Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Wisconsin's Walker Heads to DC to Take Lead in Fight to Privatize Education
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continues to court national support for an extreme agenda of attacking public employees and public services while diminishing local democracy and shifting public money to private political allies. Despite the fact that Walker’s moves have been widely condemned in his home state, the hyper-ambitious career politician has repeatedly suggested that he will not moderate his positions because he wants to shift the tenor of politics and policymaking far beyond Wisconsin.
Walker’s stance has earned him talk as a possible darkhorse contender for a place the 2012 Republican nod and the governor has not discouraged it.
To that end, Walker will be in Washington Monday night to deliver a keynote address at the innocuously-named American Federation for Children’s “School Choice Now: Empowering America’s Children” policy summit. It’s actually a key annual gathering of advocates for privatizing public education, and of some of the biggest funders of right-wing political projects nationally.
The appearance comes at a time when education cuts are becoming a front-and-center issue, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has stirred an outcry in the nation’s largest city by proposing to layoff thousands of teachers.
But while other officials are proposing deep cuts and layoff, Wisconsin’s governor has emerged the hero of the right-wing groups that are proposing extreme measures in the battle to privatize public education.
This bunch loves Scott Walker. They hail him as “one of the nation’s most visible leaders” on their issues.
“In both of his previous elected offices, Walker distinguished himself as an outspoken advocate for school choice, including both private school choice and public charter schools,” declares an American Federation for Children announcement of Walker’s appearance tonight before the nation’s primary proponents of undermining public education by shifting taxpayer dollars into school vouchers, tax credit scholarships and similar schemes.
In addition to his much-publicized proposal to strips teachers of collective bargaining rights and to make it dramatically hader for their unions to advocate for small class sizes and other priorities, Walker’s budget plan seeks to cut funding for local schools and reduce the authority of local school boards to make decisions that defend and strengthen public education in their communities. It also outlines a number of initiatives designed to clear the way for and encourage private-school choice schemes.
“Private school choice” describes the practice of taking taxpayer dollars and shifting them to schools that are operated by non-profit and for-profit concerns – including corporations. It is a high priority of right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups that see breaking teacher unions as a critical policy and political goal for their movement. And it is a top priority for Michigan billionaires Dick and Betsy DeVos.
Dick DeVos is a former Republican nominee for governor of Michigan and Betsy DeVos is a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party. But the couple’s real political work has involved the direction of tens of millions of dollars into the ideological and electoral infrastructure that supports school privatization.
“Dick DeVos has used his family's fortune and status to create an intricate national network of non-profits, political action committees and federal groups known as 527's that effectively fund the political arm of the school voucher movement,” noted a People for the American Way study of the political projects of the heir to the Amway fortune and his wife. “Nowhere is the impact of the DeVos family fortune greater, though, than in the movement to privatize public education.”
Betsy DeVos, the chairman of the American Federation of Children, has for decades been a prime mover in campaigning for school choice – and in funding political groups that have spent millions to support Scott Walker and candidates like him.
One of her groups, the political action committee “All Children Matter,” was fined a record $5.2 million by the Ohio Elections Commission after it was charged with illegally shifting money into the state to support candidates considered friendly to private-school “choice” initiatives.
It was also fined for political misconduct in Wisconsin, where the secretive group’s 2006 campaigning violated campaign finance laws by expressly urging voters to cast ballots against legislative candidates who were strong backers of public education.
Those troubles led to the evolution of “All Children Matter” into "American Federation for Children," which has collected money from a who’s who of right wing millionaires and billionaires, including the political operations of Charles and David Koch – top donors to Scott Walker’s 2010 campaign and (in the case of David), the subject of a much-publicized prank phone call to Walker during the current dispute in Wisconsin.
An ardent backer of Walker and his legislative agenda , the American Federation for Children "spent an estimated $820,000 on independent expenditures and phony issue ad activity in the 2010 fall legislative races,” according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
The federation has emerged as a major player on the side of the six Republican senators who face recall efforts because of their support for Walker’s anti-labor legislation – just as they would certainly be big backers of any effort to protect the governor from recall.
But the DeVos family appears to have bigger plans for Walker.
In celebrating the governor’s DC appearance, Betsy DeVos went on and on about how “excited” her group was to welcome Walker to Washington and how he “shares our (beliefs).”
“Governor Walker is leading the battle to bring hope for a brighter future…” she gushed, employing precisely the sort of “new Reagan” rhetoric that Walker and the caller he thought was David Koch talked about in that conversation where the governor declared: “This is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history.”
39 Comments so far
Show AllWhy do both democrats and republicans in Washington push privatizing schools?
A good education leads to 1.7 children for every two adults and corporatism requires endless growth.
A quality based economy seeks greater education and a gently declining population that reduces stress on the planet. There is another way.
They want one of the only markets left unlooted in America the Greedy with a pot of money..billions of education dollars.
A good education leads to 1.7 children for every two adults and corporatism requires endless growth.”
