. I DO NOT. Especially the parents of troubled or gifted kids. Parents DO NOT KNOW the best way to deal with children who have special needs. That's why there are parent educators and teachers. Many of the parents of those kids did not receive quality education themselves. They CERTAINLY did not get guidance on how to educate their own babies and preschoolers. Many more are struggling with finding and paying for child care. Pre-K is CRITICAL. My kids could read and write by age 3.

MOST PARENTS are NOT TEACHERS. We have PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR A REASON. While I admire her idealism, it is simply NOT TRUE that ALL parents know what's best for their kid. Obviously.

good gawd. She can be in charge of Sunday schools if they must still exist (frankly I would do away with them altogether, NOT hand them the rest of our kids to indoctrinate into Judeo-Christian traditions). Keep her AWAY from the public education.

*head desk*

Sen Alexander needs to shut up. These people want MORE QUESTIONS. Sen Alexander is saying they just want to grill her because she's not a Democrat. BULLS#!T

ugh....

anyway -- this woman talks about very noble intentions. I think she really does want every kid to get a good education. I do not understand how the States individually have different "needs" for their kids. No.
Our kids need to be ready to be GLOBAL citizens. A kid who is in western Kansas surrounded by cattle and wheat needs to get the SAME QUALITY OF EDUCATION as the kids in eastern Kansas who live in mansions with full household staffs. Her 'principles' seem very well-intentioned, but her awareness of real educational day-to-day challenges is LAME. Like I said, I worked in the public alternative schools as a classroom para-educator. For Severely Behaviorally/Emotionally Disturbed kids. The kids in eastern Colorado need the same education as the kids in Kansas. As in Missouri.

THERE MUST BE A FEDERAL STANDARD.

Because of that experience, I went on to graduate school, at the behest of the school Social Worker. That is WHY I WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL. Children & Families. That led to my immersion in best-practice educational standards. I DO KNOW THIS STUFF. Better than she does, I will add.
After I got my degree, I worked in the Charter Schools as a one-on-one social worker counselor for kids with troubles at home or with behavior. I KNOW what Charter Schools are for, and how they work.

This woman is talking about them like they're all perfect Montessori academies and upper-tier deliverers of education. This is not always the case. I worked in the urban core Charter Schools. Just because a kid goes to a Charter School does not mean they won't still go home to poverty, substance abuse, incompetent/unavailable (or worse, ABSENT) parents, or help with their homework. Most parents don't read the handouts. They don't go to conferences. They hate the social workers. They even hate the teachers. It is utterly THANKLESS work to be in that situation.

My entire career was focused on education the kids, and EDUCATING THE PARENTS TOO. After I left that position I went to work as a Parent Educator for birth-to-three programs. I was a home visitor for new parents with their first child. I taught those PARENTS how to recognize their child's style of learning and needs. YES - the TEACHING must fit the student. There is no "one size fits all."

The parents of the poorest kids are often utterly inept at participating in their educations, and only rarely attended conferences. They resented the fact that their kids were pulled out of mainstream schools to get extra help. I am all for individualizeded education programs. The I.D.E.A. is there for a reason.
While I applaud her broad support for individualized education, I find her completely ignorant of what it really means on the ground. My 'swan song' before I retired from Social Work was to be a presenter at a National Conference on Preventing Child Abuse America's convention. I was chosen to speak based on an anonymously submitted proposal, based on my education and experience. I was invited to speak, and did so.

The room was standing room only, and I received an ovation from the entire room. I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. This woman does not. I know many readers think I'm full of crap --- and that's the same everywhere. People who actually KNOW what we're talking about are ignored in favor of gauzy-eyed smiling rich people's pipe fantasies.


Her zeal to 'get everyone educated!' is great. Her actual knowledge of what it's like to live it is nonexistent.

I also wrote my posts before I looked at the 'news' to see what others think of her. I see that she is widely regarded to have failed entirely.


OMG. This Alexander guy is being obstructionist. Because he's bitter about how they treated Obama's nominations?

Those other hearings were for people with RECORDS and EXPERIENCE. She has NONE.

omg. SENATOR ALEXANDER, SHUT UP. They aren't asking to treat her differently! They are asking for her resume!!



