From the EduShyster blog: Betsy DeVos’ Alternative Facts

After Betsy DeVos’ rocky confirmation hearing performance, she quickly became fodder for memes and late-night comic commentary. But what ya’ll are missing is that DeVos herself is in on the joke.

As she prepares to take her spot in the *highest IQ cabinet ever assembled,* she’s the only cabinet member who has a real stake in raising your IQ—by 12 points. DeVos knows that in this, the age of alternative facts, no one gives a hoot about the difference between *proficiency* and *growth.*

The testimonial is where it’s at. So Neurocore, the biofeedback company that she won’t be giving up on, has no research behind it. Who cares???

Neurocore changed Charles C’s brain and changed his life, and it helped football player Kirk Cousins take his game to the next level.

If the plural of anecdote is data, then the plural of testimonial is franchises. To the brain rooms, reader, we’ve got qEEG data to collect and a national expansion to plan.

Before we get to how great Neurocore is, let’s take a quick look at how easy it is to retrain your brain. This won’t take long because it’s that easy.

Read the full blog post here: Betsy DeVos’ Alternative Facts – EduShyster

http://edushyster.com/betsy-devos-alternative-facts/

Trump’s ‘war with the media’ raises questions of trust

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s “running war” on the media is continuing into his presidency, with statements over the weekend calling into question the extent to which information

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s “running war” on the media is continuing into his presidency, with statements over the weekend calling into question the extent to which information from the White House can be trusted.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday will hold his first daily press briefing at which he could face questions about a statement Saturday night that included demonstrably false assertions about the crowd size at Friday’s inauguration and a promise by the new administration that “we’re going to hold the press accountable.”

Some Trump supporters will no doubt cheer the continued antagonism toward the media that was central to the Republican’s campaign for president. Now the stakes are higher.

Press secretaries have been lied to by their bosses, or misled reporters through the omission of information, but veteran journalist Dan Rather said Sunday it was the first time he could recall false material being delivered in this way.

“I hope that people will stop, pull back for what we in television call a wide shot and see what is happening,” Rather said. “This is a deliberate propaganda campaign.”

Read the full story here: Trump’s ‘war with the media’ raises questions of trust

Want To Protect Yourself From A Bear? Betsy DeVos Tells You How.

You knew it was going to happen.  Sooner or later one of Trump’s Cabinet nominees was going to say something so crazy and stupid during a confirmation hearing that the comment would end up becoming the most-used line by every comic and satire show on tv.  And right now that honor belongs to Betsy DeVos, whose loony, right-wing views on just about everything no doubt qualify her to advise the 45^th President on the educational needs of America’s 50 million school-age kids.

             But what I didn’t know about Betsy is that her expertise also evidently extends to wildlife and guns.  Because at some point during her confirmation hearing, she told the Senate committee that using guns to protect teachers and kids in schools should be a local decision, and to prove why this was necessary she mentioned a Wyoming elementary school that had been menaced by a grizzly…

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Laura Chapman on the Mysterious Non-Evaluation of ED Department Charter Funding

Laura Chapman on the Mysterious Non-Evaluation of ED Department Charter Funding
by dianeravitch
Laura Chapman, retired educator and crack researcher, comments on the strange case of the millions (billions?) of dollars awarded to charter schools that have never been evaluated as to their use, misuse, or effectiveness:

READ MORE OF THIS BLOG POST HERE:
https://dianeravitch.net/2017/01/22/laura-chapman-on-the-mysterious-non-evaluation-of-ed-department-charter-funding/

Diane Ravitch's blog

Laura Chapman, retired educator and crack researcher, comments on the strange case of the millions (billions?) of dollars awarded to charter schools that have never been evaluated as to their use, misuse, or effectiveness:

I doubt if you will ever find an evaluation report for our charter school investments, from USDE or IES.
USDE shoved money out the door for anything charter–startup, replication (franchising), and facilities and facilities financing.

Negative reviews of the grant applications were ignored. I read some of these reviews. Even the questions for the reviewers were rigged to minimize “accountability.”

We paid federal dollars for absurdities, including advertising for charter students; cross-country junkets to recruit teachers and leaders; uniforms for the students including backpacks with logos, various goodies for “awards.”

I have yet to find any reports from states back to USDE on what happened to the money channeled to states. No federal reports on schools…

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Protecting Public Education Will Be a Challenge under the Trump Administration

Protecting Public Education Will Be a Challenge under the Trump Administration
by janresseger
Today we mark the inauguration of a new U.S. President and a new administration. Public education is perhaps the quintessential American institution, designed to educate all children—helping them develop personally and forming an educated public. All indications are that President Donald Trump’s administration will set our society back by undermining public education.

A group of 175 deans of colleges of education and chairs of college departments of education has released a declaration of principles to remind us all what we must try to preserve as the new administration takes over federal policy and seeks to privatize education.

