Betsy DeVos Uses the Coronavirus Pandemic to Push Private and Religious School Vouchers
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has pulled a lot of shady stuff in her time in President Trump’s Cabinet. But her latest action may take the cake for brazen, underhanded political malfeasance.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars intended primarily for public schools and colleges to private and religious schools.
To put it simply, after a lifetime of humiliation and failed attempts, in both her home state of Michigan and nationally, to get private and religious school voucher programs passed into law, Ms. DeVos is using the worst health emergency in our nation’s history to use federal funding for voucher programs that favor private and religious schools across the country, many of dubious legitimacy, and drawing rebukes for “exploiting congressional relief efforts.”
Here are some of the schools that Betsy DeVos has made sure received federal relief funding, in spite of Congressional guidance that these funds be directed toward low income students and communities:
- The Bergin University of Canine Studies in California, whose founder “said its $472,850 allocation was a ‘godsend.’”
- The Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential, a private college “in Wisconsin that has a website debunking claims that it is a cult, received about $495,000.”
- God’s Bible School and College in Ohio, whose vice president for academic affairs is named “Aaron D. Profitt” (that is not a joke).
Meanwhile, public education officials in several states are pointing out that DeVos’ decision to not consider income levels when determining to whom or where these funds are sent is a violation of CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos Uses the Coronavirus Pandemic to Push Private and Religious School Vouchers | Eclectablog