As you know, PROFIT requires endless growth. People (into pyramid schemes) are into the more, more.. A quality based economy has other features like sustainability with the environment and internal gratification that is value based, appreciative of life. Democrats push privatizing schools for the same reason Republicans do. They are sold-out politicians. They want to turn schools over to a new market- Gates, DeVos, Broad- rich folks who are behind new investment and profit in education- just take a look at their foundations.
Why do both democrats and republicans in Washington push privatizing schools?
Because, with few exceptions, they are corporate whores. All part of the great dumbing down of America along with the hijacking of our public trust of the airwaves. Uneducated people don't ask questions like good little lemmings. Uneducated people make easy cannon fodder for wars. Uneducated people won't rise up and take back what is theirs. Someone further down this blog mentioned what privatization has done to their water supply. I can't think of anything privatization has done a better job at. Watch out Postal Service! How can corporations (not persons) do something better, or even at the same quality level when their legal mandate is to maximize profits?
Why not privatize the government and get rid of all the hacks?
That's the program in Michigan. Dissolve democracy and put a corporation in charge.
Government has effectively been privatized. That's where the hacks come from. Their owned by interests that run contrary to the common good, and are looking to siphon tax dollars into the coffers of the privately held corporations who control them.
I would ask if the US can slide any deeper into drooling, moronic imbecility, but I see that it would be a moot point.
Fascism. Kinder, gentler corporate takeover than in Nazi Germany, but fascism nonetheless. It's time to up the ante for the rich! Marching and waiving signs just isn't doing it. Walker should be crapping his pants out of fear. Instead, he's just getting more ambitious.
Marching and waving posters doesn't scare political types. Its not effective.
Those pigs never accepted or got over Brown vs. Board of Education.
Betsy Devos is daughter of Edgar Prince and brother of Erik Prince who founded Blackwater. Privatize military (mercenaries) and privatize education - what an agenda. Are the two related? Brainwashing -- with LOTS of soap!
Oh, one can see the writing on the wall now:
1) Pre-programmed grade-appropriate computer programs;
2) Pre-determined Q & A providing both and only questions and answers "the One" wants you to ask or know;
3) Computer-friendly true-false and multiple choice tests;
4) No essays since this suggests thinking and questioning
5) George Orwell...where are you?
We need public schools. Where else can we send problem students when they get kicked out of private schools, prison?
Where else? Prison, of course. Private, for-profit prisons.
Next question?
Well it kinda depends on who their parents are don't it? If their parents are scrabbling base wage workers trying to get their child educated then the work farm is the best option. If one of the privileged then the answer is the boardroom. Likely though the vouchers needed by the first are turned over to the landlord to keep the family out of the weather.
Well it kinda depends on who their parents are don't it? If their parents are scrabbling base wage workers trying to get their child educated then the work farm is the best option. If one of the privileged then the answer is the boardroom. Likely though the vouchers needed by the first are turned over to the landlord to keep the family out of the weather.
So it's at least a two-pronged attack in Wisconsin to privatize every single public agency. If Walker gets his way, the government itself will be a private affair, which is exactly what he wants. The Kochs and the DeVos's have been organizing for years to take this state over, whore it out to private interests, and Walker is their pimp. And if you think young people these days are sorely lacking in basic education skills, wait till Walker's privatization scheme is established.
Remember critical thinking skills? No one will even know what it means in 5 years. History, from anything but an American triumphalist prespective? Down the memory hole. In fact, privatizing education is just a grand strategy for making all education nothing more than a propaganda tool, for business and the military, primarily. Give them enough education to make them employable on the most basic levels, and steer the rest into the military. What else could Billionaires care about where education is concerned?
Hello Ephraim,
Isn't that one of the themes of the book "1984"? No words for concepts so no thinking critical or otherwise.
God, I apologize from Michigan everyone. They are disgusting aren’t they?
I think it may be too kind of you- your discussion of what public education means- I dare say it’s a greed agenda for DeVos family interests- you are not critically thinking altruism are you? Must consider what PRIVATE means.
And consider this.. and us.. realize it is one brazen, loudmouthed, dead-fish eyed bully who can swing our moral and ethical (political, social) standards and get the outcome HE wants. So one loud bully can get an agenda, despite hundreds of thousands outraged expressing disapproval.
What we need to get policies for our people then, is a BULLY counterpart. But we have no speakers...a real leader gap. Obama is such a let down. People first! You can watch for policy that benefits- all it takes is a purposeful bully who stands for democracy.
This Walkert nut isn't smart enough to realize that he is a public employee. Maybe all of his public employees should start screwing up to make him look worse than he already does. It certainly doesn't hurt to show the power of the public sector. These politician dudes take iot for granted that the workers will do their bidding as best as they can. What if they totally screwed up and did their jobs backwards. Total confusion!!!
This Walkert nut isn't smart enough to realize that he is a public employee. Maybe all of his public employees should start screwing up to make him look worse than he already does. It certainly doesn't hurt to show the power of the public sector. These politician dudes take iot for granted that the workers will do their bidding as best as they can. What if they totally screwed up and did their jobs backwards. Total confusion!!!
