American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity 

The scale of the broad federal funding in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) presents an opportunity for transformative change – but only if funds are invested to address systemic racism and advance equity. This requires sustained organizing to ensure accountability and community participation to direct investments – and ongoing, transparent structures to incorporate community input.

This page offers resources to support that organizing, some Schott has developed, and many more gathered from partners. It’s information to understand components of ARP, and to provide insights into how communities across the country are mobilizing.

We encourage you to add to this collaborative hub—email materials and links to communications@schottfoundation.org .

How much money will go to my state and district?

Over the past year, Congress has allocated billions to states and districts in three major acts: June 2020’s CARES Act, December 2020’s CRRSA, and March 2021’s American Rescue Plan (ARP). While those bills funded many things, the education portion of those bills are considered “ESSER” funds. So CARES education money is “ESSER I”, CRRSA’s is “ESSER II”, and ARP’s is “ESSER III”. CONTINUE READING: American Rescue Plan: Organizing for Equity | Schott Foundation for Public Education

THE BURDEN OF PROOF – Dad Gone Wild

THE BURDEN OF PROOF – Dad Gone Wild

THE BURDEN OF PROOF

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”
― Albert Einstein

 

Two days ago the Tennessean ran an article reporting that MNPS had received a letter from the Commissioner of Education accusing them of fiscal malfeasance regarding their management of federal funds delivered through the CARES Act. In the commissioner’s words,

“I cannot underscore enough the seriousness of the current financial management of federal funds and compliance issues in MNPS,” Schwinn wrote Monday. “It is imperative that these issues be resolved quickly, accurately, and comprehensively, so as to provide students with the resources that they need and to move the district to a space of compliance with federal and state law.”

Yikes, dems are some strong words. Department spokesman Victoria Robinson followed up with strong words of her own,

“The issues addressed in the letter represent systemic financial and programmatic concerns documented by multiple oversight agencies at both state and federal levels over multiple years,

Governor Lee’s spokesman Laine Arnold piled on,

“When student achievement, teacher compensation and all manner of CONTINUE READING: THE BURDEN OF PROOF – Dad Gone Wild

A 50-State Analysis of PPP Funding of Charter Schools, Religious Schools, and Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

A 50-State Analysis of PPP Funding of Charter Schools, Religious Schools, and Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

A 50-State Analysis of PPP Funding of Charter Schools, Religious Schools, and Private Schools

Good Jobs First has studied the distribution of COVID relief funds in depth. It created a site called COVID Stimulus Watch. It published an article about the depth of corruption in the Trump administration, which distributed COVID relief funds.

In this post, the researchers at Good Jobs First reveal the federal funding in the Paycheck Protection Program for all 50 states, distributed to charter schools, religious schools, and private schools.

As you review the funding for your own state, please bear in mind that public schools received an average of $134,500 each. Also, public schools were not allowed to apply for PPP funding. Charter schools were, however, allowed to get a portion of the public school funding and then to apply for PPP funding as if they were small businesses.

Check out your own state. You will find that elite private schools with high tuition and large endowments received grants that often were millions of dollars.

A 50-State Analysis of PPP Funding of Charter Schools, Religious Schools, and Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Nevada: Charter Schools Cashed in on PPP Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Nevada: Charter Schools Cashed in on PPP Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Nevada: Charter Schools Cashed in on PPP Money

Last spring, you may recall, the CARES Act included $13.2 billion for public and charter schools. In addition, $660 billion was allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses and nonprofits that were struggling to survive due to the pandemic. Public schools were not allowed to apply for PPP. However, many charter schools learned through their lobbyists that they could apply for PPP. In other words, they double-dipped. They took the $134,500 or so that was available in the initial allotment for each public school. Then they went to the PPP and took another bite, which was far bigger than the funding allowed to public schools.

Which raises the interesting question: Are charter schools “public schools” or are they small businesses or private nonprofits? After all, public schools were not allowed to ask for PPP money, but over a thousand charter schools struck gold.