WHy does she not speak up and say, "Senator, Mister Chairman, please allow them to ask their questions in a publicly televised hearing!"

Just here at the moment to drop off some info....

Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America's Schools to Build "God's Kingdom"

"Trump is much more likely," Lanting says, "to bring Christ into the world."

For deeply devout people like Lanting and DeVos, that's no small detail, and education plays a key role in that mission. Since her nomination, DeVos hasn't said much publicly about her views on education—or whether she plans to defend the separation of church and state in public schools. (DeVos declined Mother Jones' request for an interview, but a Trump transition team spokeswoman replied in an email, "Mrs. DeVos believes in the legal doctrine of the separation of church and state.") However, in a 2001 interview for "The Gathering," a group focused on advancing Christian faith through philanthropy, she and her husband offered a rare public glimpse of their views. Asked whether Christian schools should continue to rely on philanthropic dollars—rather than pushing for taxpayer money through vouchers—Betsy DeVos replied, "There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the need in education…[versus] what is currently being spent every year on education in this country…Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God's Kingdom."

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, the Brother of Betsy DeVos, Is Secretly Advising Trump

Robert Mercer, the billionaire hedge funder, his daughter Rebekah ran one of the most important super PACs to Trump, Make America Number 1 super PAC. And Trump—and Erik Prince and his mother, Elsa, were two of the largest contributors to one of the most significant super PACs that supported Donald Trump. Erik Prince is very close to Robert Mercer. Prince was also at the "Heroes and Villains" party that Mercer threw in Long Island after the election. And, in fact, there’s a picture that Peter Thiel, the right-wing billionaire who destroyed Gawker—a picture of Peter Thiel, Donald Trump and Erik Prince, that Peter Thiel says is not safe for the internet. But it’s clear that Erik Prince, through Betsy DeVos, through Robert Mercer and through his very right-wing paramilitary crowd, has the ear of President-elect Donald Trump. And our understanding, from a very well-placed source, is that Prince has even been advising Trump on his selections for the staffing of the Defense Department and the State Department.

Ok this Alexander guy is acting like a jerk and he is OFFICIALLY on my craplist. He is protecting her from public scrutiny. Why? Did Trump threaten him to push her through?

Her hearing took longer because she has NO RECORD. And of those answers, she spent at LEAST 15 seconds of the allotted "five minutes" with each questioner "thanking" them for the question and the prior meeting. Really? Yeah yeah - a blanket thank you in her intro would have been better.

This woman is a nogo. NO. I'm going to call my senators right now.
I'll keep you posted.
.....
Naturally you can never get through to the actual Member of Congress.

Three phone calls (leaving messages), and two emails (to the Senators) later, I have squawked to my Congressmen and left my phone number. Not that any of them will call me back. But dammit, people - AT LEAST TRY!

Here's what I wrote:


I have an MSW from KU, and have worked in the education system here since Cindy Lane was a principal at the Bridges program in KCK. I went to graduate school specifically to impact the education and family issues around this area.

I just watched the entire DeVos hearing. Not only was your colleague Sen Alexander absolutely obstructionist in refusing to allow a second round of questions from concerned committee members, he was obviously bitter and not intending to properly vet this woman publicly.

While she may have the best and most idealistic of intentions, she is NOT QUALIFIED to be the Sec of Education, and I DO NOT want you to vote for her.

My specialty was Children & Families, Special Ed (kids with Severe Emotional/Behavioral Disorders), and clinical counseling. I worked for the Kansas Children's League in the Birth-to-Three curriculum visiting first time parents -- it was below my academic level, but I have always been a front-line, in-the-trenches worker.

This woman is not qualified to run that department, and CLEARLY wants to allow states to decide what to teach their children. I could not be more impressed with Sens. Warren, Kaine, and Franken for their astute lines of questioning.

I impel you to vote NO on Betsy DeVos. This PEOTUS is a disaster, and his picks are oligarchs, and YOU ALL KNOW IT. PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR HIS NOMINEES. And if you must vote for any of them, DO NOT VOTE FOR HER. I'm not an economist or an oil baron or a lawyer or doctor, I am an educated product of PUBLIC EDUCATION.

