The news yesterday that Bay City, MI charter school operator Dr. Steve Ingersoll had been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison after being convicted on three counts of tax evasion and conspiracy should be sending shivers up Betsy DeVos’ spine today. Because while Dr. Ingersoll and Ms. DeVos may not know one another, the connections between them are numerous, significant, and […]

A column written last year by Stephen Mucher, Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Bard College, has attracted a lot of attention from those concerned about the health and vitality of public education. And for good reason. Mr. Mucher mentions the recent history of campus protests across the country, which he says he has noticed on his […]

I just finished taping a TV panel discussion for a local cable news show (click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the show) on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The panel featured two pro-Betsy DeVos, pro-charter, pro-choice advocates (the executive directors of the Great Lakes Education Project and the Michigan […]

NOTE: This post is a companion piece to this week’s episode of The Sit and Spin Room podcast. Click HERE or scroll to the bottom of the post to listen to the podcast or find it wherever you get your podcasts by searching for “Sit and Spin Room” on iTunes, Stitcher, etc. The news that President-elect Donald Trump had nominated […]

Like President-designate Donald Trump, and his nominee for Secretary of Education, Michigan billionaire and Amway heiress, Betsy DeVos, I’m a huuuuge proponent of “school choice.” What’s more American than the freedom to choose (unless you’re a woman, and we’re talking about reproductive health choices–but I digress…)? It’s a fundamental human right to be able to make important personal choices about […]

Incoming Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos doesn’t just want to expand school choice, provide (unconstitutional) school vouchers so parents can use state tax dollars to send their children to private and religious schools, and privatize our public schools. She’d rather not pay school taxes at all, and was nabbed in a tax dragnet by the state of Michigan for trying to avoid paying […]

Game. Set. Match. The news that Donald Trump has named Betsy DeVos as his choice for Secretary of Education is just another brick in the wall for Mr. Trump’s plan to turn the US into a giant flea market, selling off the bits and pieces of a once great nation for parts to the highest bidders. I had to laugh in […]

Mike Pence is every principal or superintendent who has looked a teacher straight in the eye and told them that they were being terminated for low student test scores, even though most of the teacher’s students come to school every day hungry and tired. Mike Pence is every business owner who cuts his employees’ hours to avoid paying for their […]

The last few days have been incredibly hard for many of us. I’ve been walking around in a fog; nothing about the world makes sense. One of the only things that’s made me feel any better since Tuesday night was spending time with my students, who are uncommonly caring, sensitive, bright, and passionate future music educators. Our conversations have been positive, […]

Apparently Matt Lauer doesn’t know **** from Shinola when it comes to charter schools I happened to be watching The Today Show yesterday morning (which I have only recently returned to watching after NBC fired Billy Bush), and looked up to see anchor Matt Lauer in a hair net and booties, standing in the Shinola watch assembly room in downtown Detroit. […]

Most of us would agree that this has been the dirtiest, nastiest presidential campaign in our lifetimes. One candidate has lied, evaded, and avoided continuously, and presents a clear and present danger to our nation, while the other has demonstrated…an inability to manage her email communication very well. Clearly, there are no good choices here. ; ) At the same time, […]