Nevada has a reputation for some of the worst charter CONTINUE READING: Nevada: Charter Schools Cashed in on PPP Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Federal Judge Permanently Bars DeVos from Diverting CARES Funds to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Federal Judge Permanently Bars DeVos from Diverting CARES Funds to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Federal Judge Permanently Bars DeVos from Diverting CARES Funds to Private Schools

While Trump appointees are doing their best to impose their policies before January 20, a federal judge in California told Betsy DeVos in no equivocal terms by a federal judge that she cannot divert CARES money to private schools. The nation’s nearly 100,000 public schools received $13.2 billion in CARES funding, which they were required to share with charter schools and to private schools with low-income students. However, charter schools, religious schools, and private schools also qualified for billions more from the CARES Payroll Protection Program, which excluded public schools. DeVos initially tried to wedge private schools into the public schools’ $13.2 billion fund, even if the private schools had no low-income students. But three federal judges rejected her efforts. Now she is permanently enjoined.

LANSING, Mich — A judge has formally closed the case on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to rewrite a section of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and CONTINUE READING: Federal Judge Permanently Bars DeVos from Diverting CARES Funds to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Charter schools’ unexpected windfall: They got funds from two federal government programs; public schools only got from one - Network For Public Education

Charter schools’ unexpected windfall: They got funds from two federal government programs; public schools only got from one - Network For Public Education

Charter schools’ unexpected windfall: They got funds from two federal government programs; public schools only got from one

Kudos to the mayor, teachers and principals who worked so hard to bring New York City public school students back to school. Unfortunately, their tenacious efforts were poorly supported by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. New Yorkers knew there would be many extra expenses to open school safely — and the meager support Congress provided in the CARES Act didn’t help much. New York City’s public schools received $720.5 million — only about $720 a student. And even that small amount was taken away when Gov. Cuomo cut $717 million to NYC schools.

Not all NYC schools were shortchanged, however. Our investigation of the CARES Act’s funding streams revealed that the nearly 60% of charter schools in the city double-dipped, getting far more per student than public schools. Not only did charters get a share of the main CARES Act provision for schools, called the Elementary and Secondary School Stabilization Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. Because they are non-profit corporations, Congress also allowed them to receive forgivable loans under the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP).

Many New York City charters used their status as nonprofit corporations to apply for forgivable, low-interest PPP loans that were intended to save small businesses from closing. Why charters were eligible to get PPP funding is unclear; unlike conventional small businesses, their revenue never disappeared. They continued to get their pre-CARES Act taxpayer-funded revenue streams — plus formula-driven shares of the ESSER funding on CONTINUE READING: Charter schools’ unexpected windfall: They got funds from two federal government programs; public schools only got from one - Network For Public Education

Prospects for COVID-19 Stimulus Package Fade: Will We Have to Wait for A New President and New Congress to Negotiate Relief for States and Their Public Schools? | janresseger

Prospects for COVID-19 Stimulus Package Fade: Will We Have to Wait for A New President and New Congress to Negotiate Relief for States and Their Public Schools? | janresseger

Prospects for COVID-19 Stimulus Package Fade: Will We Have to Wait for A New President and New Congress to Negotiate Relief for States and Their Public Schools?

Negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House negotiator Steve Mnuchin and Senate Republicans for a second coronavirus relief bill have collapsed until at least after the election—maybe until a new Congress convenes in 2021 and, perhaps, a new President takes over.  Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell has declared that the U.S. Senate will not even be back in session until November 9.

Of immediate urgency is essential assistance for individuals and small businesses now that most of the programs funded by last March’s CARES Act have run out—the one-time $1,200 stimulus checks, the small business paycheck protection program, pandemic emergency unemployment benefits, an eviction moratorium, and support for health coverage. But there is another critically important need—one that is slightly farther removed from families’ immediate crisis.

