President Donald Trump has nominated former Tennessee Ed chief, the controversy-steeped Penny Schwinn, for the position of US deputy secretary of education, a post that requires Senate confirmation.
Interestingly, even conservatives oppose her confirmation (see here also).
I’m not sure how much of the Schwinn sketchiness will reveal itself in Schwinn’s confirmation hearing, but the information is out there– easy enough for a Louisiana education blogger to find.
For example, in 2017 as Texas deputy commissioner for academics, Schwinn was in the news as part of a no-bid contract issue for several million dollars with a sketchy, inexperienced company out of Atlanta, SPEDx, which was supposed to handle special education data for both Texas and Louisiana.
The situation of two states offering no-bid contracts worth millions to a new company run by a CEO with no experience in analyzing special education data caught the attention if the media, and Texas canceled its contract even as Louisiana was questioned about keeping theirs.
When queried by the media, Texas education commissioner, Mike Morath, tried to distance himself from the situation. However, on December 28, 2017, Andrea Ball of the Austin American-Statesman revealed that Schwinn was involved in the contract and “helped write it.”
You can read about the details in this March 20, 2018, post.
Two years later, in February 2020, I again wrote about Schwinn. By this time, she had moved from Texas to become commissioner of education in Tennessee and had been there for a year.
Controversy followed her there, as well:
Within ten months of Schwinn’s arrival as Tennessee ed commissioner, the Tennessee Department of Education experienced 250 resignations, including “people with decades of institutional knowledge,” which the November 15, 2019, Tennessee Chalkbeat characterized as “not typical.”
In 2019, according to the Tennessee Lookout, the Tennessee legislature nixed Schwinn’s ability to vote on state textbooks after complaints from a publisher and some district leaders following accusations that Schwinn was “playing favorites.”
Too, Schwinn and no-bid contracts were again connected:
On February 12, 2020, Schwinn was again in the news related to a no-bid contract controversy, this time in connection with Tennessee’s school voucher program and the ed-fund-tracking company, ClassWallet, as Chalkbeat reports:
Lawmakers who oversee the spending of Tennessee taxpayer money blasted the Department of Education Wednesday for its handling of a no-bid contract with ClassWallet, hired for $1.25 million a year to manage the state’s upcoming voucher program.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn and members of her team were grilled for almost two hours over the decision to bypass a competitive bid process to hire the Florida-based company — and for twice the amount budgeted for work this year on Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program. …
“Fiscal Review didn’t find out about this contract grant until Nov. 13 when it was published in Chalkbeat. Do you think that that’s acceptable?” asked Rep. Matthew Hill, the Jonesborough Republican who chairs the panel. …
“To the general public, it looks like you found a vendor, and then created a contract,” said Faison, a Republican from Cosby.
There is a lot more detail to the Chalkbeat article, which is certainly worth a complete read. It seems that Schwinn’s rogue maneuvers have the support of Tennessee governor Bill Lee, and Schwinn justified her no-bid decision by saying it was necessary to begin the voucher program in 2020, a year earlier that the legislature planned, as per the governor’s wishes.
Another major irritation for Tennessee legislators is the ballooned pricetag due to Schwinn’s no-bid: The legislature budgeted $750K for costs associated with the voucher program, but Schwinn blew it up, committing her ClassWallet no-bid to $2.5M for two years.
But there’s more: Schwinn’s chief financial officer said that it decided– without legislative approval– to use teacher-pay funds from an expired program to fund the increased voucher program cost due to the no-bid it awarded. In response, Tennessee House Fiscal Review Panel chair, Matthew Hill, replied, “…We robbed teacher pay. … I can’t stress how bad this looks for us.”
According to Chalkbeat Tennessee, school vouchers in Tennessee “collapsed” in 2024, but term-limited Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, is giving it another push in 2025.
