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Rauner loves him some DeVos

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Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner praised President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for education secretary Thursday, saying the Michigan billionaire and school voucher proponent is “a very talented and very passionate education advocate.”

Betsy DeVos, whose husband is an heir to the Amway fortune, was named late last month as Trump’s choice to head the federal Department of Education.

DeVos is a longtime advocate for voucher programs that allow parents to use taxpayer funds to pay for private or parochial schools. She’s also a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

“I do know Betsy DeVos, I have great respect for her,” Rauner said Thursday when asked about Trump’s selection of DeVos. “I think she’s a very talented and very passionate education advocate. And I personally am a believer in school choice. And I look forward to working together.”

* From the Detroit Free Press’ editorial page editor…

In Detroit, parents of school-age children have plenty of choices, thanks to the nation’s largest urban network of charter schools.

What remains in short supply is quality.

In Brightmoor, the only high school left is Detroit Community Schools, a charter boasting more than a decade of abysmal test scores and, until recently, a superintendent who earned $130,000 a year despite a dearth of educational experience or credentials.

On the west side, another charter school, Hope Academy, has been serving the community around Grand River and Livernois for 20 years. Its test scores have been among the lowest in the state throughout those two decades; in 2013 the school ranked in the first percentile, the absolute bottom for academic performance. Two years later, its charter was renewed.

Or if you live downtown, you could try Woodward Academy, a charter that has limped along near the bottom of school achievement since 1998, while its operator has been allowed to expand into other communities.

For students enrolled in schools of choice — that is, schools in nearby districts who have opened their doors to children who live outside district boundaries — it’s not much better. Kids who depend on Detroit’s problematic public transit are too far away from the state’s top-performing school districts — and most of those districts don’t participate in the schools of choice program, anyway.

This deeply dysfunctional educational landscape — where failure is rewarded with opportunities for expansion and “choice” means the opposite for tens of thousands of children — is no accident. It was created by an ideological lobby that has zealously championed free-market education reform for decades, with little regard for the outcome.

And at the center of that lobby is Betsy DeVos, the west Michigan advocate whose family has contributed millions of dollars to the cause of school choice and unregulated charter expansion throughout Michigan.

Kind of a dichotomy there, to say the least.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 9:57 am

Comments

I’m sure she is a very nice person but other than her wealth and network of wealthy friends I just don’t see how she is qualified for this post.

Comment by Rocky Rosi Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:00 am
It isn’t about education or “choice” it is all about the public Benjamin’s flowing to the private sector.

To the further detriment of students living in poverty.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:02 am
JS Mill nails it.

Comment by Galena Guy Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:06 am
Perspective?

Bruce and Diana Rauner have a charter high school named for them in Chicago.

Bruce and Diana Rauner clouded their denied, Winnetka-living daughter, not into Rauner Prep… but Payton Prep… and she was taught by CPS/CTU teachers… and took a seat from a worthy Chicago student.

That’s real. That’s honest. That’s the RaunerS

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:08 am
I presume they met at a dressage exhibition, where they discussed how public programs are destroying the economy?

Comment by AlfondoGonz Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:08 am
Key Word, Billionaire…

Comment by Shake Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:09 am
@RockyRosi - I am not sure that she is a nice person given that she reportedly outed her gay brother when he was dying of aids.

Also she was a big supporter of the Acton Institute that wants to bring back child labor as a thing, which is just an awesome quality in an education secretary.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:11 am
I’ve never seen an article that explains how this doesn’t lead to a greater disparity in education between the haves and havenots.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:11 am
===Key Word, Billionaire…===

And Amway.

Comment by GraduatedCollegeStudent Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:12 am
Krugman labeled it.. “We’ve elected a Kleptocracy”

Comment by Anotheretiree Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:12 am
Bruce Rauner is for “choice.” How about allowing Chicago kids to enroll at New Trier? His New Trier kid got to enroll in Chicago, after all.

Comment by Roman Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:13 am
+1 to JS Mill.

It’s the curriculum for Privatization 101: cut off funding to ensure its failure, then react to people’s anger by selling it off to private industry. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Comment by thunderspirit Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:13 am
missing from the story - it begs the question why are people choosing such poor perfroming schools?

Comment by Ghost Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:15 am
–And I personally am a believer in school choice.–

How’s about open enrollment for Illinois public schools that receive state funding?