READ MORE OF THIS POST HERE:
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/protecting-public-education-will-be-a-challenge-in-the-trump-administration/

janresseger

Today we mark the inauguration of a new U.S. President and a new administration. Public education is perhaps the quintessential American institution, designed to educate all children—helping them develop personally and forming an educated public. All indications are that President Donald Trump’s administration will set our society back by undermining public education.

A group of 175 deans of colleges of education and chairs of college departments of education has released a declaration of principles to remind us all what we must try to preserve as the new administration takes over federal policy and seeks to privatize education.

First, “U.S. public education policy should: Uphold the role of public schools as a central institution in the strengthening of our democracy... Students are not merely commodities or consumers, and when we treat education as a competitive marketplace fueled by privatization we set up a system that ensures that some win…

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Friday Fun – How do you sing to your danger?

New post on Live to Write – Write to Live

Friday Fun – How do you sing to your danger?
by nhwn
Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION:

When danger approaches sing to it.

Arab proverb

So much of good writing results from experiencing “danger” in our own lives. People get sick or die, families are threatened by financial insecurity, and politicians infringe on our rights. Even a personal challenge (like taking a long walk with your son) can present moments of danger.

Think about when you have experienced a profound sense of danger. Sit there and really chew on that feeling – notice that sudden race of pulse, that sweat that breaks out, that sense that you have to get up and physically move away from the memory.

And now try to sing to that danger by using that very specific experience in your writing going forward. Sing to make it real, sing to take away its power by sharing.

What words will you use to sing to danger?

Read more of this post here: https://nhwn.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/friday-fun-template/

Live to Write - Write to Live

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION:  

When danger approaches sing to it.

Arab proverb

So much of good writing results from experiencing “danger” in our own lives. People get sick or die, families are threatened by financial insecurity, and politicians infringe on our rights. Even a personal challenge (like taking a long walk with your son) can present moments of danger.

Think about when you have experienced a profound sense of danger. Sit there and really chew on that feeling – notice that sudden race of pulse, that sweat that breaks out, that sense that you have to get up and physically move away from the memory.

And now try to sing to that danger by using that very…

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Mom said, “Never go alone.”

Fred Klonsky

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A must read. Women’s March: January, 21, 2017. Pensacola, Florida.

-By Bob Zellner from his Facebook page. Bob Zellner is the organizer of the Ella Baker Organizing School South BOSS at North Carolina NAACP and former Field Secretary at SNCC.

Fred Klonsky

-By Bob Zellner from his Facebook page. Bob Zellner is the organizer of the Ella Baker Organizing School South BOSS at North Carolina NAACP and former Field Secretary at SNCC.

The worst weather in the United States erupted this morning as our small band suited up to drive from Daphne, Alabama, my hometown, to Pensacola for the Women’s March. Tornado alarms screamed as we drove through rain and wind toward Morning Joe’s hometown.

Four women organizers in our crowded SUV talked to driver Kent about not hydroplaning. “Warning,” someone reminded us, “means there’s a twister on the ground somewhere nearby.” Another declared that if there were only a dozen people at the march, at least we would be there.

Nearing the end of Palafox at Luna Plaza in Pensacola we could make out rainbows of bright umbrellas and rain slickers, as small groups with dripping signs…

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The Wealth and Deception of Betsy DeVos

The Wealth and Deception of Betsy DeVos
by Jeff Smith (GRIID)
screen-shot-2017-01-23-at-12-51-16-am

One good thing about Betsy DeVos being chosen as Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education, is that we are now getting some glimpses of the vast amount of wealth she and her husband Dick have.
Read more of this post: https://griid.org/2017/01/23/the-wealth-and-deception-of-betsy-devos/

Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

One good thing about Betsy DeVos being chosen as Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education, is that we are now getting some glimpses of the vast amount of wealth she and her husband Dick have.

On Friday, MLive reported that Betsy DeVos, “in a letter to ethics officials at the U.S. Department of Education, said she would divest from 102 entities within 90 days of her confirmation.” 

This is one of the first times we have seen this level of disclosure from any member of the DeVos family. MLive even posted the letter that Betsy DeVos send to ethics officials at the Department of Education, which included the list of entities she claims she would divest from. This disclosure is required by the federal government, but it is worth reading. 

MLive, however, did not provide any additional information on the companies that Betsy DeVos currently has investment in…

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American Free Trade: No Border Wall for Resources, Just for People »

by John Laurits Whether President Trump will ultimately succeed at building his border wall I do not know — but I know that, no matter how great or tall, it would surely be easier to overcome than the walls my country has already raised around its citizens’ minds. Those are built of sturdier stuff than brick & mortar and crowned by crueler things than coils of […] Read more of this post