Schwinn remained in her Ed commissioner post in Tennessee until 2023, when she resigned effective June 1st. In 2021, Schwinn faced a possible no-confidence vote of the Tennessee legislature, a vote that did not happen. Then, in 2022, the Tennessee Holler noted this conflict of interest, which is included in my May 12, 2023, post:
In April 2022, the Tennessee Holler noted that Schwinn omitted from her most-recent financial disclosure mention of her husband’s employer, TNTP (started by Michelle Rhee, incidentally)– a notable omission since on March 01, 2021, Schwinn signed a two-year, $8M contract with TNTP, with the Tennessee Lookout noting, “The contract took effect March 12, and is to run through fiscal 2022 at a rate of $4.032 million for each year, even though only four months remain in this fiscal year.” In December 2021, the contract was renewed for an additional $8M through 2024 “despite a potential conflict of interest for the state’s education commissioner,” the Tennessee Lookout again reports.
Penny Schwinn in a confirmation hearing?
We’ll see where this one goes.
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Students who toy with the notion of using social media to fabricate a lie in hopes of wrecking a teacher’s life should take a lesson from two high school students in southern Louisiana.
From the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office:
Two High School Girls Charged for Trying to Frame Teacher for Inappropriate Messages
Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre and Lafourche Parish Schools Superintendent Jarod Martin announced two teenage girls have been charged for trying to frame a male high school teacher for sending inappropriate messages to a student.
On December 18, 2024, juvenile detectives opened an investigation into a report from a concerned party that a Central Lafourche High School teacher had been sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old female student. Detectives learned she and a 15-year-old friend were allegedly engaged in conversations involving inappropriate messages from the teacher via an online instant messaging platform.
Over the next two weeks, detectives conducted a thorough investigation, including interviews with all parties allegedly involved, and obtained search warrants for their phones and accounts on the messaging platform. The investigation revealed that the two teenage girls had fabricated messages, created fake accounts, and shared screenshots with friends in an effort to frame the teacher for sending inappropriate messages.
The investigation proved the teacher had not sent any messages or photos to the girls and, in fact, had no involvement. The teacher was actually proven to be the crime victim and has been cleared of all allegations. One of the two students also admitted to their involvement in the crime.
On January 6, 2025, both girls were charged with one count each of false swearing for the purpose of violating public health or safety (felony), cyberstalking, and online impersonation. They were placed on electronic monitoring and released to the custody of their parents.
Sheriff Webre applauded the tenacious efforts of investigators and warned those considering similar crimes. “Our juvenile detectives are diligent and take claims of inappropriate behavior very seriously,” said Sheriff Webre. “They are, however, equally serious about false claims. Someone’s life can be instantly ruined by a false allegation, and I am proud that our investigators were able to get to the bottom of this. Technology has made it very easy for people to try to manipulate the truth, but technology also makes it easy for investigators to ultimately find the truth.”
“We are shocked and appalled to learn of the actions of two of our students,” added Superintendent Martin. “The allegations against one of our teachers were false and malicious, and we appreciate the efficiency of investigators in uncovering the source of these messages. Such attacks on a teacher’s credibility and reputation are concerning and can inhibit their ability to effectively educate our children. We are committed to investigating all allegations of misconduct in order to provide a safe environment conducive to learning and working for all of our students and staff.”
Even though the report acknowledges that the teacher was the victim, there is no mention of the likely disruption to the teacher’s life, which may well have included (but not have been limited to) being removed from his classroom; becoming the subject of rumors and undeserved tarnishing of his reputation, and having to surrender personal items, such as his phone, to authorities, for them to comb through his private business.
As for the students, yes, they now have a criminal record that resulted in “electronic monitoring,” but they have also left evidence on social platforms, evidence which might well resurface to serve them negatively as a part of a digital footprint that postsecondary institutions and potential employers could well discover and which would, at best, require these two individuals to humiliatingly explain why they chose to engage in such a premeditated, callous manner in hopes to destroy a person of authority in their lives.
At worst, these two will forfeit future academic, employment, or other notable professional opportunities without having any chance to “explain,” as those who otherwise would have provided them with such opportunities decide that this awful digital footprint evidence is sufficient for an automatic rejection. The end.
For the sake of this innocent teacher, I am glad that the matter was resolved within weeks and that the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office was quick to make the public aware of the outcome.
