Betsy DeVos Ignores Congress: Orders Distribution of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools Instead of Public Schools Serving Poor Children
On April 30, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released informal guidance directing federal Covid-19 stimulus funds to private schools at the expense of the public schools that educate 50 million American children and adolescents. DeVos is using the pandemic crisis to promote her own agenda supporting the privatization of American public education. Her recent action also undermines one of the most fundamental purposes of the U.S. Department of Education for which she is responsible.
On Wednesday, the NY Times‘ Erica Green described DeVos responding to criticism from the Council of Chief State School Officers: “Ms. DeVos accused the state education chiefs of having a ‘reflex to share as little as possible with students and teachers outside of their control,’ and said she would draft (a final) rule codifying her position to ‘resolve any issues in plenty of time for the next school year.’ The proposed rule would need to go through a public comment process before it could take effect.”
But the issue is far more complicated than what DeVos claims is public schools’ selfish unwillingness to share.
In the CARES Act, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Education to distribute $13.5 billion to the nation’s public schools according to the principles of the Title I formula. The Title I formula represents—more than any other policy or program—the very role of the federal government in U.S. public education. Public schools are created and funded under the 50 state constitutions, but in 1965, when Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, the federal purpose was to support the education of impoverished children and confront unequal access to education across the states.
Jack Jennings, founder and retired CEO of the Center on Education Policy, describes the CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos Ignores Congress: Orders Distribution of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools Instead of Public Schools Serving Poor Children | janresseger