A funny thing happened on the way to closing the U.S. Department of Education (tennesseelookout.com)

submitted 2 years ago by Huckledebuck@sh.itjust.works to c/politics@lemmy.world

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The Trump administration continued its head-scratching appointments by anointing billionaire Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education...

But then – surprise! – the deputy education secretary spot went to Penny Schwinn, who is far more famous to the likes of us education writers. Schwinn’s deep, impressive bona fides include becoming a teacher through Teach for America, followed by service as a classroom history teacher, school principal and then a swift ride up high-level administrative posts in various states including Texas. In 2019, at 43, she became Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education.

In Education Next’s extended interview, Schwinn emphasizes that educators must aim every single decision not merely toward achievement, but toward the best interests of kids. This “North Star” helps her to sift through irrelevant political chaff so she can stay with her agenda even in the face of constant opposition.

“That is always going to be personal and emotional; however, we must find a way to engage in hard conversations without taking them personally,” she said.

...Schwinn doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to put her North Star away, so she must have been convinced she could do real work.

Of course, we’ll see. The best interests of the kids could use a true champion. Good luck, Deputy.

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[-] Placebonickname@lemmy.world 26 points 2 years ago

Hearing that the “The gop nomination is totally qualified…” makes me think that there’s either a misprint or they’re up to something nefarious…

[-] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

I dove a bit into the nominations a while ago. Many are qualified, but the ones that aren't are impressively unqualified.

[-] aviationeast@lemmy.world 24 points 2 years ago

Why do they have a secretary of education if their is no department of education?

[-] riskable@programming.dev 9 points 2 years ago

So people will learn what the Trump administration is all about!

[-] Huckledebuck@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 years ago

Any thoughts on this? I don't know her, other than what's in the article. And I'm not familiar with the structure of the DOE. Will she, as deputy secretary, be able to do anything to stop them from shutting down the department?

[-] Skiluros@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 years ago

I am not American, but I have lived in North America, Europe and Asia.

Typically when a new oligarch gang takes over, their priority is providing benefits to themselves and their senior affiliates. Everything else is cover for the plebs.

It is very likely Schwinn is more of a PR move to provide rhetorical cover for their criminal activities. Schwinn is either in on the scheme and was paid off or is dumb enough to think she can change the system from within or that American institutions will magically resolve everything.

Don't hope for magical solutions.

Strong democratic institutions are good and all, but they have a tendency to fail exactly at the moment that you need them most. And when democratic institutions do fail, the cost (and sacrifice/risk) to return to normalcy increases exponentially.

[-] Hoomod@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Since they're trying to remove the Department of Education, this makes sense, as it will make her role totally pointless

[-] Huckledebuck@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 years ago

This is what I'm afraid of.

[-] Donebrach@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

this is not a piece of journalism, this is a clearly labeled commentary piece by a who-the-fuck-knows. its likely completely made up propaganda.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 2 years ago

Schwinn’s biggest claim to fame was an all-hands-on-deck initiative designed to shift reading instruction from the terrible 3-cueing system that teaches kids to guess words, to one that is science-based.

I listened to the Educate podcast from APM Reports. They did tons of stories on learning to read, the bad teaching, the good teaching, it was heartbreaking because of shit like this. The cueing system didn't teach kids to sound out words. It taught them to guess at words based on context. The specific example they gave was that the illustration and the words around the one you didn't know might make you guess "horse" when really it was "donkey."

I'm an avid reader and fan of education. This lady sounds like she knows her stuff. I'm pretty shocked, given all the other appointments. I'm full of dread about what might come next, but tepidly appreciate her appointment.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Considering this is an opinion piece from an author who spends most of her time writing about how she thinks teachers unions make it impossible to provide good education to kids I think this is probably just another right wing attempt attack democracy by screaming "think of the children"

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Either way, the cueing system is nonsense.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Either way, Republicans being in control of education policy is nonsense. It's not going to matter what reading system they use if they're trying to teach a trans student ~~whose~~ who's being harassed by their state's laws, or a student who is distracted by reasonable fears of being shot, or by hunger because they don't have any food at home. This person could be the most skilled and impassioned champion of education ever but she's never going to be able to help kids Republicans decide are unworthy working for this administration.

e; autocorrect being unhelpdul

[-] raynethackery@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't think being Tennessee's Commissioner of Education is the flex this writer thinks it is.

this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2025

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