The press release does not mention whether the teacher will seek additional redress in civil court.
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One of the more surprising features added to the WordPress blogging site is the option for bloggers to access AI (artificial intelligence) to “assist” with my writing.
I write because I like to write, so the idea of algorithms “helping” me is comical. The whole point is for me to write as a creative outlet, one that informs, entertains, and, at times, challenges the public.
I don’t want a machine to do my writing for me. What would be the point?
Ah, but the providers and producers of the AI option want to be sure that they are not liable for any negative outcome potentially faced by their users. They also tell users to be mindful of what they write when accessing AI assistance because their writing is teaching AI, and, well, one would not want to spill personal details that AI could pass on to the AI using world.
Here’s the skinny on AI usage on this blog site, WordPress, operated by Automattic, Inc.:
AI Guidelines
At Automattic we’re always looking to add exciting new features that make our products and services even better. We’re particularly excited about adding artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to help unleash your creative potential, including generative AI that helps you create content and images. We know that AI, and particularly recently released large language models (LLMs), bring questions along with that excitement.
These Guidelines provide best practices for using AI, information on Automattic’s AI implementation (including our third-party providers and policies that you need to comply with), and helpful resources on AI safety. We’ll continue to update this page as we add new features and learn about AI along with you.
Using AI: Things to Think About
We hope you enjoy using our AI features to help you build your website, store, or business. There are some common issues you should be aware of when using AI systems, whether with Automattic or anywhere else:
- AI output might be surprising or flawed. Due to the nature of AI, output could be inaccurate, offensive, biased, harmful, or just plain false. You’re responsible for any output you use, as if you were the original or sole creator, so you should always thoroughly review output before using it. For example, if you use an AI feature to help you write a description of a product you’re selling in your WooCommerce store, give it a read and edit to ensure it’s accurate! And keep in mind that the AI might not have been trained on the most current data; for example, you can find knowledge cutoff dates — which is based on training data — for OpenAI’s models here.
- You still need to ensure that your website and its content comply with all applicable policies. Our AI features are meant to give your creativity a head start. While our AI features can help generate content and even set up your website, it will not review your site for compliance with applicable rules. You should carefully review and edit your site and all AI-generated content, to ensure it complies with all applicable laws, as well as our Terms of Service and policies, like the WordPress.com User Guidelines. For example, our AI might generate placeholder descriptions for your products or testimonials for your business, and you should always replace these with authentic and accurate content.
- Be thoughtful about what data you put in. Your input will be shared with third party AI providers and might be used to train their models, so you should think carefully before inputting any confidential or sensitive information. You can learn more below about how your input may be used by the third party AI providers that power our features (AI at Automattic: Third Parties and Usage Policies). And as always, any data you provide us will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
- We don’t claim any ownership over the content you generate with our AI features. Please note that you might not have complete ownership over the generated content either! For example, the content generated by AI may be similar to others’ content, including content that may be protected by trademark or copyright; and copyright ownership of generative AI outputs may vary around the world.
- Please be transparent when you use AI-generated content. We strive to be thoughtful stewards of AI, so we believe it is always a good practice to clearly label what content is AI-generated. This is particularly important when it’s possible that someone could potentially be misled or harmed by the content.
- Let us know if something isn’t helpful (or worse!). We’re constantly fine-tuning and enhancing these new and experimental features, so we’d appreciate your feedback. In some cases, you may be able to provide feedback within the product (👍/👎), but otherwise, please contact us.
AI at Automattic: Third Parties and Usage Policies
We use third-party software and systems to power some of our AI features. Currently, some of our AI features are powered by OpenAI. OpenAI has its own set of terms and policies that apply to your use of our features that utilize OpenAI, and you should review their terms and policies here. When using our AI-powered features, you must comply with OpenAI’s Usage Policies.
OpenAI does not use your input to train their models or improve their services, but please note that any data you provide as input will be sent to OpenAI and handled in accordance with their policies. We do not currently share with OpenAI any other data from your use of our AI features.
Please note that we could power features with new providers that have different practices regarding their use of input data. Please check this page for any updates.