I can't pay off my student loan because the government has GUTTED social services already! You all will NEVER recoup the amount of money I borrowed, because I never earned enough to pay it to begin with.

I am not in default, but I am also not able to pay it.

I do vote, however. And while I did not vote FOR YOU, I still am one of your constituents. Blue voter in a heavily trounced GOP state. Brownback is disgrace enough -- but if this woman gets seated and YOU VOTE FOR HER, I will have lost all hope.

Kindly do not send me a form letter response. I know you are busy with this 'inauguration' of an unqualified and unfit President....I also am paying keen attention, for the first time in my LIFE!, to this process of nomination hearings.

DeVos must NOT be approved. She is summarily unqualified. I am her peer in terms of age and her superior in terms of qualifications to address this subject. DO NOT APPROVE HER.

Please.

Thank you, sir.

I will expect an actual response from you. And if not by email, then by telephone. Do your job. Do what's best for Kansas. Betsy DeVos IS NOT THE ANSWER.

She doesn't even know what the I.D.E.A. is!???

2c There's a difference between hope and wishful thinking. Hope is wanting something because you know it is possible to obtain it. To want something that cannot be given is wishful thinking.

For ex., hoping people will change to what you want them to be is wishful thinking. Ask anyone who married someone hoping he/she would change.

Yeah. So. Calling DC is, of course, what we are supposed to do. I have been contacting my 'reps' and 'senators' for years via email, and have written hard letters to them since I was in my 20s....

today I called my local Congressman's office, and was able to leave a message with his admin asst. He listened politely even though I was barking up the wrong house!! After that, I phone Moran's office, and the girl just said, "okay I'll tell him."
Then I called Roberts office, and got an automated voicemail.

LAME.

God I'm really pissed now.
Really, really pissed.

a reply to: desert

A huge part of me is dying here. OMG. omg.
God save us from your misguided followers. A freaking Dominionist.
Like Brownback. We are SO SCREWED.

You know what my personal step today has been?

Realizing that I AM NOT INTIMIDATED by them anymore. I called their offices and was not even the least bit nervous. This is ridiculous.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Now you know how others feel trying to get a responce from the Federal government. And this is exactly why we do NOT need an overreaching Department of Education...in my professional opinion.

There are indeed parents who do not know how to educate their children... I see them all the time. Their kids wind up working fast food their entire life, or in prison because they turned to crime. But there are also parents who believe in education and want better for their kids. Federal overreach has resulted in stifling those who want education in a failed attempt to force those who don't care to care. The result is people like that guy I tutored in college math who couldn't add two double-digit numbers. That is NOT OK!

Federal policies always revert to a one-size-fits-all approach. Children are not drones to be programmed in a factory. Everyone learns differently (graphically, audibly, visibly, repetitive, comprehensive, socially, singularly, etc.) and successful schools recognize this and tailor classes to suit that. Different children have different interests as well. You can put me through English classes 24/7 for the next ten years and I will learn nothing, but I can burn the math courses like a wildfire and retain. Again, successful schools know this and use it.

At NACC, the remedial (and some of the lower collegiate) math courses are labs taught using Pearson Education. Students sign up for class, they are given access to school computers optimized for Pearson, and they work at their own pace to complete the course. If they complete early, they can move immediately to the next class. If not, they can request an Incomplete and continue into the next semester (assuming theit record shows attempts in good faith). Sections can be repeated as many times as necessary. If someone gets stuck, the teacher and usually at least two tutors are available for one-on-one help. In addition, each student entering school takes a learning style survey to help the teachers and tutors know better how to help them, and tutors hold classes on test-taking and testing stress management for students who show a need.

NACC has been recognized as one of the top community colleges in the nation for STEM education. That's why Mary Scott Hunter was so excited to announce their new STEM building. It's state-of-the-art, with electronic teaching enabled classrooms, ergonomic desks, and state-of-the-art labs. I got a personal tour of it from the Dean, and it blew me away.