Through months of negotiations, the two sides could never reach any agreement on one of Nancy Pelosi’s top priorities and something essential for the nation’s over 13,000 local public school districts: significant relief for state and local governments. State funding averages 40 percent of all public school funding, with local funds comprising around 40 percent.  President Donald Trump and some Republican  Senators opposed what Trump called “a bailout for poorly managed ‘blue’ states.”  While Trump and so-called “deficit hawk” Republican Senators have politicized the issue, here is how—last April—Rutgers University education funding expert, Bruce Baker, and Albert Shanker Institute policy expert, Matthew Di Carlo defined the urgent need for relief for state and local governments: “The most terrible and lasting effects of the coronavirus pandemic will of course be measured in loss of life. But a parallel tragedy will also be unfolding in the coming months and years, this one affecting those at the beginning of their lives: an unprecedented school funding crisis that threatens to disadvantage a generation of children. It currently is difficult to make any precise predictions about the magnitude of the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, except CONTINUE READING: Prospects for COVID-19 Stimulus Package Fade: Will We Have to Wait for A New President and New Congress to Negotiate Relief for States and Their Public Schools? | janresseger

Audio: America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight | 89.3 KPCC

America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight

Back in May, school funding experts predicted a looming financial disaster for the nation's K-12 schools.

"I think we're about to see a school funding crisis unlike anything we have ever seen in modern history," warned Rebecca Sibilia, the founder of EdBuild, a school finance advocacy organization. "We are looking at devastation that we could not have imagined ... a year ago."

But those warnings, like everything else that happened in May, feel like a lifetime ago. Where do things stand now? First, a little good news:

"So we're not looking at a disastrous year this year," says Michael Griffith at the Learning Policy Institute. He says the CARES Act, signed in March, helped states avoid a short-term school funding disaster.

Remember: Schools get about half their funding from state tax revenues, which have taken a big hit in the pandemic. States were facing budget cuts in the 20-30% range, Griffith says. But thanks, in part, to those federal CARES Act dollars, it's just "a bad year," he explains — "between 15 and 20%."

The bad news is: Those cuts are still pretty deep.

"There are about 570,000 fewer local education jobs" this year compared to the start of the previous school year, says Michael Leachman, who studies state fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Those are teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, secretaries, librarians, counselors."

Sibilia says one reason we haven't seen even more cuts is "because all of our elected leaders are putting their head in the sand."

Many politicians are wary of making big, unpopular cuts before the election, Sibilia explains, and instead are draining their rainy day funds or hiding the pain with CONTINUE READING: Audio: America's School Funding Crisis: Budget Cuts, Rising Costs And No Help In Sight | 89.3 KPCC

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other

Some examples of how the world of education has responded to the pandemic.

This article is part of our latest Learning special report, which focuses on ways that remote learning will shape the future.

A fall semester unlike any ever known is underway in America.

The coronavirus is lurking around every corner like a ghoul in a Halloween cornfield, waiting to leap out and frighten — if not sicken or kill — anyone who dares pass by.

It has created chaos in the world of education, as some schools refuse to open while others do, only to close again as cases rise. Some are online, while some are in person — or both. The pressure on students, teachers, administrators and parents is immense and has aggravated educational inequalities. Schools, after all, do more than deliver an education: they are a source of food, socialization and internet connections to the rest of the world — along with child care providers for working parents.

The instability for so many who depend on all that is grim.

But wait. In every dark time across history some people rise up and cope — more than cope really. They demonstrate resilience, creativity and an ability to innovate.

Some experts look at these efforts and hope that many will change — for the better — how students are taught and learn in the future.

Chris Cerf, who started his career as a high school teacher, served as the New Jersey education commissioner, deputy chancellor for New York City’s Department of Education, and is a founder of a nonprofit called Cadence Learning, is one of the optimists.

“I absolutely believe that we are going to come out of this pandemic having learned a great deal about how to deliver quality instruction to students,” he said.