Want to Learn More About AI?
AI is complex and moving quickly, and there’s plenty more to learn about it. Here are a few resources you might find helpful or interesting, or that have good tips on staying safe when using AI:
Center for AI Safety
The New Yorker’s Annals of Artificial Intelligence
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Okay. Some points worth emphasizing from the above AI disclaimer spill:
Due to the nature of AI, output could be inaccurate, offensive, biased, harmful, or just plain false. You’re responsible for any output you use, as if you were the original or sole creator, so you should always thoroughly review output before using it.
In the end, AI might be providing incorrect suggestions, but it’s all on you to detect as much, human user.
Another one:
…Our AI might generate placeholder descriptions for your products or testimonials for your business, and you should always replace these with authentic and accurate content.
Our AI might give fake reviews on products you’re selling. It’s on you to root them out, human. In the end, the user is liable, not the algorithm or its disclaimer-coated providers.
A third one:
Your input will be shared with third party AI providers and might be used to train their models, so you should think carefully before inputting any confidential or sensitive information.
Okay. If you don’t want AI to perhaps incorporate your personal business into its suggestions for scores of other writers, then keep it out of your AI-guided writing.
Next: If you utilize AI assistance, you may not say the writing truly belongs to you:
We don’t claim any ownership over the content you generate with our AI features. Please note that you might not have complete ownership over the generated content either!
If the point of using AI is to cut corners and lead others to believe you created content without AI assistance, well, you, AI user, are liable if you do so:
Please be transparent when you use AI-generated content. We strive to be thoughtful stewards of AI, so we believe it is always a good practice to clearly label what content is AI-generated. This is particularly important when it’s possible that someone could potentially be misled or harmed by the content.
If someone might be harmed by not knowing AI generated content, and if AI might create false content, this is just a fantastic cocktail for disaster for writers who might not critically weigh the choice to solicit AI assistance with their writing. Accusations of plagiarism, loss of reputation or professional opportunity or even legal liability immediately come to mind….
Nonetheless, my friends, AI is here for you.
In this day and age, AI is apparently everywhere for you– for a price.
Better to carefully and responsibly write authentic work. That’s what many who love to write, who view their writing as personal, creative expression, really want to do, anyway.
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When the New York Times article, “Lawyer, Author and TikTok Star Spent 72 Years in an Iron Lung,” was published in March 2024, it did not hold the same meaning for me as it does today.
The article details the life of Paul Alexander, a man who contracted polio in 1952, when he was six years old. He defied the odds and lived a staggering 72 years largely dependent upon an iron lung, though he eventually trained himself to breathe outside of the device for hours at a time.
I have met only one person who survived polio, a friend’s uncle who contracted the disease as a child (which is how it usually happens) and who was born and lived his early childhood years prior to creation of the polio vaccine. I remember his telling me how his mother massaged his legs with olive oil in a desperate bid to keep him walking. As it turns out, he was not paralyzed, though one of his legs lost much of its muscle conditioning and resembled a baseball bat.
The US has had two documented polio cases in the last 30+ years, one in 1993, and one much more recently, in 2022.
Two in 30 years and both connected with traveling abroad.
The subject of polio and the polio vaccine has been in the news of late with President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (RFK) for Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.
RFK Jr. has made his stance against vaccines, polio included, well known (see here and here also). He has backed off on that stance since his controversial HHS nomination.
So, the idea of RFK Jr. leading HHS has me paying closer attention to terrible life situations like those of childhood polio survivor, Paul Alexander.
From the New York Times article about Alexander’s life largely tethered to an iron lung:
After he was paralyzed by polio at age 6, Paul Alexander was confined for much of his life to a yellow iron lung that kept him alive. He was not expected to survive after that diagnosis, and even when he beat those odds, his life was mostly constrained by a machine in which he could not move.
But the toll of living in an iron lung with polio did not stop Mr. Alexander from going to college, getting a law degree and practicing law for more than 30 years. As a boy, he taught himself to breathe for minutes and later hours at a time, but he had to use the machine every day of his life.
