Senate Committee Vote 1/31 – The Betsy DeVos Record on Pro-Islamic Curriculum, Common Core, Data Mining & Marriage

Karen R. Effrem, MD – President

The US Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee is voting Tuesday, January 31st at 10 AM on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education. Members and contact information for the committee members is at http://www.help.senate.gov/about/members  and information for the full Senate is at: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/ or at the Senate Switchboard 202-224-3121. Please make the HELP Committee and your own senator aware of this concerning information and urge a NO vote!

Here is new information about the DeVos record along with summarized information on Common Core and data mining.

[A PDF version of this information is available at http://bit.ly/2jDvtcp]

DeVos Support of Pro-Islamic Curriculum

This screenshot shows that the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation funded curriculum used in many states, including Florida, promoting global citizenship and favorably comparing Islam and the Arabian culture with America when the Sharia law of Islam is not at all compatible with the US Constitution or our free society. http://teachmideast.org/about/featured-partnerships/

More specifics of this above curriculum are available at: https://www.nextlesson.org/project_details/bridges-at-school-a-snapshot-of-the-arab-world/42e154d251f1f0a990862ceb5e75156216474d28434d0161f01b17b6

Lessons Plans and Activities -There are eleven (11) Classroom Lesson Activities for the teacher to use. These activities are:

Arab Literature: Poetry Paired Texts — Pairing two poetry texts, one Arabic and one non-Arabic, students will analyze points of similarity, difference, and meaning, in particular looking at issues of family, love, and friendship. The students will write short essays on these two texts. Arab Literature: Values-Based Paired Texts — Pairing two values-based texts, one Arabic and one non-Arabic, students will study the topics of service and charity in both Arab and Western cultures. This will examine the values affinity between Arabs and Americans in particular and will compare texts about charity from the Quran and the Bible. 

Common Core – Betsy DeVos’ first statement against Common Core was the day she was appointed. She never worked with and frequently opposed Stop Common Core in Michigan, the grassroots parent organization. All of the organizations she has founded, funded, chaired or on the boards of which she served have been strong supporters of Common Core. Michigan Republican legislators knew to not to oppose Common Core because they could expect a primary challenge by DeVos-funded groups. The charter, voucher, and Title I portability programs she supports most, all require the state Common Core tests. For details, see:

National Parent Coalition Letter with Questions for Betsy DeVos on Common Core and School Choice: http://edlibertywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Letter-to-Senate-with-Questions-for-DeVos-online-version.pdf

 The Philanthropy Roundtable that she chaired put out a report strongly in favor of massive data mining of students

The Philanthropy Roundtable, which you chaired, published a report called Blended Learning: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Supporting Tech-assisted Teaching that lauds the Dream Box software that “records 50,000 data points per student per hour” (p.33 of pdf) and does not contain a single use of the words “privacy,” “transparency” [as in who receives that data and how it is used to make life-changing decision for children], or “consent.” Will you continue to promote the corporate data-mining efforts of enterprises such as Dream Box and Knewton, whose CEO bragged about collecting “5-10 million data points per user per day,” described in your organization’s report? [From  question letter to the Senate with questions for DeVos cited just above]

Despite being attacked by the LGBT movement, Betsy DeVos imposed transgender bathroom access to a biological male over the objections of her employees while chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, which brings into question whether she will try to continue to enforce the dangerous Obama Title IX guidance. If she did not protect the privacy and safety of her employees, what will happen to the privacy and safety, not to mention the free speech and religious rights of America’s school children? There is already a lawsuit in Minnesota brought by parents whose daughters were subject to sexually harassing behavior by a male to female transgender in a girl’s locker room allowed because of this guidance. Schools are denying parental rights due to this guidance:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/us/politics/betsy-devos-gay-transgender-rights.html?_r=1 

Ms. DeVos’s personal experience with the debate over gender identity and bathrooms dates back decades. As chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, she came to the aid of a transgender woman who wanted to use the women’s restroom at a call center, upsetting some of the other women there, according to two associates at the time — Mr. McNeilly, who was the party’s political director, and Eric Doster, the general counsel.

“We made the accommodation, and that was Betsy’s call,” said Mr. Doster, who did not recall the woman’s name but said this happened in an office near the Michigan State University campus in 1997 or 1998. “A lot of the co-workers weren’t happy with it. But that’s who Betsy is.” 

In addition, she worked against a marriage protection ballot initiative also while chairing the Michigan GOP:

Prominent gay Republican said DeVos stood up for him

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/12/03/prominent-gay-republican-said-devos-stood/94866284/

“At the time DeVos, who was Republican Party’s chairwoman and policy makers of the party, decided to oppose adding the marriage amendment to the ballot.”