Compare to public schools: Pearson is not used, because Federal regulations make it impractical for all but the largest schools. Comprehension is ignored... I have had many students tell me their teacher just wants them to memorize when I try to explain (probably so the kids can pass the exam). Instead of tailoring classes to learning styles, every child is expected to learn every style, which is not only ridiculously impossible, but time consuming so less is learned by everyone. Teachers, at least in math, are in my opinion far too often incompetent, or at best, apathetic. The idea can best be summed up as "talk for a couple hours, get the kids to write something close, move on."

That does not work!!!!!!!!

Education is near and dear to me, Buzzy, and I not only am a student but am certified as a professional math tutor. I have tutored successfully at elementary, high school, college, and advanced levels. I know dozens of teachers personally from working with them on problem students. I will take you to task on this. Federal education (sub)standards are destroying our youth, and I will support anything that reverses this trend!

The Education Secretary from Idiocracy could better than this.

TheRedneck

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Yes!!!

You know what, Buzzy, there has been a concerted effort from the increasingly fringe right, especially after 1980, to tell their supporters what to do about something they perceive as a social problem. It started out pre-internet with mailings and phone calls to Congressional members and others in govt and continues today with phone calls and internet. It has worked very well for them.

For example, remember Janet Jackson's famous Super Bowl nipple exposure? A far right group got members to immediately contact the FCC in protest. The FCC fined CBS, which was later overturned.

I thought at the time, WTF there are soldiers coming home from Iraq missing limbs and all you care to complain about is a glimpse of a nipple?? That is whack!!

Good for you! You are not letting the bastards wear you down! Illegitimi non carborundum!

a reply to: desert

Hey, I just checked your source, The Intercept....it's Jeremy Scahill!! Oh my!! He is one of the BEST investigative journalists we have. I have read his Dirty Wars book and part of Blackwater. HE IS NOT FAKE NEWS.

Thanks for introducing me to that site!! I'm thrilled to see what he's thinking.



As for the Religious Right and their control issues, I'm already in the arena with you. Yes, many many moons ago I came here and made a thread about Dominionists and the New Apostolic Reformationists. I have been fighting them ever since.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Federal overreach has resulted in stifling those who want education in a failed attempt to force those who don't care to care. The result is people like that guy I tutored in college math who couldn't add two double-digit numbers. That is NOT OK!

no. my friend....my colleague here on this little tiny cybercommittee. NO.

Federal UNDERREACH (by Reagan, to be precise) let loose all of the people who needed mental health care and an education. he just shut the hospitals. he said, "here ya go, communities --- here are your mentally ill needy --- "


and no one was prepared. We now have a country full of homeless veterans who DESPERATELY need care and attention....and you know what? We have lots of OTHER unwell people roaming around...and they have children.

There can't be any "don't care." That has to stop. I don't know if you read my lengthy posts above, but I will NOT back down on this one. I should be the *fsme on this one.

a reply to: TheRedneck

First of all, I remember you said you had not watched it.

I think you need to watch it. The whole thing. It's three and a half hours. I'm POSITIVE that either of us could find 'press' saying she sucked or she nailed it. YOU need to WATCH the proceedings. If this topic is one you cherish, then attend the meetings. WATCH THE HEARING.

Please. Don't just take some online op-ed writer guy's word as the one you should adopt. You are SMARTER than that. Watch the hearing. Listen to the whole thing------and you will then be ready to discuss it.

I know dozens of teachers personally from working with them on problem students. I will take you to task on this. Federal education (sub)standards are destroying our youth, and I will support anything that reverses this trend!

I think, with all due respect, that you have it backwards. The lack of FUNDING for GOOD TEACHERS and PROFESSIONAL psychologists and social workers and teachers providing multi-disciplinary service is the issue.

THE PEOPLE ARE THERE. The PAY is not.
Private schools pay more. So the good teachers get into those. PUBLIC SCHOOL teachers make do with less, just like social workers. BECAISE WE REALLY CARE AND DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY. The difference between a philanthropist business woman who crusades for something (like all of the royals do, you know......they all have a pet project; hell even the First Ladies pick a pet project!) and A PERSON WHO KNOWS WHAT TO DO are enormous. This woman is in no way, shape, or form qualified for this position.