He died on Monday at 78, according to a statement by his brother, Philip Alexander, on social media.
He was one of the last few people in the United States living inside an iron lung, which works by rhythmically changing air pressure in the chamber to force air in and out of the lungs. And in the final weeks of his life, he drew a following on TikTok by sharing what it had been like to live so long with the help of an antiquated machine.
…
Mr. Alexander contracted polio in 1952, according to his book, “Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung.” He was quickly paralyzed, and doctors at Parkland Hospital in Dallas put him in an iron lung so that he could breathe.
…
While innovations in science and technology led to portable ventilators for people with respiratory problems, Mr. Alexander’s chest muscles were too damaged to use any other machine, and he was reliant on the iron lung for much of his life, according to The Dallas Morning News, which profiled him in 2018.
When he was inside the machine, Mr. Alexander needed the help of others for basic tasks such as eating and drinking. …
Mr. Alexander launched his TikTok account in January, and, with help from others, he began creating videos about his life. Some addressed broader parts of his life, like how he practiced law from the iron lung. …
In other videos, he took questions from his more than 330,000 followers, about more mundane, yet interesting, aspects of his daily life, like how he was able to relieve himself. (A caregiver had to unlock the iron lung, and he would use a urinal or bed pan.)
In one video, Mr. Alexander detailed the emotional and mental challenges of living inside an iron lung.
“It’s lonely,” he said as the machine can be heard humming in the background. “Sometimes it’s desperate because I can’t touch someone, my hands don’t move, and no one touches me except in rare occasions, which I cherish.”
…
When he was 8, Mr. Alexander learned to breathe on his own for up to three minutes by gulping in air “like a fish” and swallowing it into his lungs, he told The Dallas Morning News.
…
Mr. Alexander was one of the first students to be home-schooled through the Dallas Independent School District, and, in 1967, he graduated second in his class from W.W. Samuell High, according to The Dallas Morning News.
…
By learning to breathe on his own, Mr. Alexander was able to live outside the iron lung for hours at a time, and students from his dorm would take him to class in wheelchair, according to the Alcalde. He then attended law school at the University of Texas and earned his law degree in 1984.
A great 16-minute video on the history of polio and development and distribution of the vaccine:
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On December 21, 2024, the US Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act, otherwise known as HR 82, a bill that restores full Social Security benefits to public sector workers who at some points in their work lives paid into the Social Security program but had been denied full benefits because public sector workers contribute to other pension programs. Spouses of public sector workers will also benefit.
President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law. (As of this writing, he has yet to do so.)
A summary of the bill text is as follows:
Social Security Fairness Act of 2023
This bill repeals provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government.
The bill eliminates the government pension offset, which in various instances reduces Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own.
The bill also eliminates the windfall elimination provision, which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.
These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.
For more on the Windfall Elimination Provision referred to above, see this link. The “windfall” can be seen in this major section of text to hit the dustbin, section k (5), which the 2024 bill removes:
The bill will benefit 3 million public servants and their spouses, a change that is expected to add over $190B to Social Security disbursements, including some sort of retro fix going back one year, to January 2024. (For more info, public sector employees may find this International Association of Firefighters Q&A with resource links helpful.)
In a November 08, 2024, letter from the Congressional Budget Office, issued at Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s request, estimates that the additional payouts will move the Social Security trust fund depletion ahead by six months, from 2034 to 2033. The letter cautions that such estimates include much uncertainty. However, as this Investopedia article notes, part of the issue is that more individuals are retiring earlier and living longer, and the Baby Boomers, a sizeable part of the US population, are either approaching or are in retirement, and are outnumbering the younger generations that are paying into Social Security. So, beyond 2033, it seems that the funds coming in will not be enough for 100 percent disbursement (estimates are below 80 percent). Options for shoring up the SS trust include increasing the percentage that employers and individuals contribute; increasing the retirement age, or both.
Investopedia does not include among its solutions that some segments of the US population pay into Social Security but be denied disbursement simply because they actually paid into multiple retirement plans based upon employment at a given point in their lives.
Those who are interested in their Social Security contribution history and expected benefit disbursement can create a secure online Social Security Administration account.
