Does Michelle Rhee have the inside track to become Trump's Secretary of Education?... One way Trump can check a couple of 'diversity' boxes and checkmate some critics?...
Although there has been speculation about others, the most recent reports on those meeting with Donald Trump about Cabinet positions show that Michelle Rhee now seems to have the inside track to become Trump's Secretary of Education. Before the bemoaning begins, readers need to remember that the policies Rhee carried out the last time she had executive power -- as chief of the Washington D.C. public schools -- are virtually the same ones carried out by the Obama administration under its two secretaries of education, Arne Duncan and John King. And like Duncan and King, Rhee is a union buster and big fan of charter schools.
President Elect Donald Trump (center) met with former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee (right) and her husband Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (left) at Trump's New Jersey golf club on November 19, 2016. Reports are that Trump is considering the reactionary celebrity Rhee for the post of U.S. Secretary of Education.Another example of the paradoxes people are facing as the clock ticks down to January 20, when Trump will become President of the United States, is that Trump, like many of us, opposed the Common Core. Whether that remains the Trump education policy remains to be seen. But just to underscore that it is the Obama education policy, one of the most recent things Obama did was give the "Medal of Freedom" to the man who bankrolled Common Core -- Bill Gates. So... Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, John King. Just about the only thing Michelle Rhee might add to the policies already in place from the White House is a massive voucher program -- another thing Trump has promised.
Already press reports have stated that Ben Carson rejected an offer to become head of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration. Some earlier reports that Eva Moskowitz, a New York charter schools entrepreneur, was in consideration for the Cabinet post have been denied. A visit to Moscowitz's Harlem Success Academy charter schools by Ivanka Trump gave rise to additional speculation about the prospective Trump Cabinet pick.
As of the morning of November 20, 2016, however, there has been no official announcement that Michelle Rhee has been added to the list of reactionaries who will constitute the Trump Cabinet. But consider this: If Trump is clever enough to appoint Rhee, he will begin to satisfy those who demand "diversity" -- since Rhee is a minority female married to an African American millionaire. The fact that Rhee and her husband are both corrupt reactionaries may well be ignored in that context.
Anyway, the most complete discussion of the recent Rhee visit with Donald Trump comes from the Sacramento Bee, which has covered Rhee and her husband for years. After that is a recent Chicago Tribune hint about Rhee's chances. She was invited to meet with Trump at his latest "White House" -- this one his New Jersey golf resort.
Rhee in contention to become U.S. Secretary of Education, BY ANITA CHABRIA, Sacramento Bee, November 20, 2016, achabria@sacbee.com
Sacramento first lady Michelle Rhee and Mayor Kevin Johnson met with President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday as Rhee is in contention for education secretary for the incoming Republican administration.
Associated Press photos show Rhee and Johnson departing from the meeting at a Trump-owned golf club in Bedminster, N.J., smiling and shaking hands with the President-elect. Crystal Strait, chief of staff to Johnson, could not confirm if the mayor was in the room during Trump’s discussion with Rhee.
Trump also met with former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Saturday, a reported contender for secretary of state in the Trump administration.
Rhee did not return an email request for an interview Saturday. Johnson was unavailable for comment, Strait said.
Rhee gained prominence as an education reformer while she was chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C., from 2007-10. In 2010, she formed StudentsFirst, a states-based education reform organization that advocates for school-choice initiatives and has been active in elections.
Rhee has been a strong proponent of charter schools and currently chairs the board of St. Hope Public Schools, a Sacramento-based charter school organization started by Johnson.
She supports the Common Core curriculum that is unpopular with many conservatives, and which Trump has vowed to end. Like Johnson, Rhee is a Democrat. Her support of school-choice vouchers in 2013 went against the Democratic Party line.
Formerly high profile, she has largely kept out of public view in recent years. During the 2014 election, Rhee championed a local measure on behalf of Johnson to increase the power of the Sacramento mayor’s office. That strong-mayor effort failed at the ballot box.
The news that Rhee met with Trump brought mixed reactions in California.
Sacramento City Unified School Board member Jay Hansen said he supports Rhee for education secretary because it would be in the “best interest” of Sacramento schools. He said the district receives about $55 million annually from the federal government, about 10 percent of its total budget, and he believes Rhee would remain a supporter of the district - and California - if she serves on the cabinet.
“I know a lot of people have varying opinions about the work Michelle has done in education, but I would certainly rather have her there than someone from Louisiana or Alabama who may not share any of the values we have in California,” Hansen said. “We have to worry about how are immigrants going to be treated in this new administration … transgender students, the budget for low-income students and English language learners. Michelle is going to be a lot more sensitive to the totality of what we are dealing with in California than the name of anyone else I’ve heard, so that is encouraging to me.”
But teachers unions, including the Sacramento City Teachers Association, have decried what they call attempts to privatize education and erode job protections for educators. In Sacramento, StudentsFirst has stood opposite the California Teachers Association, a key ally of Democrats, on issues like evaluating schools and teachers.
Calling Rhee’s candidacy “disturbing,” California Federation of Teachers President Joshua Pechthalt argued that parents and teachers had rebuked Rhee’s belief in “market reforms” that rely heavily on testing.
