There are, what, 15 nominees? That's 2 practice hearings each, with each practice hearing having about 87 questions. And, that's probably a lot of repeats from practice hearing 1 to practice hearing 2.
Interesting a few significant reversals in positions in the Sessions hearing. He now claims he never said the NAACP was an "unAmerican group". A direct contradiction to what he admitted to saying in his 1986 hearing to be a US Judge (a statement he changed in a followup hearing when he said he was confused by the question, despite his being coached/prepped in advance of the 1986 hearings). He also claims he didn't call a white attorney "a disgrace to his race". Previously he said he may have said something to that effect. http://wmot.org/post/whos-real-jeff-sessions-two-hearings-1986-show-conflicting-picture#stream/0 He also said he opposes banning Muslims, despite being for it in the past: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...gued-for-a-religious-test-to-ban-muslims.html Odd Sessions would make claims so easily discredited. This all said, Sessions will be confirmed. A President should be able to nominate whoever he wants... but I do think the Senate has a duty to carefully examine and approve/turn down nominees.
We were talking about this earlier today, how many appointees need confirmation? And how many are just by committee, vs a full vote, vs Executive power?
Apparently, Jeff Sessions does not believe Trump is fit... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...aid-secularists-are-unfit-for-government.html
Embarrassing that with all the right wing wackos with at least at some degree of experience with public education, Trump had to nominate this idiot to lead our schools. Arming schools to protect against "potential grizzlies." O.M.G.
For all parent with any special ed kids, yea, if Trump Admin get what they want, your kids will be impacted. Think about that. That's about 6M students and it will likely continue to go up given the rate of Autism.
I'm glad that Donald sprinkled some of his cabinet picks with competency in some areas but Devos looks like a complete disaster for public education in many states. Ugh.
Or you can look at her track record in Michigan, which is the only thing we have to go on right now: http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/.../betsy-devos-education-donald-trump/94728574/ A few excerpts: "Largely as a result of the DeVos’ lobbying, Michigan tolerates more low-performing charter schools than just about any other state. And it lacks any effective mechanism for shutting down, or even improving, failing charters. We’re a laughingstock in national education circles, and a pariah among reputable charter school operators, who have not opened schools in Detroit because of the wild West nature of the educational landscape here. In Michigan, just about anyone can open a charter school if they can raise the money. That’s not so in most other states, where proven track records are required." "A yearlong Free Press investigation found that 20 years after Michigan’s charter school experiment began, Detroit’s charter schools have shown themselves to be only incrementally stronger, on average, than traditional public schools. They have admirable graduation rates, but test scores that look nearly identical to those of public schools." "This newspaper has been, and will continue to be, an advocate for successful charter schools, and for educational choice as one way — but certainly not the only way — to improve this state’s school landscape. But it’s impossible to imagine such improvement will be aided by an education secretary who is so willfully impervious to the relevant data. Instead, Betsy DeVos’ lodestar has been her conviction that any nontraditional public school is better than a traditional one, simply because it’s not operated by government."
But hey, if you want cherry-picked puff pieces here's another one. http://www.usnews.com/news/politics...chigan-charter-school-backed-by-devos-growing
So Detroit's charter schools, of which she was a leading proponent, are better than the public schools, even if only marginally so, and yet that is being used against her and in favor of public school? What?