As many of you know, Betsy DeVos is married to the AMWAY heir. If you or anyone you know buys AMWAY products. Please Stop Now!
John Nichols is such a hack.
The privatization and corporatizing of education which is being pushed by Walker is the same agenda promoted by the Obama administration, but we are supposed to ignore it when it is done by the duplicicrats.
You are right. In fact, their agendas seem to be so similar that I think Obama should pick Scott Walker for his running mate. That would save some confusion. Who knows, maybe even Nichols would see the light.
Here as in so many other areas, the only difference between Obama and Scott Walker is one of style, not of substance.
Unless, of course, that substance is lube.
Private schools lead to the following:
1. Rich kids schools where the students all think that their shit smells good
2. Religous schools where they learn that those who don't believe as they do are going to hell.
3. Racial schools where they learn racial bias.
In other words, private schools would defeat the basic philosophy of democracy where all (supposedly) are created equal.
My granddaughter age 6 was told by her mother that it was OK to pick her nose - just don't do it in public.
A few days later her father, while planning their finances, asked his daughter "Do you want to go to a public or private school?"
She replied, "I want to go to a private school so I can pick my nose.
The primacy of materialism must be deposed. Therefore, not only must Walker go but also the entire USA enterprise. The profit in education should be in cultivating minds which will move toward the establishment of justice and peace.
Well said, as are most of these posts, but then we are all preaching to the choir.
Betsy DeVos? Is related by blood to Eric Prince of Blackwater fame?
DeVos, of the Amway fortune?
The post is very informative. It is a pleasure reading it. I have also bookmarked you for checking out new posts.
http://www.seobaba.com/search_engine_promotion_london_uk/search_engine_promotion_london_uk.html
"Privatize" means one thing and one thing only - PROFIT. That is what privatization is all about, whether it be our half-million-strong mercenary army of "private contractors" in Iraq/Afghanistan/Etc., our pathetic health-care industry which is one of the only for-profit ones in the industrialized world, or the expanding push for eliminating public education. PRIVATIZE=PROFIT.
Profit has no place in the general welfare of our country. Be it firefighters (everyone remember the TN homeowner whose house burned to the ground while the firefighters sat 100 yards away in their truck, because he hadn't paid his fee to them?), police, military, education, healthcare, libraries, etc. Profit - by its very nature - seeks to do one thing only: make MORE profit. Which means cutting back on expenses and cutting as many corners as possible while charging as much as possible to maximize profits. Vis a vis, the massive exodus of American jobs to 3rd world countries, the cheap plastic crap that fills the shelves of our stores, etc, 6-month warranties, etc.
Capitalism out of control breeds nothing but bad things, because the quest for profit will ALWAYS put $$$ first and quality and people's needs and well-being LAST.
It is interesting to me that this article focuses so much attention on Dick and Betsy DeVos but makes no mention of the role they play in Michigan politics. They are thick with Michigan's new Republican governor, Rick Snyder, who is engaged in carrying out in Michigan the same agenda Scott Walker is carrying out in Wisconsin. This whole new crop of Republican governors appear to have the same agenda. There may be twists on how they implement it in their respective states but the agenda is the same - privatize education and as many public services as possible; bust the unions; rob the poor to pay more to the rich. How can you even write the name DeVos and fail to mention what's happening in Michigan? What's it all about? What it's always about: making money. Get over the Republicans AND the Democrats and look for progressive candidates who are willing to take a stand. Unless WE THE PEOPLE can manage somehow to jog the nation onto a different path, we are sailing rapidly into the heart of the Orwellian nightmare.
WELL-said, sheet. I couldn't agree more with every word you wrote.
Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana, has already approved school vouchers. He is supporting charter schools and private schools. I wonder how the Tea Party types like their tax dollars being given to the Catholic Church (in the name of supporting schools in poor inner-city Indianapolis). Catholic schools teach religion, Catholic Religious beliefs, as part of their curriculum. I don't want my tax dollars being diverted from Public Education!! He capped property taxes and now our various Townships are having to vote on a referendums to fund public schools in their townships. Yet, all of a sudden he found money to fund all day kindergarten.
More money for Charter schools??
"I wonder how the Tea Party types like their tax dollars being given to the Catholic Church (in the name of supporting schools . . . " Just wait until somebody opens an Islamic school . . .
If Walker really had any faith in the "market," he wouldn't ask for government subsidies for private schools. Either they sink or swim on their own merits--that's the free market!
Ask anybody living in Atlanta how the privatisation of their water supply improved the quality of the service.
The Shrub introduced No Child Left Behind primarily to pave the way for privatizing public education. Then, with the true Republicon spirit he refused to fund it and educators across the country went into a tail spin. These psychopaths have no interest but CONTROL. That is their god. What will they do with it? Why do they want it? I have my suspicions that it is not for the common good. But please make no mistake! Obama is a world away from a corporate hack like Scott Walker.
Mr. Walker should be recalled at the easiest possible moment. Gosh what havoc he can cause until nest January, which is the earliest recall moment-it's scary!!