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"In the middle of the worst public health crisis in more than a century," writes Reich, Trump's Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is "jeopardizing the safety of our students, teachers, parents, bus drivers, and custodians, while rerouting desperately needed public school funds towards the private schools she's always championed." (Image: Inequality Media)
Betsy DeVos Has a Very Deadly Plan to Reopen US Public Schools
Remember, when you vote against Trump this November—you're voting against this person, too.
Aug 12, 2020
Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos is heading the administration's effort to force schools to reopen in the fall for in-person instruction. What's her plan to reopen safely? She doesn't have one.
Rather than seeking additional federal funds, she's using this pandemic to further her ploy to privatize education--threatening to withhold federal funds from public schools that don't reopen.
Repeatedly pressed by journalists during TV appearances, DeVos can't come up with a single mechanism or guideline for reopening schools safely. She can't even articulate what authority the federal government has to unilaterally withhold funds from school districts -- a decision that's made at the state and local level, or by Congress. But when has the Constitution stopped the Trump administration from trying to do whatever it wants?
DeVos is following Trump's lead--prematurely reopening the economy, which he sees as key to his re-election but is causing a resurgence of the virus.
Let's get something straight: Every single parent, teacher, and student wants to be able to return to in-person instruction in the fall--but only if no one's life is put at risk.
Districts need more funding, not less, to implement the CDC's guidelines. Given that state and local governments are already cash-strapped, it's estimated that K-12 schools need at least $245 billion in additional funding to put safety precautions in place -- funding that Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration refuse to give.
One might think an education secretary would be studying what kind of safety precautions would work best, and seeking emergency funding for those safeguards. Not DeVos. Just like her boss in the Oval Office, she's been hard at work shafting working families to advance her personal agenda.
In late April, she issued rules for how states should use the $13 billion allocated in the CARES Act for schools. Her rules would divert millions of dollars away from low-income schools into the coffers of wealthy private schools. It's such a blatant violation of federal law that several states are suing her and her department.
DeVos' entire tenure has centered on shafting low-income students and their families--the very people she's supposed to protect.
She has repeatedly empowered the predatory for-profit college industry at the expense of the students they prey upon. Why? She has considerable financial stakes that are rife with conflicts of interest. Her financial investments are a web of holdings in for-profit colleges and student loan collectors.
When DeVos took office, she repealed an Obama-era rule imposing stricter regulations and higher standards on for-profit colleges. She also stopped canceling the debts of students defrauded by these institutions--a move that has prompted 23 states to bring a lawsuit against her. In the process, she was even held in contempt of court for violating a federal court order.
Now, in the middle of the worst public health crisis in more than a century, she's jeopardizing the safety of our students, teachers, parents, bus drivers, and custodians, while rerouting desperately needed public school funds towards the private schools she's always championed.
Remember, when you vote against Trump this November--you're voting against her, too. It's a win-win.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos is heading the administration's effort to force schools to reopen in the fall for in-person instruction. What's her plan to reopen safely? She doesn't have one.
Rather than seeking additional federal funds, she's using this pandemic to further her ploy to privatize education--threatening to withhold federal funds from public schools that don't reopen.
Repeatedly pressed by journalists during TV appearances, DeVos can't come up with a single mechanism or guideline for reopening schools safely. She can't even articulate what authority the federal government has to unilaterally withhold funds from school districts -- a decision that's made at the state and local level, or by Congress. But when has the Constitution stopped the Trump administration from trying to do whatever it wants?
DeVos is following Trump's lead--prematurely reopening the economy, which he sees as key to his re-election but is causing a resurgence of the virus.
Let's get something straight: Every single parent, teacher, and student wants to be able to return to in-person instruction in the fall--but only if no one's life is put at risk.
Districts need more funding, not less, to implement the CDC's guidelines. Given that state and local governments are already cash-strapped, it's estimated that K-12 schools need at least $245 billion in additional funding to put safety precautions in place -- funding that Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration refuse to give.
One might think an education secretary would be studying what kind of safety precautions would work best, and seeking emergency funding for those safeguards. Not DeVos. Just like her boss in the Oval Office, she's been hard at work shafting working families to advance her personal agenda.
In late April, she issued rules for how states should use the $13 billion allocated in the CARES Act for schools. Her rules would divert millions of dollars away from low-income schools into the coffers of wealthy private schools. It's such a blatant violation of federal law that several states are suing her and her department.
DeVos' entire tenure has centered on shafting low-income students and their families--the very people she's supposed to protect.
She has repeatedly empowered the predatory for-profit college industry at the expense of the students they prey upon. Why? She has considerable financial stakes that are rife with conflicts of interest. Her financial investments are a web of holdings in for-profit colleges and student loan collectors.
When DeVos took office, she repealed an Obama-era rule imposing stricter regulations and higher standards on for-profit colleges. She also stopped canceling the debts of students defrauded by these institutions--a move that has prompted 23 states to bring a lawsuit against her. In the process, she was even held in contempt of court for violating a federal court order.
Now, in the middle of the worst public health crisis in more than a century, she's jeopardizing the safety of our students, teachers, parents, bus drivers, and custodians, while rerouting desperately needed public school funds towards the private schools she's always championed.
Remember, when you vote against Trump this November--you're voting against her, too. It's a win-win.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos is heading the administration's effort to force schools to reopen in the fall for in-person instruction. What's her plan to reopen safely? She doesn't have one.
Rather than seeking additional federal funds, she's using this pandemic to further her ploy to privatize education--threatening to withhold federal funds from public schools that don't reopen.
Repeatedly pressed by journalists during TV appearances, DeVos can't come up with a single mechanism or guideline for reopening schools safely. She can't even articulate what authority the federal government has to unilaterally withhold funds from school districts -- a decision that's made at the state and local level, or by Congress. But when has the Constitution stopped the Trump administration from trying to do whatever it wants?
DeVos is following Trump's lead--prematurely reopening the economy, which he sees as key to his re-election but is causing a resurgence of the virus.
Let's get something straight: Every single parent, teacher, and student wants to be able to return to in-person instruction in the fall--but only if no one's life is put at risk.
Districts need more funding, not less, to implement the CDC's guidelines. Given that state and local governments are already cash-strapped, it's estimated that K-12 schools need at least $245 billion in additional funding to put safety precautions in place -- funding that Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration refuse to give.
One might think an education secretary would be studying what kind of safety precautions would work best, and seeking emergency funding for those safeguards. Not DeVos. Just like her boss in the Oval Office, she's been hard at work shafting working families to advance her personal agenda.
In late April, she issued rules for how states should use the $13 billion allocated in the CARES Act for schools. Her rules would divert millions of dollars away from low-income schools into the coffers of wealthy private schools. It's such a blatant violation of federal law that several states are suing her and her department.
DeVos' entire tenure has centered on shafting low-income students and their families--the very people she's supposed to protect.
She has repeatedly empowered the predatory for-profit college industry at the expense of the students they prey upon. Why? She has considerable financial stakes that are rife with conflicts of interest. Her financial investments are a web of holdings in for-profit colleges and student loan collectors.
When DeVos took office, she repealed an Obama-era rule imposing stricter regulations and higher standards on for-profit colleges. She also stopped canceling the debts of students defrauded by these institutions--a move that has prompted 23 states to bring a lawsuit against her. In the process, she was even held in contempt of court for violating a federal court order.
Now, in the middle of the worst public health crisis in more than a century, she's jeopardizing the safety of our students, teachers, parents, bus drivers, and custodians, while rerouting desperately needed public school funds towards the private schools she's always championed.
Remember, when you vote against Trump this November--you're voting against her, too. It's a win-win.
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