Orlando Sentinel: Betsy DeVos’s Dream Is Really a Nightmare

Orlando Sentinel: Betsy DeVos’s Dream Is Really a Nightmare
by janresseger
Betsy DeVos, our U.S. Secretary of Education, has bragged about Florida’s tuition tax credit voucher program as the model for the kind of national program she’d like to see. An in-depth, three-part investigation by reporters for the Orlando Sentinel paints a very different picture of this program:

janresseger

Betsy DeVos, our U.S. Secretary of Education, has bragged about Florida’s tuition tax credit voucher program as the model  for the kind of national program she’d like to see. An in-depth, three-part investigation by reporters for the Orlando Sentinel paints a very different picture of this program:

“Private schools in Florida will collect nearly $1 billion in state-backed scholarships this year through a system so weakly regulated that some schools hire teachers without college degrees, hold classes in aging strip malls and falsify fire-safety and health records.  The limited oversight of Florida’s scholarship programs allowed a principal under investigation for molesting a student at his Brevard County school to open another school under a new name and still receive the money…. Another Central Florida school received millions of dollars in scholarships, sometimes called school vouchers, for nearly a decade even though it repeatedly violated program rules, including hiring staff…

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Does it have to be bus driver union contracts vs the Transit Millage?: Organizing Movements for more than either or outcomes

Last Tuesday, over 50 people spoke during the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting and most of them were advocating for an Equal Services policy to be adopted by the city, which would make it so city employees (including police) NOT ask people about their immigration status. However, what was interesting about those who spoke, is that most of them were also advocating for the city to push for a fair contract resolution for the bus driver’s union.

This was a powerful display of solidarity, because immigrants, union members and allies came together to make the statement, “immigrant rights are workers rights!”

Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

A few weeks ago, we posted a brief article highlighting some of the tension between the ATU (bus drivers union) and the group Equity PAC. 

The ATU has been working without a contract for 2 years and will likely advocate for people to not support the bus millage as long as they are working without a contract. Equity PAC disagrees with the ATU tactic and believes that the union should put riders, particularly those most marginalized, first on this issue.

Last Tuesday, over 50 people spoke during the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting and most of them were advocating for an Equal Services policy to be adopted by the city, which would make it so city employees (including police) NOT ask people about their immigration status. However, what was interesting about those who spoke, is that most of them were also advocating for the city to push for a fair…

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