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On November 19, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump selected Linda McMahon as his choice to lead (or rather, to dismantle) the US Department of Education.
Not even one month prior, on October 23, 2024, McMahon, her husband, Vince McMahon, and their World Wrestling Entertainment LLC (WWE) , were all named as defendants in a Maryland suit alleging long-standing yet ignored sexual abuse of boys hired to assist in wrestling events by a WWE employee.
Here are some details from the lawsuit:
Skipping ahead:
There is much more to the suit. The excerpts above reach only page 16 of 82. The suit also includes active links in footnotes for readers to follow the history and claims of the suit.
Regarding Linda’ McMahon’s name officially on WWE docs, one can search using the CT LLC lookup search engine to learn, for example, that Linda McMahon was listed as Titan Sports LLC (the WWE precursor) president, secretary, and director in 1998.
McMahon’s 2017 Senate confirmation as Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator apparently escaped WWE-related scrutiny.
It’s no longer 2017.
Readers are invited and encouraged to read the entire October 2024 suit, which is certain to be part of any 2025 Senate confirmation hearings for would-be USDOE dismantler, Linda McMahon.
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I was concerned about having Thanksgiving with family because I did not want to get into heated political discussions about the 2024 presidential election.
This week, I had already found myself in a heated exchange with friends at my gym, where I was the only Democrat. A woman I did not know intervened to shut the discussion down, which I was happy to do. My friends and I parted on good terms, but one kept apologizing, even days later. He was genuinely afraid I would no longer be his friend.
I assured him such was not the case. I also affirmed that I would engage in no more political discussions. It is hard to get some to honor a wish to ditch politics, but it seems that my gym friends also value our friendships above the rudeness and shaming prompted by the temptation to impose strong political views on others.
At my cousin’s house on Thanksgiving, I knew I would be a Democrat surrounded by Republicans. My aunt brought up the subject of the presidential election, and when I said I did not want to discuss politics and explained my tempering such conversations in an effort to preserve friendships, she understood, and that was the end of any political references for the remainder of my four-hour visit.
It was wonderful.
My cousin did tell me that one of their friends, who usually attended their holiday gatherings, had completely cut ties after the election. I was sorry to hear that.
I do not want to damage relationships and lose friends because of an election. I appreciate friends and family who can set such discussions aside in a conscious effort to promote peaceful relationships.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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I do not believe American education is a top concern for Donald Trump. I do believe that he could well turn it over to the likes of the Heritage Foundation and their Project 2025, so long as nobody outshines him in the press and puts anything (Constitution included) ahead of loyalty to him above all else.
So, when ABC News reports that Trump’s Agenda 47 as though the Heritage Foundation has not already done most of Trump’s homework for him, well, that fashions Trump’s interest in a number of issues as though it is something more than just letting those extreme-right-leaners who really care about that stuff have at.
Now that the election is over, Trump allies are openly admitting that Project 2025 was the Trump plan all along.
One featured Project 2025-Trump issue is the proposed dismantling of the US Department of Education (USDOE), which was created during the Carter administration. Talk of getting rid of USDOE began with the Reagan administration (in other words, soon after it was created). It should come as no surprise that in 1980, the “fledgling” Heritage Foundation was in Reagan’s ear and is proud to declare as much in the opening pages of its Project 2025:
Several decades later, USDOE still exists, and several decades later, the Heritage Foundation is still trying to kill it.
Heritage et al. has taken great pains to outline its 900+-page wish list of ultra conservatism, including nixing USDOE. However, it would take a lot to achieve the kind of legislative unity required to dissolve a federal department that supports numerous Americans in desired and positive ways, not the least of which is via the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Brookings offers a concise discussion of the Project 2025 plan for education, including this “sample list” of negative consequences:
No surprise that Heritage wants school vouchers for all, a notably unpopular concept at the 2024 ballot box:
Of course, the key is to have legislatures jump onto the choice bandwagon and force choice onto voters whether they want it or not. But some voters do benefit from having access to publicly-subsidized private schools: Those with money. Heritage alludes to Arizona’s “expanded program… available to all families. However, in Arizona, those accessing school voucher cash tend not to be the working class but more affluent families.