You’ll find a handful of examples — snapshots, if you will — here and throughout our Learning section of creativity in a time of crisis.

#Coronavirussyllabus

It developed, as many things do these days, on Twitter.

In March, Anne Fausto-Sterling, an emerita professor of biology at Brown University, tweeted that professors should “teach the virus” whatever their discipline. CONTINUE READING: This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times

CURMUDGUCATION: Orphaned Education, Forgotten Children

CURMUDGUCATION: Orphaned Education, Forgotten Children

Orphaned Education, Forgotten Children

These are depressing times. Let me tell you why I'm bummed, but first, let me tell you a story.

Almost a decade ago, I was the local union president during a contentious contract negotiation that became a strike. That was probably the lowest part of my teaching career. If you've taught for more than a year or two, you know, somewhere back in the back of your mind, that a lot of people are not really pulling for you, don't really respect the work you do, don't think you should get all uppity about wanting good wages, good working conditions, some sort of say in how the work is done. 

You know all that, but you put your head down, focus on the work, the students, the people out there who respect and value the work you're doing. There are plenty of them, sure enough. But those others. You know they're out there, in many cases in positions of power, but like I said--you keep your head down. But during the strike, I couldn't ignore them. They stopped me on the street, called me at home. I had to look right into that dark maw, and it was deeply disheartening. 

I feel like we're back there again. Seven months of this pandemess, and I think we've become numb, used to just how much education and children is NOT part of the ongoing concerns before us at the moment. On the one hand, it's not news--public education has been a political orphan for at least thirty or forty years. Go ahead--name a prominent political figure who's known for being a champion of public education. Name a Secretary of Education who did their utmost to stand up for public CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Orphaned Education, Forgotten Children

Uncontrolled Infections, Political Manipulation of Science, Lack of Funding, and Complexity of Operating Schools Make It Hard to Start Schoolyear | janresseger

Uncontrolled Infections, Political Manipulation of Science, Lack of Funding, and Complexity of Operating Schools Make It Hard to Start Schoolyear | janresseger

Uncontrolled Infections, Political Manipulation of Science, Lack of Funding, and Complexity of Operating Schools Make It Hard to Start School Year

Reporting on the complexities of attempting to reopen the public schools in New York City this week, the Washington Post’s Moriah Balingit quotes Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools: “Frankly, I don’t know of another institution, public or private, that has so many moving parts with so much public pressure on it from so many angles on it as much as public schools have… I have never seen a situation like this in the 43-plus years I’ve been doing this work, where public school leaders have devoted so much time, effort, creativity and just sheer endurance in trying to solve a set of problems where there’s just no obvious good resolution.”

A team of reporters from POLITICO covers efforts to prepare for school reopening in the nation’s four largest school districts—New York City Public Schools with 1.1 million students, Los Angeles Unified with 600,000 students, Chicago Public Schools with more than 350,000 students, and Miami-Dade County with 347,000 students.  Scale alone is a huge challenge during the pandemic as school districts of this size try to manage staffing, social distancing in classrooms and school buses, ventilation and other safety issues, and a mass of challenges around just securing access for masses of students to online instruction. All this is in addition to scheduling children for complicated hybrid schedules combining in-person and online learning and adapting curriculum and instruction to both modes of education. All these challenges are complicated by a shortage of money and a shortage of clear and consistent guidance from public health officials. The POLITICO reporters remind readers that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran have ordered Miami-Dade Schools to reopen in person this week despite that the county has been hit harder by the coronavirus than the rest of the state. The Governor has threatened to withhold state funding CONTINUE READING: Uncontrolled Infections, Political Manipulation of Science, Lack of Funding, and Complexity of Operating Schools Make It Hard to Start Schoolyear | janresseger

DeVos Loses Fight to Split Public School CARES $$ with Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

DeVos Loses Fight to Split Public School CARES $$ with Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

DeVos Loses Fight to Split Public School CARES $$ with Private Schools

Betsy DeVos lost the biggest fight of her tenure as Secretary of Education. Federal judges consistently rejected her legally binding rule requiring states to give private schools a share of the $13 billion Congress allocated for public schools and for needy students in private schools. DeVos wanted private schools to get a share of the federal money without regard to the need of their students. The judges said no.

