If You Turn on Trump, Turn on Trump's Cabinet
There is a reason why I find the show-pony antics of people like Senator Ben Sasse and Senator Bob Corker, who is the bravest man from Tennessee since Davy Crockett, increasingly annoying. That is because they are pretending that their rhetorical flexing against the president* has any effect on what’s really going on in the government or any real impact on the damage that Camp Runamuck is doing to the lives of ordinary people. The Chicago Tribune presents Exhibit 987 in defense of this proposition.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter Friday that it had "a total of 72 guidance documents that have been rescinded due to being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective - 63 from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and 9 from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)." The documents, which fleshed out students' rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act, were rescinded Oct. 2.
This is not the first time DeVos has rolled back Education Department guidance, moves that have raised the ire of civil rights groups. The secretary in February rescinded guidance that directed schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity, saying that those matters should be left up to state and local school officials. In September, she scrapped rules that outlined how schools should investigate allegations of sexual assault, arguing that the Obama-era guidance did not sufficiently take into account the rights of the accused.
It was plain during her confirmation hearing that Betsy DeVos was no more qualified to work in education than is your average wombat. One of the particular issues that was aired, if not thoroughly enough, was her opposition to Title IX in all of its manifestations, an opposition that, if you called it abysmal, you’d be insulting a swamp. And it was those parts of Title IX involving special needs students about which DeVos apparently knew vastly less than nothing.
I vividly remember her insistence that local authorities should be allowed to determine whether their schools were in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The hearing room fairly echoed with the sound of palms detonating against foreheads. The only thing Betsy DeVos knows about education is that she has a bunch of friends who want to get rich monetizing it.
Hey, Senator Ben? Here’s what you wrote about this ignoramus on your Facebook page when you voted to put this ignoramus in charge of the Department of Education.
It's hard to think of many who have done more for the education reform movement over the last 30 years than Betsy DeVos, but more than that, she has made a career out of standing up to powerful and connected special interests on behalf of poor kids who are too often forgotten by Washington. Those kids will have a powerful advocate in Betsy DeVos.
I can walk down the hallway of the public elementary school two blocks from my house and find about 50 people who have done more for education in this country than she has.
And, hey, big, brave Bob? Here’s what your official statement had to say.
“For decades, Betsy has passionately and effectively advocated for all children – regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic status – to have access to a quality education,” continued Corker. “She believes in empowering parents and has committed to working with states and local school districts to understand their specific needs. Since her confirmation hearing in the Senate, Betsy has reiterated her commitment to enforce the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which I fully trust her to do. I am proud to support her nomination and am confident that she will serve our country, our parents, our teachers, and most importantly, our students well as secretary of education.”
She just reneged on that very thing, Bob.
How about some big, brave words about how you all let this dunce slip through on promises she had no intention of keeping on subjects of which she knows little or nothing? C’mon, Bob. She’s as much a part of the madness that the “adult day-care” center is visiting upon the country as the president* is.
We’ll do Jefferson Beauregard Sessions next.
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