DeVos hearing set for Jan. 11 | Stop Common Core in Michigan

The Washington Post reports that the Senate will hold confirmation hearings for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, on January 11. The DeVos nomination is opposed by many on both sides of the political spectrum for her position on charters, school choice, common core and more.

Conservative commentator, Michelle Malkin, stated she believes the DeVos nomination is going to be one of the “biggest battles” for Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump says he’s going to end Common Core, and then he nominates a woman that every last grassroots activist in Michigan knows was not just mouthing words of support for Common Core, but funding the main state non-profit organization that was pushing it on them,” Malkin said.

Asked whether she thinks the grassroots could get the Senate to sink DeVos at her confirmation hearing, Malkin responded: “I think it is possible, yes, if these senators ask the right questions.”

“I would say this is going to be one of the biggest battles, like the sleeper battles, heading into January,” she predicted.

It’s up to us to make sure that the Senators ask the right questions by calling and encouraging them to ask about what happened in Michigan.

The team at Stop Common Core in Michigan know the truth about DeVos. DeVos supported Common Core and is a major reason Michigan has not been able to repeal it. Common Core is a necessary component of accountability for her so called school choice reforms. The DeVos definition of school choice is the freedom to choose which Common Core aligned charter school will test and track your child from cradle-to-career. Local and parent control do not exist in DeVos’s education reform model. Data and government funding drive the decision. In a nutshell, school choice is centralized control to meet the demands of the state and regional business not the dreams of the child.

I have written several articles recently and over the last couple of years regarding DeVos and her support for Common Core through the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), including GLEP’s threat of legal action if we did not stop talking about how DeVos seeks to influence elections. (More links below).

Trump’s choice of Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, is also raising concerns among anti-Common Core activists. His hearing for Secretary of State is also scheduled for January 11. Tillerson was a “prime mover of Common Core in the business world.” In 2013, Exxo n produced commercials to silence growing opposition to the standards.

Many thought President-elect Trump would silence pro-Common Core education reforms and make good on his promise to stop Common Core. Instead, he seems to be promoting them and giving them even great ability to push their reforms. However, the push back is growing and getting stronger. The word is getting out that philanthropists and business leaders like Devos and Tillerson view our kids as a “product” to be standardized for maximum efficiency in the workforce.

Tillerson stated it very plainly, “They need to produce students with skills that allow them to get a job. If they don’t, they are essentially producing a defective product. And in this case, the product is a human being. It’s tragic.”

What is tragic is their view of OUR children. Common Core and school choice are nothing more than a elitist corporate reform to treat our kids like a UPS package to be tested, tracked, and shipped to their final destination in the global economy. Is that what you want for your child?

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