Speaking of the affluent and private school vouchers: Billionaire former US Ed secretary Betsy DeVos, who in 2023 could not get private school vouchers over the line in her home state of Michigan, apparently smells opportunity.
On January 07, 2021, DeVos resigned as Trump’s US ed sec. In her resignation letter, DeVos placed the fault of January 06, 2021, chaos squarely on Trump:
In a November 07. 2024, interview with EdWeek about advice for Trump’s next Ed sec, , DeVos is fact checked as she tries to put lack of a school choice “big moment” at the feet of the Democrats. Not so, Betsy:
During Trump’s first term, DeVos’ inability to push private school choice to her liking has to be attributed in part to some Republican resistance to the idea. Heritage and any Heritage-sympathetic ed sec could well face similar issues in Trump’s second term.
Amazingly, after her resignation resulting from the January 06, 2021, assault on the Capitol, DeVos says she would be willing to join Trump again as ed sec even as she states that part of the agenda needs to be “depowering” USDOE:
I don’t think Trump would be willing to meet with a former Cabinet member who rebuked him in a resignation letter in which she pointedly noted that “we are left to clean up the mess…. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation.” However, Trump does speak Billionaire, and DeVos did donate $250K to Elon Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC.
DeVos’ billionaire chunk of change via billionaire Elon Musk’s PAC is enabled by Citizens United— also championed by the Heritage Foundation.
With the extreme right, business wins. And politics and education are both rife with business opportunities.
And irony.
The ABC News article about Agenda 47 ends with this word about higher education:
Cut to another ABC News article, dated April 09, 2018:
Trump as overseer of private universities: One of the many, many ironies that one could post.
I do not believe American education is a top concern for Donald Trump, but it will be a test for our nation.
It will be quite the test.
Stay tuned.
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On Friday, one of my seniors said to me, “Dr. Schneider, we don’t know what to expect of you.”
This remark had come at the end of a week when I had to figure out if several of her classmates had cheated on one of my quizzes. (One student was on his phone during the quiz, so that penalty canceled out a questionable moment of extraordinary, perfect scores from among his group of friends.) It also came as at the end of a redo for the very same quiz, another student was on his phone with a classmate trying to strategically block my view of the incident presumably to help conceal said phone and save his friend.
The remark came at the end of a week when I had already had a parental communication with second phone user over another issue in class.
The remark came at the end of two weeks when I outlined my procedure for grading certain readings, a procedure which meant that unannounced quizzes were a possibility, with the added surprise that I wrote multiple forms of the quiz, with students not knowing which form they would receive ahead of time.
The remark came as I had to create a quiz that defied putting my multiple choice items into any unsanctioned, outside method for delivering answers to students all to eager for such shortcuts, including having a friend outside of class use an unlocked computer to find answers to a locked quiz. (The solution is to have answer choices that refer back to page numbers in a hard-copy text and/or to have questions in which the stem sends readers to seek “line 59 on page 35,” for example.)
The remark came after weeks of reinforcing that the first order of business when entering my classroom was to have a seat in a desk and remain there– not to go chat and horseplay with a friend or stir up arguments, or chase each other begging for snacks. Such reinforcement included (and still does, though less necessary) emailing parents and coaches for enlisting assistance, the goal of which being not having to submit a disciplinary referral for willful disobedience, or habitually violating class rules. That noted, moving forward with a referral if necessary has certainly not been off of the table.
The remark came after months of building a rapport with my students, of being humorous and serious at turns but never cruel, of always wanting them to cultivate a sense of self-control and maturity and responsibility even as I continually must help them course-correct toward this end.
And the remark came after I had already determined that the best way to approach challenging classroom management is as a game of strategy in which critical leverage means keeping those students who actively try to usurp rule of my classroom ever so slightly off balance in thinking they have my forensic-leaning mind figured out.
