skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

As U.S. Senate votes down IVF bill, MN parent speaks out; After false pet claims, Springfield mayor says Trump visit would be 'an extreme strain' on resources; Report: immigration enforcement changing, NW detention still high; Suicide rates rising among Indiana's diverse communities.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism and a right to IVF is again voted down in the Senate.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural voters weigh competing visions about agriculture's future ahead of the Presidential election, counties where economic growth has lagged in rural America are booming post-pandemic, and farmers get financial help to protect their land's natural habitat.

Critics to DeVos During WA Visit: Policies Only Serve Wealthiest

play audio
Play

Friday, October 13, 2017   

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Protestors plan to greet Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in Bellevue today, where she is scheduled to speak at an annual fundraiser for the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank.

The center says it invited DeVos to speak because she's one of the nation's top policy leaders and because of her support for charter schools and the so-called "school choice" movement.

But Carl Livingston, a political science professor at Seattle Central College who will be speaking to protestors, says that policy tips the scales toward the country's wealthiest families.

"It disserves most of the students by setting up charter schools and the privatization of education generally, which will do a good job of serving those with more money and income and means, but not do a good job of serving the average student," he says.

Multiple groups are coming together to protest the DeVos visit starting at 5 P.M., including the American Federation of Teachers of Washington.

AFT points out that DeVos has opposed efforts to overhaul student-loan servicing, scaled back investigations in her department's Civil Rights Office, and supports cuts to federal student loans in the Trump administration's budget. Her critics say all those moves hurt higher education.

Livingston also has concerns about DeVos's pick for the National Assessment Governing Board, a nonpartisan group that administers a national assessment of the country's education system. He says this is yet another instance of the secretary bringing in business people to oversee policies in education.

"Some of them are steeped in experience in business, but not really in education," he adds. "They're really principled business people that are promoting a conservative agenda."

Livingston adds that the protests won't only be about Devos's visit. He says people also are coming together to express concern that equal opportunity for students of all backgrounds is under attack.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Toledo's Dorr Street once boasted more than 130 businesses between Collingwood Blvd. and Detroit Ave., including retail shops, restaurants, lodging, medical offices, entertainment venues, and services like auto repair, laundry and beauty salons. (Wikimedia Commons)

play sound

Toledo's historic Dorr Street Corridor was once the beating heart of Black culture, wealth and business in the city. Now, community leaders and local …


Social Issues

play sound

A year-old U.S. Supreme Court case means relief for two Nebraskans who faced losing their homes and all the equity they had built, when investment …

Environment

play sound

Colorado's second-largest electricity provider, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, projects new federal clean energy funding will …


Early voting for the upcoming general election runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. (Rob Goebel/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and volunteers with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters are holding voter registration events across the …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Gaps in mental health care are a common research topic right now and for Minnesota youth in rural areas, a new report showed their families face big …

In the past decade, the U.S. Energy Department said 2,555 North Dakota homes, occupied by people with limited incomes, have been weatherized. The free upgrades include furnace repairs, insulation and sealing drafty windows. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

September is Workforce Development Month and North Dakota offices managing energy assistance programs hope people in need of a fresh career start will…

Social Issues

play sound

In observance of Hunger Action Month, a new statewide collaborative has launched to address food insecurity in South Dakota. Nearly 14% of U.S…

Social Issues

play sound

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and some young people in Washington state are encouraging people in their age group to ensure they're …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021