“That Donald Trump would appoint her is indicative of both his failure to understand where things are at in public education, but also the redemption of somebody who has been really rejected at every turn,” Pechthalt said Saturday. “Michelle Rhee is exactly what we don’t need for public education in this country.”
Rhee’s consideration as a Trump appointee - and current mayor Johnson’s visit - comes days after incoming Sacramento Mayor-elect Darrell Steinberg vowed to stand up to Trump on immigration issues. In recent days, Steinberg has spoken publicly numerous times about his intent to fight deportations of undocumented immigrants if the Trump administration moves in that direction.
Rhee has been active in Johnson’s political career and has said they share professional ambitions. Insiders describe both Johnson and Rhee as intensely driven, working long hours and expecting staff to do the same.
“Kevin and I view our goals in life and public service as a team,” Rhee told The Sacramento Bee in 2014. “He was right there with me when we created (StudentsFirst) and has worked alongside me throughout these past four years. I am excited to continue working side by side on these new opportunities we have.”
Rhee reportedly splits her time between Sacramento and Tennessee, where her children live. During the recent election, she tweeted a photo of the long lines at her Tennessee polling place.
Two other candidates mentioned for education secretary under Trump – presidential contender Ben Carson and charter-school founder Eva Moskowitz – have declined consideration, according to published reports. The New York Times has Williamson M. Evers, an education expert at the conservative Hoover Institution think tank, on its Trump short list for the job.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article115941728.html#storylink=cpy
Chicago Tribune...
Trump reaches out and lashes out
Before meeting Romney, others, he unloads on Twitter
By Del Quentin Wilber, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday met with an eclectic mix of potential Cabinet picks, including a high-profile Republican foe, even as he launched a Twitter storm boasting about settling a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and criticizing the cast of a hit musical for lecturing his vice president-elect about “American values.”
When not taking to Twitter, Trump spent the afternoon ensconced in his posh golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he met with Mitt Romney, a former GOP presidential candidate being considered for secretary of state, and others being weighed for top administration posts.
Among the eight potential candidates getting face time with Trump were Michelle Rhee, the education activist and nemesis of teachers unions, who is a contender for education secretary.
The meetings are scheduled to continue Sunday.
The most anticipated sit-down involved Romney, who during the campaign was critical of the president-elect's character and policy positions.
The former Massachusetts governor shook hands with Trump when he arrived at Trump National Golf Club and told reporters 90 minutes later that the pair spoke about U.S. interests around the globe.
“We discussed those areas, and exchanged our views on those topics — a very thorough and in-depth discussion in the time we had,” Romney said upon leaving the golf club, which is 50 miles west of Trump Tower in downtown New York City. “And I appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect, and I look forward to the coming administration and the things that it's going to be doing.”
Trump walked Romney out at the end of the meeting and said “it went great.”
Trump also met with Rhee, presumably to discuss education issues.
Rhee was the controversial chancellor of the public schools in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Sacramento, Calif., where her husband, former basketball star Kevin Johnson, is the city's mayor.
Rhee declined to speak to reporters as she left the club.
Among others on Trump's dance card for the day was retired Gen. James Mattis, a former war commander who has been critical of some of Obama administration policies. Mattis is being considered to lead the Pentagon.
Trump wouldn't say if he was offering Mattis a job, saying “we'll see.”
But he called Mattis a “brilliant wonderful man” and said “what a career.”
Trump also briefly bantered with reporters.
“Everything OK out there?” he asked. “Need some chocolate, need something? I'll send some stuff. I'm not allowed to do that, but I will.”
Patrick Soon-Shiong, who made his fortune developing an anti-cancer drug, also met with Trump.
Soon-Shiong, a vice chairman of the Chicago Tribune's parent company Tronc, has been involved with Vice President Joe Biden's cancer moonshot initiative, which is designed to accelerate scientific efforts to find cures for cancers.
Trump also met with Betsy DeVos, a Republican donor from Michigan and an advocate for school vouchers.
The meetings were designed to highlight the administration's efforts “to pull in diverse ideas and different perspectives as we form this administration,” said Trump spokesman Jason Miller.
Trump, however, started the day off on a different note — by sparking a feud on social media over what happened when his vice president-elect attended the musical “Hamilton.”
When Pence arrived at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway for Friday night's performance, he was both cheered and loudly jeered by the audience.
Trump demanded an apology from the cast after an actor delivered a pointed message about diversity to his running mate.
The speech aimed at Mike Pence prompted angry responses from liberals and conservatives alike. Some Trump supporters called for a boycott of the hit musical, which is sold out through next year.
Trump also took to Twitter in the morning to brag about settling fraud claims aimed at his defunct university.
A day earlier, Trump had settled two class-action lawsuits filed in San Diego and a third suit brought by the New York state attorney general for $25 million, something he had repeatedly said he would never do.
The lawsuits alleged that Trump had defrauded customers into thinking they would learn real estate secrets from professors he had “handpicked” at his for-profit Trump University.
The students said they learned little and instead were subjected to hard-sell tactics urging them to spend thousands of dollars on classes.
“I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country,” Trump tweeted. “The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!”
