Saturday, February 4, 2017

More Frightening Revelations About Betsy DeVos. Please Help Stop this Appointment!

This is your last chance to help stop a very dangerous anti-public education individual from being appointed to the highest education position in the nation! Betsy DeVos is not only one of the least qualified persons ever for U. S. Education Secretary (she has not one bit of training or experience in public education), but recent revelations have uncovered her investments in a highly suspicious, possibly fraudulent pseudo-educational scheme to extract high fees from parents of students and citizens with learning disabilities! Why would we appoint someone who stands to profit from highly questionable schemes possibly fleecing parents of children who are most at-risk?

I am talking about the fact that Betsy DeVos, President Trump's nominee for U. S. Secretary of Education, is a major investor in a company called Neurocore, which claims to retrain the brains of persons and children with various learning disabilities. See this article in The New York Times that highlights the fact that DeVos has refused to dispose of her investments in Neurocore. Here is the actual Neurocore web site. Look at their slick promotion and judge for yourself if this may be a scam.

This company charges very high fees to often desperate parents to "retrain the brains" of children with ADHD or autism, who have trouble concentrating in school. The problem is that there is not one shred of real, peer reviewed research showing that this "retraining" works. Yet the Neurocore company has announced plans to expand nationwide and possibly offer their services to schools in many states.The whole thing looks suspiciously like a flat out scam (sort of like Trump University). The DeVos investment company is considered the biggest investor in this "educational" company. In my opinion Trump University (which was required to refund millions in fees to its customers) looks like a much more reputable scheme than this outfit.

So here's the situation that applies to the person nominated to implement the education policies of our nation for the next 4 years:

  • DeVos is possibly the biggest national proponent of privatizing public education. The companies she has helped promote in Michigan using huge political contributions to both state and federal legislators, are mostly for-profit companies who have a very poor record of educating children
  • The DeVos fortune was accumulated mostly by an inheritance from the AmWay founder who has extracted billions from what is considered more of a pyramid scheme than an a legitimate business
  • Betsy DeVos did not attend, and has never been trained for any public education purpose
  • Now we find that she refuses to separate herself from a possibly fake education company that could stand to make millions by using her influence to greatly expand its business.
What can we do? Time is running out. The vote on the DeVos appointment is scheduled in the U.S. Senate on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week. We can all telephone the offices of our two U.S. Senators and leave a message with their staff that we want them to vote "no" on the Betsy DeVos appointment for the position of U. S. Secretary of Education. Here are the office phone for your two Senators. Office hours are 9 to 5 Eastern time:
Senator John Kennedy - Washington DC phone: 202-224-4623. Fax; 202-228-0447
Senator Bill Cassidy- Washington DC phone 202-224-5824. Fax: 202-224-9735

Many Senators have reported a huge volume of phone calls and faxes from parents and educators opposing this appointment. These calls are making a difference! Right now, we are just one Senate vote short of blocking this nomination. This is critical!

Important note: Sometimes the regular phone number for Senators are tied up or busy, so many public education supporters nationwide have resorted to sending a fax. The fax method of messaging may have the advantage that it could be sent outside of regular office hours. So you may start by sending a fax now, and then following up with a phone call during office hours.