Is It Really Bad?

Yes!

It is, in fact, bad.

All of it, when it comes to Team Trump, Elon, and the oligarchs.

But also: The Department of Education stuff.

I mean, Joe Biden appointed a former classroom teacher to head the Ed Department.

Trump is suggesting a pro wrestling executive.

But, what does it all mean? What will happen if the Department of Education is disbanded or broken down to a much smaller entity?

Well:

Roughly 7.5 million students, or 15 percent of the student population, receive special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides $15 billion to support students with disabilities. This program could be transferred to another agency, making it significantly less likely that students with disabilities receive the services and support they need and deserve.

And that’s just one example.

Funding, support, and resources will be lost – and protections for vulnerable student populations will be uneven at best.

Meanwhile, Elon and the Oligarchs will pillage the department to boost their own bottom lines.

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Trumping the Department of Education

Elon and the Oligarchs seek takedown of U.S. Ed Dept.

Well, it seems Elon and his merry band of oligarch enablers are raiding the Department of Education.

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal details the Administration’s current thinking on the subject:

Trump administration officials are weighing executive actions to dismantle the Education Department as part of the campaign by billionaire Elon Musk and his allies to shrink federal agencies and slash the size of the government workforce.

Not great. Couple this with Tennessee’s recent passage of Bill Lee’s school voucher scam and you have wholesale destruction of education as we know it.

You know what TN hasn’t known when it comes to education? You know what kind of disruption we haven’t experienced?

Generous funding, support, and resources for all schools, students, and teachers.

Now, it seems at both the federal and state levels, the funding model will shift – leaving public schools grasping for crumbs while private operators profit.

Gross.

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Legislators Pass Lee’s Voucher Scam

General Assembly hands Tennessee schools over to oligarchs

The Plaid Privatizer has won.

Gov. Bill Lee finally achieved his longtime dream of handing public education funding in Tennessee over to some of his favorite oligarchs.

The Tennessean reports:

Republican lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to a $447 million statewide publicly funded school voucher program — a long-sought victory for Gov. Bill Lee and a host of school choice advocates who have spent millions pushing the plan.

Tennessee will now have two taxpayer-funded school systems. The private school voucher system will siphon money from public schools, drive up local property taxes, and bust the state’s budget – just as it has done in other states.

The plan is also unlikely to get results – in state after state, voucher scams have failed to improve academic achievement.

Sen. Charlane Oliver clearly illuminated the big picture of Lee’s scam:

Tennessee’s public education system is under siege by wealthy conservative oligarchs, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who are bankrolling Republican leaders to push school vouchers. Ultra-wealthy conservatives have made dismantling public education their mission, even descending upon Washington ready to disband the U.S. Department of Education.

As public education in the state unravels and unaccountable private school operators bleed taxpayers dry, just remember: This is all on the Plaid Privatizer, Bill Lee.

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

Toward Trump’s Theocracy

The President uses education policy to advance a chilling agenda

Peter Greene takes a look at President Trump’s early executive orders on education and finds that they may be a part of a larger push toward theocracy:

In the end, this eo really only settles one thing– would Trump throw his weight behind the Libertarian dream of smaller government, or behind the theocrat’s dream of a nation forced to follow their preferred values. In education, it looks like the theocrats win this round.

America loses. No matter how imperfectly, this eo will drop a chilling blanket over schools and empower some awful people to be extra awful in their local district. In states that already have installed repressive China-style cultural revolutions, the impact will be minimal. But in other states, this, like the bill to implement school vouchers everywhere, means that state rights be damned–they get the policies they never asked for.

chess piece
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Stop the Scam!

Rally against Bill Lee’s voucher scam TODAY

Supporters of public schools in Tennessee will hold a rally in Nashville today to express opposition to Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scam.

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Sen. Charlane Oliver Takes on Bill Lee’s Oligarchy

Should the gov’s rich friends profit at the expense of TN’s public schools?

State Sen. Charlane Oliver of Nashville pulled no punches in calling out Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scam.

Tennessee’s public education system is under siege by wealthy conservative oligarchs, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who are bankrolling Republican leaders to push school vouchers. Ultra-wealthy conservatives have made dismantling public education their mission, even descending upon Washington ready to disband the U.S. Department of Education.

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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A Warning on Vouchers

They’re expensive and don’t work for kids

A national expert on education policy warned Tennessee lawmakers to proceed with caution when it comes to Gov. Bill Lee’s voucher scam.

Professor Josh Cowen of Michigan State University spoke at a forum hosted by Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. Caleb Hemmer. In his presentation, Cowen discussed his research into voucher programs across the country. Cowen said his findings suggest policymakers should be wary of school vouchers as a policy solution.

“These voucher schemes devastate student learning. The bigger and more recent the voucher system, the worse the results are for kids,” Cowen said. “Over the last decade, we see some of the largest test score drops for kids who transfer from public to private school using a voucher that we’ve seen on any question in the history of education research.”

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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$861 Million for Vouchers

TEA says vouchers carry big cost for taxpayers

The Tennessee Education Association says in an email that the total estimated cost of school vouchers in Tennessee if Gov. Lee’s universal voucher scheme passes is $861 million over the next five years.

The group notes that not only will vouchers increase state costs, but local taxpayers will also be on the hook for the voucher scheme.

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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Feagins Out in Memphis

Board votes to fire Director of Schools

Less than one year after starting her work as Director of Schools in Memphis-Shelby County, Marie Feagins has been fired.

Chalkbeat reports that by a 6-3 vote, the school board opted to terminate Feagins’ contract.

Marie Feagins was fired Tuesday as superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, setting the district back to where it has been repeatedly in recent years: searching for leadership.

A bitterly divided school board voted 6-3 to oust Feagins less than 10 months into her tenure, approving a resolution that cited allegations of professional misconduct and poor leadership.

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Oak Ridge and Voucher Opposition

Retired teacher speaks out against voucher scam

A retired teacher from Anderson County spoke to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge about the reasons she opposes Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scam.

Objections to the new bill that lawmakers must ponder this year were presented in a recent talk by Marsha Livingston, a retired teacher from Anderson County Schools.

Based on valid data comparing the educational outcomes of public and private school students in Tennessee the last two years and in other states with large rural populations, she said, student academic achievement based on test scores in public schools generally surpasses that of students in private schools supported by public money.

 She quoted Andy Spears, publisher of the Tennessee Education Report, who wrote, “With little data showing any significant positive gains, and new data suggesting possible harms, it’s difficult to understand why policymakers would adopt a voucher system in Tennessee.”

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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