After fighting for her position, DeVos admitted defeat and decided not to appeal the court decisions.

Some states have already given federal funds to private schools, using DeVos’ formula, and it is not clear whether that money will be clawed back.

Charter schools also received a share of the $13 billion in CARES funds, which they qualified for as “public schools.” Many charter and private schools also applied for and received millions of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program (public schools were not eligible for PPP). A study by Good Jobs Inc. determined that charter and private schools obtained SIX TIMES as much federal relief money as public schools.

DeVos Loses Fight to Split Public School CARES $$ with Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Private and Charter Schools Received Six Times as Much COVID Funding As Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Private and Charter Schools Received Six Times as Much COVID Funding As Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Private and Charter Schools Received Six Times as Much COVID Funding As Public Schools

A new study of the federal CARES act funding found that private and charter schools received SIX TIMES the amount of funding as public schools from the federal coronavirus program. This may actually, as the report states, be an underestimate.

Mellissa Chang wrote:

A new analysis of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by Good Jobs First points to an imbalance in CARES Act funding between public schools on the one hand and private and charter schools on the other.

GJF’s Covid Stimulus Watch has identified at least 6,600 charter and private schools that received an estimated $5.7 billion in PPP loans, which have been made available to private companies and non-profit organizations but not public entities. This data is now available on Covid Stimulus Watch through the facility ownership search category.

PPP loan disclosures from the Small Business Administration (SBA) were reported in dollar ranges, not exact values. Covid Stimulus Watch uses the midpoint of each range to estimate loan amounts. Data released by the SBA includes NAICS industry codes for each entity; CONTINUE READING: Private and Charter Schools Received Six Times as Much COVID Funding As Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Senate Republicans Once Again Refuse to Help States and Their Local School Districts | janresseger

Senate Republicans Once Again Refuse to Help States and Their Local School Districts | janresseger

Senate Republicans Once Again Refuse to Help States and Their Local School Districts

Last week, the Republican dominated U.S. Senate once again failed to pass its latest version of a second stimulus bill to help alleviate the recession that is undermining the economy, the lives of individuals, and institutions like public schools. The Republicans called their bill a skinny (minimal) bill, and everybody knew it wasn’t going to pass, but the consequences are likely to be serious.  At least, by sinking the bill, Congress did not pass the Betsy DeVos favorite, a tuition tax credit Freedom Scholarship program inserted at the last minute by Sen. Ted Cruz.

The Washington Post’s Erica Werner, Seung Min Kim and Tony Romm explain last week’s Senate action: “The failed GOP bill would have authorized new money for small businesses, coronavirus testing and schools, and $300 in enhanced weekly enhanced unemployment benefits. The measure included roughly $650 billion in total spending, but it would repurpose roughly $350 billion in previously approved spending, bringing the tally of new funding to around $300 billion. The measure did not include a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks for individual Americans, even though that’s something the White House supports. It also excluded any new money for cities and states, a top Democratic priority as municipal governments face the prospect of mass layoffs because of plunging tax revenue. And it contained some conservative priorities that Democrats dismissed as unacceptable ‘poison pills’ including liability protections for businesses and a tax credit aimed at helping students attend private schools.”

