Betsy DeVos directs $500,000 from coronavirus relief to private college — confused by some with cult
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has directed millions in federal coronavirus relief funds earmarked by Congress for low-income students to wealthy private and religious schools, including nearly half a million dollars to an institute with a website devoted to proving it is not a cult.
The New York Times first reported Friday that DeVos, whose family net worth has been pegged at approximately $2 billion by Forbes, has stuck her hand into the $30 billion pot of federal relief funds to appropriate $180 million “to encourage states to create ‘microgrants’ that parents of elementary and secondary school students can use to pay for educational services, including private school tuition. She has directed school districts to share millions of dollars designated for low-income students with wealthy private schools.”
The article added that “she has nearly depleted the funding set aside for struggling colleges to bolster small colleges — many of them private, religious or on the margins of higher education — regardless of need.”
Of the $321,000,000 from that depleted fund, $19 million went to schools with “bible” or “Christian” in their name, and more than $50 million went to theological seminaries, according to a Salon analysis of the allocations. CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos directs $500,000 from coronavirus relief to private college — confused by some with cult – Raw Story