That way, Waukegan kids could go to New Trier, Bellwood kids could go to Hinsdale Central, Austin kids could go to OPRF, etc.

Give students and parents a choice of existing schools that have established records of accomplishment.

Because with charters, the “choice” component is is the school owners choosing the students, on the taxpayer dime.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:17 am
“School choice” is a great political term. It implies freedom. In this case, the freedom to take tax dollars and put it in your own pocket.

And provide crappy schools for kids to boot!

Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:19 am
Wisconsin has school choice as well. I’m not sure what the overall picture is of Charter Schools in Michigan, beyond the examples cited here. That would be good to know.

I do know that their criticism of student outcomes being slighted is precisely what I believe CPS does as well. (and a few others) Transportation to the “choice” schools is always a very important factor and a void. If you can’t get there, what difference does it make.
A concerted effort to get some great schools in easier to access locations has to be a more important part of this process.
There is plenty of fertile ground to improve all education. We have a lot of great schools. It’s not like there isn’t a template to make them great. There is.
A serious question that I really don’t want to be taken wrong. Despite these schools academic record in Detroit that is seriously lacking and in great need of improvement; are these schools at least providing a safer environment for the kids who attend them?

Comment by A guy Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:19 am
Betsy DeVos is a big donor to the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acton Institute, which (I’m not kidding) thinks child labor is a good thing.

Comment by Nick Name Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:23 am
@Wordslinger- One of the other great “choice” canards is geography.

If a poor family is living in Bellwood getting to Hinsdale Central will be no easy task. And likely out of reach for them.

Transportation funding for schools has all but dried up (they are putting the coup de gras on that this year) and schools won’t be able to help with the transport leaving families on their own.

Their are some examples that you made that could work, but proximity is another limiting factor in school “choice” when it comes to other established schools.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:26 am
Word - I support vouchers and I would be fine with that.

In areas like Springfield or the Metro East - where there are few or no charter schools - vouchers would be welcome. There are good schools surrounding Springfield and we have good private schools in town. In the Metro East a lot of poor performing (and poorly run) schools are close to better performing (and better) run schools. It can be done.

Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:28 am
What those of you who “believe in school choice” ignore is that in order to have the option of choice, one must have the means to choose.

Comment by AlfondoGonz Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:29 am
Vouchers and charter schools can be good or bad. Most people thing that the GI Bill used to send a veteran to Notre Dame is a good use of a voucher. Send that person to Trump University, not such a good use.

Private Charter Schools, like Public Schools, need oversight. The belief is that smaller organizations are easier to improve or replace than larger organizations. But they all have to be actively managed.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:29 am
A family that got rich by scamming millions of Americans with Amway now has one of its own as Sec of Education. What a country!

Comment by George Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:39 am
–If a poor family is living in Bellwood getting to Hinsdale Central will be no easy task.–

Trust me, if a kid in Bellwood could enroll at Hinsdale Central, they’d get there.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:41 am
“School choice” is a euphemism for ignoring poverty as the driver of poor education outcomes.

Segregate poor kids from those with means. Pay teachers less to turn a profit.

If anyone tells you different they are uninformed, lying, or selling you something.

Comment by Blue Bayou Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:42 am
With significant portions of school budgets going toward special education, I don’t trust these billionares to really have special needs student’s educational needs at heart. I look for them to impose some Darwinistic method to distribute dollars among the total student population. The ultimate goal will be a for profit education system with more wealth flowing to the 1%.

Comment by Johnnie F. Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:42 am
@Johnnie F.- the plan, as I understand it, is to divert the $20 - $30 billion in federal special education dollars to a national voucher program.

So you are correct, you hit the nail squarely on the head.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:48 am
School choice is not less expensive for the taxpayers. It does funnel tax dollars to private entities with minimal oversight. It’s the golden egg.

School choice results in increased racial and socioeconomic segregation… including the segregation of students with special needs.

Comment by Up North Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:56 am
“Trust me, if a kid in Bellwood could enroll at Hinsdale Central, they’d get there.”

A comment like this just shows how ignorant you are.

Comment by AlfondoGonz Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 10:57 am
“Choice” — the hardest working word in the political euphemism business (apologies to James Brown). How can you be against choice? Yes, it’s used by both the left and the right.

Comment by X-prof Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:00 am
Betsy and the DeVos family are in my view extremely suspect. Her Amway fortune is basically a Ponzi scheme, vouchers are an attempt to divert public monies to religious and charter schools weakening other schools, and her brother started Blackwater USA. So a religious, Ponzi scheming, war mongering family legacy. Yes, that’s who should be in charge of education in America.

Comment by a priori Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:00 am
DeVos has been a one-woman wrecking ball for schools in Michigan.

I’m sure she only plans to do for the nation’s schools what she has done for Michigan’s.

Comment by Chucktownian Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:03 am
To Oswego Willy one topic that will inevitably be discussed by a DeVoss administration will be how to create publicly funded choice options, either by vouchers or charter schools, for high performing students regardless of the income of their families. That I suspect would include the creation of private sector rivals to a selective school like Payton. I would suggest that the Rauner family would have no problem with a child of theirs going to such a school.

To Roman there is a possibility that under some radical visions of school choice New Trier could be opened up for tuition students from Chicago with vouchers, of course the voucher would likely not cover the full tuition nor transportation costs. This is what Word I think was referencing. For the record I am not a supporter of school choice as it has evolved.

Comment by Rod Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:07 am
Up North - you mean like how schools are now?! The public school systems in Springfield, Chambana, the Metro East, etc. are pretty darned racially and class segregated now.

Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:08 am
Voucher systems guarantee a poor education for the poor. Those parents who can will send their kids to private schools, those who can’t or unable will have their kids attend public schools weakened by the drain of money to the private schools. Public education is suffering from funding problems now.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:14 am
- Rod -

When no one was watching, the RaunerS clouted their denied, Winnetka-living daughter into Payton Prep over a worthy Chicago student.

That’s really it. Your response downstairs take that away.

Honest.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:16 am
–“Trust me, if a kid in Bellwood could enroll at Hinsdale Central, they’d get there.”

A comment like this just shows how ignorant you are.–

Then it’s curious as to the great lengths in time and money that some suburban districts spend in ensuring that they don’t have fraudulent out-of-district enrollments.

Every year at OPRF, I and every other parent/guardian have to walk into the school with a packet of materials that prove our existence in the village: mortgage, tax bills, utility bills, DL.

Everything is copied and then we sit down for a review and face-to-face chat with moonlighting Oak Park police detectives.

I don’t think they would to go such great lengths if they didn’t know that some parents will do just about anything to get their kid into a good school.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:20 am
Anyone who thinks that a billionaire wants to get involved in something for pure altruistic reasons is either blind or a fool. ROI, all day, every day.

Comment by Trolling Troll Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:28 am
WS

To say it will happen is very different than saying it can happen. I would not call it ignorant if he “some would,” or “some would try”. But to say, “Trust me, they’d find a way,” remains a wholly ignorant statement to make.

Comment by AlfondoGonz Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:29 am
Also, WS, I’m an OPRF grad! Small world…er, state.

Comment by AlfondoGonz Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:30 am
It’s not just that Betsy is a charter advocate. It’s that she’s deeply, deeply bad at what she does.

Comment by WSJ Paywall Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 11:56 am
=I don’t think they would to go such great lengths if they didn’t know that some parents will do just about anything to get their kid into a good school.=

TRUE. New Trier is know for having a department that addresses/investigates residency issues. In my district it is me.

The easiest way to get into a district, and get transported, is to establish oneself as homeless.

Establish and homeless may seem to be a bit of a paradox but it is true.

A quick read of the McKinney Vento Act (established circa 1987) provides the path way. And it can cause real issues for districts. The rule of thumb (established by court cases) is enroll first and then investigate.

To be homeless, you really do not have to be homeless. Another paradox.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:08 pm
I think that Trump figures that if education isn’t excellent with professional educators, then let’s try s rank amateur. That should work!

Comment by JackD Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:19 pm
OW many of us here in Chicago knew about the clout lists created by Duncan or clearly suspected that they existed for many selective high schools and even the best elementary schools in this City. My own cousin who was a VP at Leo Burnett clouted his child’s way into a selective high school even though she had questionable qualifications. He also gave the school’s not for profit fund raising entity a serious donation. His name appeared on the clout list released by the Chicago Sun Times. OW its not just Rauner, its the Chicago way.