There is speculation that Congress won’t be able to agree on any additional stimulus prior to the election. Under pressure from Democratic members of the House to pass something before CONTINUE READING: Senate Republicans Once Again Refuse to Help States and Their Local School Districts | janresseger

Parents, Districts, and NAACP Win Major Victory over DeVos | Cloaking Inequity

Parents, Districts, and NAACP Win Major Victory over DeVos | Cloaking Inequity

PARENTS, DISTRICTS, AND NAACP WIN MAJOR VICTORY OVER DEVOS

I received the following press release from the Education Law Center about the DeVos defeat at the hands of the NAACP in court this past week.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late this afternoon, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in NAACP v. DeVos, striking down a rule that imposes unlawful conditions on federal emergency aid for public schools. Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ruled that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education violated the clear language of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in issuing a regulation that would illegally divert desperately needed funds away from public school students for the benefit of private schools.

Judge Friedrich wrote: “Congress expressed a clear and unambiguous preference for apportioning funding to private schools based on the number of children from low-income families…” The court continued: “Contrary to the Department’s interim final rule, that cannot mean the opposite of what it says.”

“This decision sends a clear signal that Secretary DeVos cannot use illegal means to advance her agenda of funneling scarce public resources to private education, to the detriment of our highest need students in public schools across the country,” said Tamerlin Godley, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, who argued the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. “We are particularly grateful that the court issued this decision quickly so that public school districts do not lose any more time in meeting the urgent needs of their students during this pandemic.”

The plaintiffs are the NAACP, public school parents and districts across the country. The plaintiff families have children enrolled in public schools in states including Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs also include Broward County Public Schools, FL; DeKalb County School District, GA; Denver County School District, CO; Pasadena Unified School District, CA; and Stamford Public Schools, CT.

The plaintiffs are represented by the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP, as well as Education Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center. These organizations collaborate on Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS), a national campaign to ensure that public funds for education are used to maintain, support, and strengthen public schools.

The rule invalidated today required districts to either divert more funding for “equitable services” to private school students than the law allows or face onerous restrictions on the use of those funds in their public schools. It would have drastically diminished the desperately needed resources available to support public school children during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particularly harmful effect on historically underserved student populations, including students of color and low-income students.

The court’s ruling grants a nationwide vacatur of the rule, bringing much-needed certainty to public schools across the country that they will have the full amount of CARES Act funds to which they are entitled.

More information about NAACP v. DeVos is available here.

Parents, Districts, and NAACP Win Major Victory over DeVos | Cloaking Inequity

Breaking! Federal Judge Rejects DeVos’ Efforts to Give Federal Funding to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Breaking! Federal Judge Rejects DeVos’ Efforts to Give Federal Funding to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Breaking! Federal Judge Rejects DeVos’ Efforts to Give Federal Funding to Private Schools

Secretary of Education DeVos issued a rule requiring states to share coronavirus relief funds with private schools, irrespective of need or low-income status.

News from the NAACP, the Education Law Center, and the Southern Poverty Law Center:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2020
Contacts: Ashley Levett, (334) 296-0084 / ashley.levett@splcenter.org
Sharon Krengel, (973) 624-1815, x24 / skrengel@edlawcenter.org

Parents, Districts, and NAACP Win Major Victory as Federal Court Blocks

Illegal DeVos Rule Nationwide

WASHINGTON D C – Late this afternoon the U S District Court for the District of Columbia
Judge Friedrich wrote: “Congress expressed a clear and unambiguous preference for apportioning funding to private schools based on the number of children from low-income families…” The court continued: “Contrary to the Department’s interim final rule, that cannot mean the opposite of what it says.”….The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in NAACP v. DeVos, striking down a rule that imposes unlawful conditions on federal emergency aid for public schools. Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ruled that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education violated the clear language of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in issuing a regulation that would illegally divert desperately needed funds away from public school students for the benefit of private schools.

“This decision sends a clear signal that Secretary DeVos cannot use illegal means to advance her agenda of funneling scarce public resources to private education, to the detriment of our highest need students in public schools across the country,” said Tamerlin Godley, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, who argued the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. “We are particularly grateful that the court issued this decision quickly so that public school districts do not lose any CONTINUE READING: Breaking! Federal Judge Rejects DeVos’ Efforts to Give Federal Funding to Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog