Trump Cabinet Predictions / Suggestions

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
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As of Wednesday, Trump was still waiting on confirmation for 10 of his 15 Cabinet nominees. By this time in 2001, then-President George W. Bush had his entire Cabinet confirmed. Then-President Barack Obama was just three short of a full Cabinet on Feb. 8, 2009.

__Senate Republican leaders asserted this week that – based on numbers provided by the Partnership for Public Service, Plum Book, and Congress.gov – Trump has the fewest Cabinet secretaries confirmed at this point in the presidency of any incoming president since George Washington.

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Anyone willing to weigh in on the Devos nomination and confirmation?

I’m a teacher, so I am biased, but I am curious to know how the general public feels.

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I’m totally uneducated on what her position actually does but from what I have briefly looked at, I don’t see what’s wrong with parents having options on where to send their kids to school. That seems to be the basis of her plan from what I’ve looked at.

I would like to hear a teachers opinion on preferably her ideas and not her lack of experience…

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Not a teacher here, but the concern is that it would siphon money away from public schools that can’t afford to lose the funding. One of the two republicans who voted against her, Murkowski from Alaska, did so because, I believe, her constituents recognize that the population density in their state is too low to justify additional private schools. I have two kids in a good public school (specifically moved here because of the school district) and have the same concerns. This is to say nothing about her beliefs or lack of experience.

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I am curious as to your opinion frankly lol

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Because @Aragorn asked, I’ll share, and wear the animosity of those that disagree.

I think she’s bad for education. I agree with the majority that she has no experience in education, and I think that is not arguable.

But, many would say that education is screwed up, and having someone without education experiences is a good thing. But, education is significantly different than business.

And, I believe her business experience is based on being born into money, and marrying money.

I understand that education is expensive, and that we spend too much for what we get. But most people do not understand the special education aspect of public education and how it relates to private schools and charter schools.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act requires public schools to educate individuals with disabilities in the least restrictive environment possible. That means kids with disabilities are mainstreamed with one on one aids, are in lab classes, have resource rooms, and have accommodations, like extra time, directions read out loud, and frequent breaks.

Those accommodations allow kids with disabilities to mainstream and be in the same classrooms as their peers. This costs money. In my district, we average $35k per student. I work in a very good district.

Charter schools are not required to adhere to IDA. So, they can educate just the “smart kids,” those without special needs.

This is why tuition at a private school is less, no IDA requirements.

Devos would like to offer school choice by developing more charter schools. These schools would not be obligated to adhere to IDA, and would not be obligated to pay union wages - which is another big issue.

Charter schools in New York have teachers working ten to twelve hours per day to make up for lack of parenting. One of the single greatest issues for student performance is home life. If a student isn’t fed, hasn’t slept, and doesn’t feel loved, they cannot learn (Maslowe’s Hierarchy of Needs).

The current movement to quantify teacher performance is misguided as there is really no way to measure it. You could measure growth, but how?

You could measure proficiency, but state tests have been proven to be problematic.

Devos didn’t know what growth or proficiency is, as evidenced by Senator Franken’s questions.

I think she is ill equipped.

Did that answer your question @Aragorn?

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Out-fucking-standing. Thanks for an excellent answer.

For what its worth, I agree with the key points of your assessment. I feel that there is aiddle ground solution somewhere, but Devos is NOT the one to find it. She makes me nervous for precisely the reasons you mentioned. I do not mind someone at the helm with transferrable experience, but I don’t see the transfer of skill here.

Quoted once again for truth. The human need to quantify absolutely every little thing is derailing education in many ways. We need some way to measure improvement to help keep us on track for certain, but there is too much of it all right now in my view.

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My own concerns vis a vis unions aside, what you have posted here specifically cannot be overstated.

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Valid, I admit, but a necessary evil in this instance, IMO.

Appreciate the sentiment, thanks.

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You are a true gentleman, sir. I appreciate disagreements from people such as yourself.

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Thank you @Legalsteel.

I’ve been around long enough to know that I’m ignorant enough to learn from everybody. Teaching is about my fourth profession, so I came to it with a business background and realized education is a different animal. I resented those in education that told me that at the beginning, but slowly came to the realization that they were right - it’s counter-intuitive.

However, righteousness is, in my opinion, intolerable - liberal or conservative.

Dialogue is key. I get into heated arguments with my father all the time, but he gets me and I get him, so we both learn.

Thanks again.

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**However, righteousness is, in my opinion, intolerable - liberal or conservative.

Dialogue is key. I get into heated arguments with my father all the time, but he gets me and I get him, so we both learn.**

Bolding this, because it bears repeating. Your kind sentiments are returned, friend.

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I was thinking about this in the shower this morning (where I do my best thinking). I see this as being absolutely true and extremely pertinent. The problem is, how can good parenting be legislated? Heck, I suggest that the breakdown of the traditional “family unit” is responsible for a huge swath of problems in modern American society - education, poverty, drugs, and crime.

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That’s the trick–it can’t be effectively legislated. Not only do bureaucrats and congress people not know or give a damn about my life and family, but they’re completely incapable of staying out of trouble themselves.

Beyond that, the very nature of parenting is such that attempted legislation can only do more harm than good.

But I do believe you’re right–the breakdown of the family unit in many ways has portended a lot of our problems.

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Yeah, @Aragorn already nailed it.

But, I think rather than dumping more money into education, one of the things we could do as a society is to provide parenting classes for inner city and socio-economically depressed parents.

I realize this smacks of Big Brother and the over reaching of government, but it is, in my opinion, the single biggest challenge to education today.

I’m not sure if people are aware of the PISA exam and their rankings, but they paint a distorted picture of US education. We’re ranked very low PISA Worldwide Ranking of Math, Science, Reading Skills

According to this article Poor ranking on international test misleading about U.S. student performance, Stanford researcher finds , we do a lot better when adjusted for poverty.

Many of the countries ranked ahead of us have greater homogeneity of population, which would lend credence to restricting immigration from a strictly educational stand point.

I’m thinking about starting an educational thread in PWI. Does anybody think it would be worthwhile?

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If remaining Cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed on party line vote, does it harm the Dems to keep dragging it out?

GOP has been voting for the nominees of course, but they are sure slack in looking like they want to appear to be associated with Trump.

Here is what I don’t get as a GOP leader. You have a closed Come to Jesus meeting, with this message - we are going to push your programs, but if you get all crazy (ie the immigration stay w/o any input, legal review, etc) we will just shut that down for the sake of our society and you will be the lonely clown. Our leadership in the Congress, on both sides, deserves 40 lashes.

Note - not arguing against the temp ban, btw.

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Couldn’t help myself:

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Do it.

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Homer, he’s a fucking genius.

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Please do. As a Thatcherite tory, I have strong union opinions, and nothing could please me more than some discourse with a teacher affected by such policies. (As a UK national, I can only be an armchair voice in the American experience)

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