Franken Is A Fraud. His Kids Go To Exclusive Schools While He Gets Campaign Contributions From The NEA

Democrat who blasted Betsy DeVos over school vouchers is a big fan of school choice for his own kids

Brandon Morse Mar 9, 2017 5:53 pm

Sen. Al Franken was critical of Betsy DeVos during her confirmation hearing as Secretary of Education because of her support for a voucher system for middle-class families. But Franken isn't opposed to school choice — he sends his own children to one of the most prestigious schools in New York. (Image source: Getty Images)

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Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was one of Education Secretary  Betsy DeVos’ biggest critics during her confirmation hearing. One major point of contention Franken had with DeVos was her support for a voucher system for middle-class families. This, in part, led him to claim that DeVos was “fundamentally unqualified to lead the Education Department.”

“In reality, most school vouchers don’t cover the full cost of private school tuition,” Franken had said. “Nor do they cover additional expenses like transportation, school uniforms and other supplies.

“Which means the vouchers don’t create more choices for low-income families,” he said. “They simply subsidize existing choices for families who could already afford to pay for private school.”

However, information has surfaced that shows Franken isn’t opposed to school choice at all — at least not when it comes to his own family. According to the Daily Caller, Franken sends his own children to one of the most prestigious schools in New York, where tuition is more than the yearly salary of those Franken claims he’s looking out for.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken’s two children attend Dalton School, described by the liberal-leaning Daily Beast as “one of New York’s most exclusive and rigorous private schools and boasts an impressive roster of celebrity alumni, including Anderson Cooper and Claire Danes.” Dalton’s application asks parents to list any prestigious titles they hold,  including, “Princess, Senate and Ambassador,” according to The Daily Beast.

Franken describes Dalton as “a very high-powered, expensive New York City private high school.”

How expensive? Dalton’s tuition is currently $44,640 a year.

Furthermore, Franken himself benefited from school choice. According to an interview in Harvard Magazine, Franken attended one of the most prestigious charter schools in Minnesota.

Franken turned out to be a whiz in science and math, and when his brother went off to MIT, the family began to look for a better secondary school for Al. As it happened, Blake was looking for kids just like him.

“Blake was a school chartered for Protestants,” Franken said. “In the 1950s, it started to lose the ability to get enough kids into top colleges. They needed kids who would score well. And they said …‘JEWS!’ ”

Interestingly enough, the National Education Association was also opposed to DeVos. The organization’s president, Lily Eskelsen García, called DeVos “dangerously unqualified” and echoed the same sentiments that Franken expressed concerning DeVos’ lack of experience with public schools.

According to Union Facts, Franken was given $10,000 for his campaign by the NEA.

Obstructionism Schumer Style

Teachers Unions Prove They Are Not Worried About The Kids

Protesters block DeVos from entering DC school

BY PAULINA FIROZI - 02/10/17 11:10 AM EST 1,537

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was greeted with protesters when she tried to enter a Washington middle school on Friday morning.

A video from the scene shows DeVos walking away from one entrance of Jefferson Middle School after being physically blocked from the entrance. One protester stood in front of the stairway entrance in the school, and DeVos walked back to her vehicle.

“Keep giving money to senators and buying your way to the position,” one man holding a Black Lives Matter sign says to her, according to a video from ABC reporter Sam Sweeney. “I hope you’re proud of yourself."

“Go back,” the protestor yells and she enters the car. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” 

DeVos was reportedly able to eventually enter the school for an event that included D.C. schools chancellor.

Crowds of protesters gathered ahead of DeVos’s visit to the school, according to reports. Her visit, her first as secretary of Education to a public K-12 school, was reportedly organized by the Washington teachers union, which did not support her nomination.

Parents and teachers gathered holding signs opposing the controversial Education secretary. 

“Betsy DeVos does not play well with others — should be held back,” one sign read. 

“Public schools support our kids and their American Dreams,” read another.

The Senate confirmed DeVos on Tuesday to lead the Department of Education after Vice President Pence cast a tie-breaking vote, the first time ever a vice president has done so for a Cabinet nominee.

The GOP mega-donor was met with fierce opposition from Democrats and teachers unions who voiced opposition to her support for charter schools and tuition vouchers. 

Senate Democrats held an all-night debate to protest DeVos’s nomination ahead of her confirmation vote.

“This is a sad day for children,” the American Federation of Teachers president said in a statement following DeVos’s confirmation. 

Updated at 11:29 a.m.

It Depends Who Is Buttering Your Bread As To What Your Opinions Are! Hypocrites!

Elizabeth Warren's Latest Hypocrisy

• 01/23/2017 
• Source: AAN 
• by: AAN Staff

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Elizabeth Warren, or as the president refers to her, Pocahantas, is at it again. 

The would be sheriff of Wall Street who got rich flipping houses before 2008, 

the advocate for affirmative action who falsified a Native American heritage to 

get ahead in academia is now changing her mind on the school vouchers that 

minority parents in underserved districts desperately need. As the Post reports:

DeVos has spent her life advocating for children and for parental choice in

education to ensure opportunity for all, regardless of race, class, gender or

ZIP code.

Such dedication is irrelevant to defenders of our nation’s dysfunctional public-

school systems. Yet at least one Senate Democrat wasn’t always a defender

of dysfunction.

Yes: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, progressive icon, once supported school vouchers.

In her 2003 book, “The Two-Income Trap” (co-authored with her daughter,

Amelia Warren Tyagi), Warren endorsed a school-voucher system to free

children from the tyranny of educrats assigning them to schools based on

where their parents can afford to live.

Warren wrote: “With fully funded vouchers, parents of all income levels

could send their children — and the accompanying financial support — to

the schools of their choice.”

Moreover, she argued that framing the issue as a “public versus private

competition” misses the key issue: “The problem is not vouchers; the

problem is parental choice.”

Warren pointed out that most public-school placement is based on ZIP code.

The only way parents can exercise any choice is to buy a home in the school

district they want — but poor families lack that option.

The solution, she asserted, is to break up the “ironclad relationship” between

ZIP code and school with a well-designed voucher system.

So Warren is perfectly ok with government bailouts for kids who go to college, 

pick irrelevant majors, and end up working in a Starbucks with six figure debt. 

What she's apparently not ok with, it seems, is letting poor minority children

 escape from failing schools that don't give them the skills necessary to 

compete in a competitive global economy. 

What changed? Warren became a Democratic Senator. The entire Democratic 

agenda absolutely requires the existence of a permanent underclass that's 

unable to care for themselves without government assistance, and winning

 campaigns requires generous donations from the teacher's unions whose

 golden ticket is threatened by school choice.