DeVos's argument that there should not be a federal MINIMUM EXPECTATION of growth is preposterous. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Seriously....education may be near and dear to you, and you may know teachers with anecdotes.....so do I share those attributes. I am sharing with you THE NEXT LEVEL of what is entailed here. I'm telling you. Not suggesting or asking.

I KNOW THIS STUFF.

Just like I wouldn't come on here and say, "well, your code for the program you are developing as an intern is wrong." Because I don't know.

We ALL know what the outcomes of the educational system is...but only SOME of us know WHY it is that way.


You have to stop the people throwing the students off of the bridge instead of just fishing them out, wrapping them in a blanket, and sending them back home.

You can call me to task all you want...but I will never back down from insisting on quality education tailored to the student, and that EVERY SCHOOL pays their teachers the same. A six-figure salary for the CEO of a private school is sick.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I watched part of it, got tired of long-winded speeches, and reverted to watching specific sections. Call me lazy; I just don't have time or desire to listen to a bunch of long-winded Congressmen enjoying the sound of their own voices.

Come to find out, that was probably a good decision.

Betsy DeVos was totally unprepared for the assault questions. She was unable to answer the questions, and unable to defend herself. "Deer in the headlights" comes to mind. I do not think she will make an effective Education Secretary, and I will not shed a single tear (metaphor... rednecks are born without tear ducts) if she is not confirmed. If she is confirmed, well, I will hope that either I misjudged her by this appearance or that she is taken out and replaced quickly. Congress must confirm, but Trump hires and fires the cabinet.

I suspect Trump was talked into this selection, probably as a peace gesture toward an already hostile Republican party.

Yes, Buzzy, I am agreeing with you this time. On Betsy Devos' ability to fulfill that office.

Just not on education from the Federal level.

You can call me to task all you want...but I will never back down from insisting on quality education tailored to the student, and that EVERY SCHOOL pays their teachers the same.

That is completely unrealistic. For one thing, a teacher making $50,000 a year here is in the top 20% of earners, but a teacher in New York City making $50,000 a year would be grading papers in a cardboard box in a back alley. For another, why would you want to remove all hope of promotion from the profession? Your demand would completely destroy the teaching profession!

People expect to be rewarded for their hard work. The longer and harder they work, with better results, the more they should be paid and the more secure their jobs should be. The school system has already removed that latter reward system through the (ab)use of the "tenure" system... now you want to price fix their pay as well?

Every teacher should be paid well, and the better they are at teaching, the more they should be paid. If, as you say (and I believe as well), the best teachers teach because they love it and not just for money, the best teachers will be drawn to the public schools. In fact, I think they are drawn to the public schools. The reason they leave the public schools us because Federal regulations keep them from effectively teaching. They go to private schools because they can teach well, and of course the extra money is nice too.

I get this straight from the mouths of actual teachers... good, damn good teachers who left the public school system because of those regulations you worship. Not from social analysts, not from policy-makers, not from politicians... from actual good, quality, compassionate teachers. They know more about how they feel than you do, than Betsy DeVos does, than Donald Trump does, than Elizabeth Warren does, than anyone does.

The DEA needs to exist, but it also needs to get the Hades out of micromanaging schools. They need to provide full-ride tuition for everyone who can graduate close to the top from high school (yes, Bernie had a good idea), they need to ensure that students do not face discrimination or religious ndoctrination in public schools, and they need to reward top performing schools to encourage others to be the same. They do not need to set academic or subjective 'standards' that translate into abysmal performance outside the narrow focus they set... they need to look at realistic benchmarks. How many students graduated, how many dropped out, how many failed? After 5 years, what is the mean income of graduates compared to the mean income in their community? After 5 years, how many are skilled labor? Professionals? How many started college? How many graduated college? With what degrees? How many dropped out of college?

Then, if a school is consistently underperforming, help them fix it... that is NOT the same thing as taking it over.

There's more to success than passing a standard test that lazy teachers can use to make themselves look good without doing or accomplishing anything real. A lot more. So far, your ideas strike me as being totally isolated from reality and completely impractical.

But we agree on Betsy DeVos.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

She was NOT assaulted. ANy qualified nominee would have had no problem answering those questions.