If you haven’t noticed this is a very

Comment by Rod Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:20 pm
- Rod -

With respect,

When your cousin runs for governor and wins, I’ll address his/her discretion.

That’s the ball game. Not the “Chicago Way”

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:23 pm
Well, your kids can always help with your Amway business. That’s how your whole family will get rich.

Comment by walker Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:29 pm
Let’s be clear about DeVos–she’s a dilettante. She has no experience in education or running any organization she hasn’t funded. She’s an ideological lobbyist and activist with no management experience and no knowledge of what a quality school is.

That Rauner would like someone such as this is no surprise either.

DeVos herself has avoided answer questions on whether she accepts evolution, but her husband has been a vocal creationist also. That’s not a good sign for science education.

Let me add one dimension on higher education as well. This administration has done an admirable job holding all institutions to higher levels of accountability for financial aid. If you have high rates of default on loans a series of steps are taken to reduce student exposure. This has primarily hit the shady for profits (not all for profits, but the shadier elements). All indications I have seen is that a DeVos administration at Department of Ed will reverse course. Again, the current rules hit all institutions the same, but for profits are the hardest hit because of their high pressure sales techniques.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:32 pm
Maybe I am too cynical, but it is hard for good schooling to overcome bad parenting.

We have some families living in Naperville in Section 8 housing. Would like to know how their kids are performing.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:33 pm
Essentially she support a really simple concept; let the money follow the kid, thereby letting the parent choose which school is best for their children.Competition for kids will spur schools to find efficiency and innovations to become better than their peers. I know that seems terrible to the supporters of the current Government Run union school system. To the general public and voters not so much.

Comment by T Sowell Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:43 pm
===Trust me, if a kid in Bellwood could enroll at Hinsdale Central, they’d get there.

No. We’ve had experiments like this–it’s not something new. Boston and Saint Louis have both had voluntary school choice programs. I’ll note conservatives tried like heck to shut down the public school choice in favor of charters.

When kids were provided transportation many kids did sign up, but that often meant long hours on buses, getting up well before dawn and waiting on the streets for those buses. All the credit to those parents and kids. However, not all the kids could do that and it misses an important issue for kids in urban settings, that of mobility. Many kids don’t live in one place for an entire year or even semester.

I am a big fan of public school choice in general. The entire State of Minnesota has it and it works well, but without transportation, it provides little opportunity. Taking a public transportation for small kids is out of the question and it can be exhausting for even high school students.

Charters or vouchers don’t address fundamental problems that urban parents face. They have problems with transportation, stability, and the ability for schools to provide longer care given the dearth of quality child care.

85-90% of the factors affecting student performance occur outside of the classroom or even school building. Seriously, that’s the consensus for those who study student performance. Charters and Vouchers do nothing for those issues so the focus on them is an ideological disconnect at best or simply a method to get vouchers for middle class parents and tear down public institutions at worst.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:44 pm
===.Competition for kids will spur schools to find efficiency and innovations to become better than their peers.

Except it won’t. How do most white and African-American parents judge school quality?

African-American percent of the student body. Yeah, the great Randian delusion of the great rational individual is bunk. Parents largely do not understand what a quality school consists of especially if they had a bad experience in school as well.

So this idea that there is a market that will solve the problem is nonsense. See the schools in Detroit. The crappy schools stick around and get incentives to expand. It’s almost like you didn’t read the article Rich linked to.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:48 pm
Charter schools and per-pupil/student-based budgeting are killing neighborhood schools. This “business model” is not very good at differentiating between good and bad schools.

Because of this funding model, Pritzker Elementary in Wicker Park was forced to cut it librarian position. So, an enrollment drop results in cuts to essential programs which then results in further enrollment drops and further cuts - a death spiral.
So, can the neighborhood school remain as a “choice?”

Comment by TinyDancer (FKASue) Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:54 pm
====Because of this funding model, Pritzker Elementary in Wicker Park was forced to cut it librarian position. So, an enrollment drop results in cuts to essential programs which then results in further enrollment drops and further cuts - a death spiral.

So it’s working just as the DeVos’ and Rauners’ would like.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 12:56 pm
=So it’s working just as the DeVos’ and Rauners’ would like.=

If what they would like is the end of free public neighborhood schools, then it’s working just fine.