The underpinning of my strategies is always for my students’ growth. It is not to stroke my ego or crush their spirits. When they exit my class and enter into a post-high-school world, I want them to think twice if they must and then choose to do what is right and good and beneficial to those on the receiving end.
That is what I want.
So, when this student demonstrated her insightfulness into my strategy, I was pleased to know that she had been critically weighing her experience with me and as a student in my class.
“Dr. Schneider, we don’t know what to expect of you.”
Brief pause (and perhaps also, brief smile).
“You don’t know what to expect of me?”
“Good.” I replied.
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Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters supports putting a Trump bible in every Oklahoma classroom and then some.
The October 04, 2024, Advocate reports that Walters asked the Oklahoma legislature for over $3M to pay for bibles for every classroom and references the Oklahoman’s accessing the associated, suspiciously narrow solicitation for contracts to provide those bibles.
Welp, here’s that public request for those bibles:
I have been teaching for three decades, and never have I had in my classroom any textbook required by a state solicitation request to be “bound in leather or leather-like material for durability.”
I know of lots of publishers of King James versions of the bible. (Check it out on Google if you wish.) However, the State of Oklahoma’s adding the requirement of including certain historical US documents speaks to not only a Christian nationalism bent; it provides a shameless, thinly-veiled winnowing of potential winners to, say, maybe only the Trump bible, as March 2024 AP reporting from the appearance of the Trump-hawked, “God Bless the USA” bible hints:
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is now selling Bibles as he runs to return to the White House. …
“Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” Trump wrote, directing his supporters to a website selling the book for $59.99. …
Billing itself as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!” the new venture’s website calls it “Easy-to-read” with “large print” and a “slim design” that “invites you to explore God’s Word anywhere, any time.”
Besides a King James Version translation, it includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of the famous Greenwood song.
Okay. So let’s compare. Here’s the Oknlahoma contract solicition language:
And here’s the March 2024 AP description of the Trump-endorsed, “God Bless the USA” bible:
Besides a King James Version translation, it includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of the famous Greenwood song.
Yeah.
Bible grift aided by the Oklahoma state superintendent and the Oklahoma Department of Education.
But, but, but, in the October 04, 2024, The Hill, “Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’s (R) office is defending the process for how the state will select newly mandated Bibles in classrooms after a report was released that the criteria is so narrow that essentially no Bibles qualify — besides ones endorsed by former President Trump.”
Former OK attorney general Drew Edmondson disagrees:
“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. “It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text. The special binding and inclusion of government documents will exclude almost all bidders. If the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation.”
As the October 04, 2024, Oklahoman noted,
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
In July 2024, the Frontier reported that Walters’ mandate that Oklahoma schools must teach the bible contradicts state law, which gives Oklahoma school districts “exclusive” jurisdiction over curriculum, including “instructional materials andtextbooks.” For that state law:
F. School districts shall exclusively determine the instruction, curriculum, reading lists and instructional materials and textbooks, subject to any applicable provisions or requirements as set forth in law, to be used in meeting the subject matter standards. School districts may, at their discretion, adopt supplementary student assessments which are in addition to the statewide student assessments.
The Frontier adds this:
The Oklahoma State Department of Education did not respond to The Frontier’s questions about the legal grounds for Walters’ authority to require schools to include the Bible in classroom lessons.
-Brianna Bailey
One more point about that solicitation for contracts for bibles for Oklahoma:
The contract for 55,000 bibles is way over the number of classrooms, as the Oklahoman reports:
Though Walters has frequently said he wants Bibles in every classroom, he has also clarified publicly that he wants them in classes where the Bible might apply to academic standards, such as history or literature. The request for 55,000 copies doesn’t fit either scenario; there are only 43,000 classroom teachers in the state, and many fewer teaching just history or literature.
Ballotpedia has the number of Oklahoma teachers at 41,323 in 2022; in April 2024, the Oklahoman reported that Oklahoma teacher exits were at the highest since COVID, with 6,065 teachers leaving after the 2022-23 school year.
So, a request to supply 55,000 of a very tailored, specific bible is, shall we say, curious– and certainly potentially lucrative for the prospective winner of this seriously-tapered contract.
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