Early Signs Betsy DeVos Will Not Support Civil Rights
It was just an Easter egg roll. But it seemed like an occasion that could give the Trump White House an easy opportunity to show racial inclusiveness.
But as the Daily News reports, when the White House staged its first annual Easter Egg Roll, it forgot to invite local school children. News outlets aligned to the Democratic Party, such as Occupy Democrats and Share Blue, were quick to note that while school children in the surrounding neighborhoods are mostly black, the event attendees were predominantly white – including “an all-white band on hand to perform slavery-era spirituals and soul music.”
The Daily News reporter attributes the whitewashing of the Easter crowd at the White House to a problem with “basic logistics,” but anyone paying attention knows all too well there’s a white people problem endemic to the Trump administration.
That problem is acutely visible in a policy arena where racial inclusion may matter most – education.
So far, Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has sent numerous signs she is assembling a staff and laying down a policy mindset that seems indifferent – if not outright averse – to the needs of nonwhite students.
A Growing Racial Divide
DeVos has taken the helm of federal education policy at a time when black and brown school children and youth critically need leaders in the federal government to address their needs.
The number of Latino, African-American, and Asian students in public K-12 schools passed the number of non-Hispanic whites over two years ago. Nevertheless, schools have become more racially segregated than they were 40 years ago.
The weight of research evidence shows when schools are racially and socioeconomically integrated, all students – even the white kids – benefit academically and in their social and emotional capabilities. Yet, without strong federal leadership, states and local districts generally shirk their responsibilities to enforce school integration.
Racial segregation is not the only problem nonwhite students confront in schools. Students of color in our nation’s schools are disproportionally more apt to receive out-of-school suspensions than their white peers, Early Signs Betsy DeVos Will Not Support Civil Rights:
NEWS AND VIEWS
In Upcoming Case, Supreme Court Should Uphold Separation Of Church And State
The Century Foundation
“The U.S. Supreme Court … in a closely watched case… could pave the way for state funding of private religious schools … The case involves a challenge to an 1875 provision in the Missouri Constitution which prohibits spending taxpayer funds ‘directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion’ … The federal district and circuit courts … upheld Missouri’s decision not to become entangled with religious institutions. But with President Trump’s appointee on the Supreme Court possibly holding the balance of power, the justices may take a serious step toward dismantling the wall separating church and state – a structure that has served our democracy so well over the generations.”
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When School Choice Means Choosing Segregation
Vice News
“A lawsuit pending appeal with the state Supreme Court alleges the growing segregation in Minnesota’s schools denies an adequate education to poor and minority kids and is the logical and illegal conclusion of the state’s abdication of its responsibility to integrate. It also alleges the state has allowed segregated charter schools to proliferate … Schools with large concentrations of poor or minority children … perform worse … Integration has repeatedly been shown to improve educational outcomes for all students … Charter advocates, for their part, are actively pushing back on the need to integrate at all … Integrating public schools isn’t possible without also integrating charter schools, and neither is possible without a court order.”
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Arresting And Suspending Students Costs City Millions Each Year, Report Says
Daily News
“Arresting and suspending students … cost [New York City] millions each year … more than $746 million … associated with students dropping out of school because of suspensions or arrests … ‘The $746 Million a Year School-to-Prison Pipeline’ calls for fewer student suspensions and the removal of NYPD personnel and metal detectors from public schools … ‘The city has an opportunity here to reinvest some of these funds into supportive programs and opportunities for students.'”
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Betsy DeVos Is Wasting No Time Screwing Over Students Who Borrow Money for College
Slate
“Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been sending some chilling signals lately about how she plans to deal with America’s $1.3 trillion student debt burden … Her department has scrapped Obama-era reforms that were designed to protect borrowers from being gouged or misled by the companies responsible for collecting their loans … DeVos seems less interested in protecting former students than in protecting the predators that have fleeced them for profit.”
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Tax Credits, School Choice And ‘Neovouchers’: What You Need To Know
The Conversation
“As Republican lawmakers craft a tax reform bill … it’s likely that the bill will also include a major education policy initiative from the Trump administration: a tax credit designed to fund private school vouchers … These new vouchers (or ‘neovouchers’) are similar to conventional vouchers in many ways, but there are some important differences … The complexity of the neovoucher approach obscures the fact that it’s really a voucher program, making it less of a political lightning rod … 17 states have tax-credit policies … generating a quarter-million vouchers and growing every year … Proposals are now appearing at a federal level.”
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