But what do the PEOPLE want? And do they even realize that if we follow this model to its logical conclusion, the neighborhood school will no longer be one of their “choices?”

Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 1:13 pm
None of the choice models work in rural Illinois. There is only one school for miles and miles. How about funding schools fairly and paying teachers for the hard work that they do. There are no shortcuts or easy fixes. Conservatives want something for nothing. It turns out you have to actually pay real money for real value — and this is particularly true when it comes to K-12 education.

Comment by Scamp640 Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 1:24 pm
=Competition for kids will spur schools to find efficiency and innovations to become better than their peers.=

Except it won’t and does not.

Schools are meant to encourage collaboration and sharing between professionals. We know, based on research and data, this works best.

When the profit motive invades the outcome that matters is the bottom line not learning.

And your insipid “union model” comment only serves to reinforce that you know nothing about schools or educating children.

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 1:58 pm
ArchPundit I have friends with two children who live in Willmar Minn a town of about 20,000. They exercised their right to public school choice by sending their two white children to a school district nearby that has a higher proportion of white students, it’s actually close to all white. About 14.5% of residents of Willmar speak Spanish at home and another 5% speak Somali. They are not racists, but they are afraid of the changes in their community in just a few years.
So Willmar schools have gone into an ESL crisis. This crisis is discussed at the county level (Kandiyohi) in a report part of which I extract below:
“Faster than expected: By 2010, the growth of the black1 population in Kandiyohi
County residents had nearly surpassed the Minnesota State Demographic Center’s
projections for the entire four-county economic-development region. Since 2000,
the number of black residents had increased by more than 200 percent to nearly
1,000 residents. The number of Hispanic residents grew by 53 percent during that
same period and now accounts for more than 11% of the county’s population.
Gaps in educational and economic outcomes: Unfortunately, educational and
economic outcomes for residents of color in the county are uneven as compared to
white residents. Gaps are present in adult economic indicators: just 6 percent of
adults of color have a bachelor’s degree or higher, only 54 percent are employed, and 42 percent live in poverty. Median incomes for black and Hispanic
households are tens of thousands of dollars less than those of white (nonHispanic)
households. Gaps in educational achievement are seen as early as 3rd
grade: 81 percent of Kandiyohi County’s white 3rd graders can read at grade level,
but less than half of the county’s black or Hispanic children are able to do so.
Even larger gaps exist in 11th grade math and high school graduation rates.”

So all has not gone well with public school choice in Minn and I don’t blame my friends for exercising their rights to opt out of the Willmar schools, it was a logical choice. Minority enrollment is now 35% of the student body (majority Hispanic and Somali and ESL), which is more than the state average of 29%. Willmar Public School District’s 73% graduation rate is lower than the MN state average of 88%. The district’s graduation rate of 73% has decreased from 81% over six years. Only 49% of Willmar’s students are now proficient in reading based on standardized tests. Sometimes school choice is really complex.

Comment by Rod Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 2:19 pm
Middle-class parents started bailing out of Chicago’s failing schools decades ago, enrolling their kids in private schools or moving to the suburbs. As recently as 2004, a Thomas B. Fordham Institute study found that 39 percent of CPS teachers sent their own kids to private schools.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-12-15/opinion/ct-edit-schools-20101215_1_private-schools-charter-school-operator-school-board-president

Comment by Lech W Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 2:22 pm
=Middle-class parents started bailing out of Chicago’s failing schools decades ago, enrolling their kids in private schools or moving to the suburbs.=

Wake up Lech - It’s no longer decades ago - it’s 2016 and that trend has reversed - in upper-middle class Chicago neighborhoods.
Upper-middle class Chicago parents are “choosing” to send their children to the neighborhood elementary schools, many of which now perform like suburban schools.
They also want neighborhood high schools. What they don’t want is a college-entrance-type application try-out process for high school. They want a neighborhood high school that comes with their address - just like in the suburbs.

Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 2:57 pm
John Oliver had a segment on charter schools and while ago. Scary.

This was a throwaway appointment to reward a supporter that far right loves. Nothing more.

Comment by Sir Reel Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 4:12 pm
@10:12 am

I had to look up the Definition of kleptocracy:

” government by those who seek chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed “

Comment by Enviro Friday, Dec 9, 16 @ 4:19 pm