Free Republic

Under Cindy Marten's leadership, San Diego schools engaged in legal battles and eventually settlements over multiple sex abuse cases.resident Joe Biden recently nominated San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Superintendent Cindy Marten to lead the U.S. Department of Education, but despite her title, the education administrator has a long history of mishandling education policy and misconduct.Not only does Marten want to keep schools closed in the name of COVID, even though science and health officials have warned against extending students’ remote learning, but she also has spent years of her career and time writing off concerns about sexual assault, violence,...

Erik Prince, the founder of private security company Blackwater, has found himself embroiled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. During the campaign, Prince reportedly met at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., operative George Nader, and social media specialist Joel Zamel to discuss a potential pro-Trump social media influence operation. He also met with Russian sovereign wealth fund manager Kirill Dmitriev during the transition period—a meeting reportedly planned to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia. Those revelations raise questions about his relationship to the Trump administration—questions...

Vice President Mike Pence says he fully expects billionaire GOP donor Betsy DeVos will be confirmed as education secretary with his tie-breaking vote. […] Last week, two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said they would vote against DeVos’ nomination, citing concerns from parents and teachers. …

In just a matter of days -- perhaps next Monday -- a decision will be made in Washington affecting the futures of millions of children in low-income communities, and in the very troubled area of race relations in America. An opportunity has arisen -- belatedly -- that may not come again in this generation. That is an opportunity to greatly expand the kinds of schools that have successfully educated, to a high level, inner-city youngsters whom the great bulk of public schools fail to educate to even minimally adequate levels. What may seem on the surface to be merely a...

WASHINGTON—In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:“The president-elect, in his selection of Betsy DeVos, has chosen the most ideological, anti-public education nominee put forward since President Carter created a Cabinet-level Department of Education. “In nominating DeVos, Trump makes it loud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in America. “DeVos has no meaningful experience in the classroom or in our schools. The sum total of her involvement has been spending her family’s wealth in an effort to...

Advocates of public education in the United States have worried that President-elect Donald Trump would tap an education secretary who would speed up the privatization of public schools, a move that many fear could destroy America’s public education system, the country’s most important civic institution. Well, they were right about the appointment — and then some. . . . Seen by her supporters as a tireless, driven supporter of school choice, opponents say she is the most ideological and anti-public education nominee ever to be put forward to run the the nearly 40-year-old department.

Betsy DeVos ‏@BetsyDeVos Many of you are asking about Common Core. To clarify, I am not a supporter—period. Read my full stance, here: http://betsydevos.com/qa/ https://twitter.com/BetsyDeVos/status/801505785742290945

BREAKING NEWS: President-elect Donald Trump has named Betsy DeVos, a conservative activist and billionaire philanthropist who has pushed forcefully for private school voucher programs nationwide, as his nominee for education secretary, according to a person close to DeVos.

President Barack Obama's nominee for Education Secretary told senators Thursday that the focus of decision-making on elementary and secondary education is "rightly shifting" to the states and away from the federal government. John B. King Jr. is poised to oversee the Education Department as it is losing some of its authority. A bipartisan education law passed by Congress and signed by Obama in December revamps the widely criticized No Child Left Behind Act, and substantially limits some of the federal government's influence ushered in by that 2002 law. The new law bars the Education Department from telling states and local...

Pupils at mainstream schools will continue to be taught that Britain is a Christian country, the Education Secretary has said. They will be told "the religious traditions of Great Britain are, in the main, Christian", but teachers will also acknowledge the teachings and practices of other religions. And schools will not have to include atheism in GCSE religious studies lessons under guidelines released today. ...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s wife has moved to Chicago so the couple’s two daughters can attend the University of Chicago Lab School, arguably the most elite private school in Chicago — and certainly among the most expensive. Duncan has led the Department of Education since the outset of President Barack Obama’s administration. He will shuttle between Washington and Chicago for the remainder of Obama’s second term, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The former chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools has been a forceful cheerleader for the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a set of K-12 math and language arts curriculum...

Education Secretary Michael Gove yesterday declared war on the “utterly outrageous and medieval” use of the word “gay” as an insult. He will study current laws to ensure they are “properly policed” and could even “sharpen” them in a bid to stamp out offensive homophobic language. Mr. Gove told a conference held by pressure group Stonewall that the Coalition was determined to protect gay pupils from being subjected to homophobic bullying at school. He said that it was unacceptable to use the word “gay” as abuse and named and shamed former Radio One Breakfast Show DJ Chris Moyles. Mr. Moyles...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is calling for the imposition of financial penalties on college basketball and football coaches whose players don't graduate. Duncan argues in a USA Today op-ed that too many coaches get bonuses for athletic performance that far outpace the bonuses for academic achievement. "If universities and colleges want to readjust a coach's priorities, they need to change the penalties and incentives they offer coaches," he and co-author Tom McMillen write. "...Poor academic performance means the team or the individual player — not the coach — gets punished. But no coach should receive financial bonuses when much of...

Auditors found questionable spending by state Education Secretary Alan Bersin when he was superintendent of schools in San Diego. The audit, conducted for the San Diego Unified School District by a law firm, Loeb & Loeb, looked at Bersin's handling of more than $630,000 in tax-deductible donations made by individuals and corporations to an education innovation fund. The audit said Bersin spent the money as he wanted, often reimbursing himself for personal and business expenses. There were also undocumented reimbursements and possible double-billings, auditors said. School district officials have forwarded the audit to the state attorney general, Fair Political Practices...

Welcome to the Internet Smile Factor. Margaret Spellings was sworn in as the new Education Secretary. President Bush welcomed the Detroit Pistons, NBA champions, in a ceremony at the White House today. Bush named Dr. Jack Crouch II to be Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor. Dr. Crouch is U.S. Ambassador to Romania. The president will give his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, February 2. Joining Senators Kennedy and Kerry in the Political Fossil Corner, Gorbachev called the Iraq elections fake, and a profanation. Senator James McDermottt, D-WA ("Baghdad Jim") emitted similar frantic wailings. Enjoy...

Extending grace and compassion to the PETA crowd, along with another more particularly touched by the action, President Bush pardoned the national Thanksgiving turkey at the White House today. Staffing changes: Bush named Harriet Miers as White House counsel, to succeed Alberto Gonzales. Margaret Spellings, the current White House domestic policy adviser and long-time Texas associate, was chosen by President Bush to replace Rod Paige as Education Secretary. The president met with National Medal of Arts recipients opera composer Carlisle Floyd from Latta, S.C., left, and dancer, producer and choreographer Twyla Tharp, of Portland, Ind., in the Oval Office. Bush...