Tag: Education Department

Donald Trump’s plan to (sort of) eliminate the Department of Education, briefly explained

The following article by Libby Nelson was posted on the Vox.com website June 21, 2018:

The Trump administration wants to combine the standalone Education and Labor Departments into a new Cabinet-level agency: the Department of Education and the Workforce.

The proposal is part of the administration’s broader plan to reorganize the federal government, released Thursday. Overall, the plan would eliminate and combine government programs and give private industry a bigger role, including in the US Postal Service. It would also rename the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Public Welfare (and give it jurisdiction over food stamps), among nearly 30 other changes to how the federal government operates. Continue reading “Donald Trump’s plan to (sort of) eliminate the Department of Education, briefly explained”

Trump administration escalates attack on federal unions with one-sided ‘agreement’ at Education

The following article by Joe Davidson was posted on the Washington Post website March 16, 2018:

>President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in the White House in February. Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

The Education Department is attempting to enforce a “collective bargaining agreement” on a union that does not agree.

The department’s move to foist a contract on the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the Trump administration’s latest and most dramatic attack on federal labor organizations and has implications far beyond the 3,900 employees the union represents at the department.

This bold stroke could herald what federal unions across the government might encounter from an administration bent on belittling them. Continue reading “Trump administration escalates attack on federal unions with one-sided ‘agreement’ at Education”

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbles during pointed ‘60 Minutes’ interview

The following article by Valerie Strauss was posted on the Washington Post website March 12, 2018:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had trouble answering questions and seemed to contradict herself during her interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on March 11. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday night and stumbled in answering questions that journalist Lesley Stahl asked during a pointed interview.

Stahl repeatedly challenged the education secretary, at one point suggesting that DeVos should visit underperforming public schools to learn about their problems. DeVos responded, “Maybe I should.” The secretary also said she is “not so sure exactly” how she became, as Stahl described her, “the most hated” member of President Trump’s Cabinet but believes that she is “misunderstood.” Continue reading “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbles during pointed ‘60 Minutes’ interview”

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Is Sued Over Sexual Assault Guidance

The following article by Erica L. Green was posted on the New York Times website January 25, 208:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Thursday in Washington. In September, she rescinded Obama-era guidance on how colleges should manage sexual assault investigations under Title IX. Credit Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Victims’ rights and women’s rights groups sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Thursday, saying that rules that she issued last year to guide campuses on how to manage sexual assault complaints violated federal law and discriminated against accusers.

Three organizations, represented by prominent civil rights litigators, filed a complaint in the Northern District of California outlining ways that the guidance issued by Ms. DeVos in the fall had had a “chilling effect” on campus sexual assault investigations.

Since the guidance was issued, the groups charged, accusers have been less inclined to pursue sexual assault cases, and colleges have demonstrated a lack of urgency and clarity in pursuing them. Continue reading “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Is Sued Over Sexual Assault Guidance”

DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads

The following article by Mark Hlaacik, Assistant Professor of Communication Specializing in Education Policy, University of North Texas, was posted on the Conversation website January 21, 2018:

When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider.

“Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital. “Outside ‘the system.’” Continue reading “DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads”

Education Dept. awards debt-collection contract to company with ties to DeVos

The following article by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel was posted on the Washington Post website January 12, 2018:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks in October at a dinner in Bellevue, Wash. Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP

A company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The decision to award contracts to Windham Professionals and Performant Financial Corp. — a company DeVos invested in before becoming secretary — arrives a month after a federal judge ordered the department to complete its selection of a loan collector to put an end to a messy court battle. Windham and Performant beat out nearly 40 other bidders for contracts valued at up to $400 million, but their win may be short-lived if the losing companies fight the decision. Continue reading “Education Dept. awards debt-collection contract to company with ties to DeVos”

Under DeVos, Education Department continues to shut out disadvantaged college students

The following article by Casey Quinlan was posted on the ThinkProgress website November 14, 2017:

The department isn’t being transparent with students who attended for-profit colleges.

AP/Carolyn Kaster

Students who were defrauded by for-profit colleges are still waiting on the U.S. Department of Education to forgive their federal student loans — and Senate Democrats are pressuring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to act.

Since the Trump administration came into office, no borrower defense claims have been approved. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has also been critical of a slow-moving Obama-era education department, and Richard Durbin (D-IL) released a report Tuesday on the backlog of debt relief claims. The students affected, many of whom are low-income, have been the victims of schools misrepresenting job placement rates, predatory loans, and have been manipulated by sophisticated marketing machines. Continue reading “Under DeVos, Education Department continues to shut out disadvantaged college students”

DeVos may abandon Obama policy of fully forgiving debt of defrauded students: report

The following article by Jacqueline Thomsen was posted on the Hill website October 28, 2017:

© Greg Nash

The Trump administration is considering abandoning an Obama-era policy of fully forgiving federal loans for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, The Associated Press reported Saturday.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly working on a plan that would only give students partial relief from the debt. The Obama administration had allowed the debt to be fully forgiven.

Tens of thousands of students who were deceived by now-defunct for-profit programs had more than $550 million in loans erased under the Obama administration.

The Education Department did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill. Continue reading “DeVos may abandon Obama policy of fully forgiving debt of defrauded students: report”

Betsy DeVos announces rollback of Obama-era Title IX sexual assault guidelines

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the Mic website September 6, 2017:

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Thursday announced that the Trump administration is rolling back sexual assault guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“The system established by the prior administration has failed too many students,” DeVos said during a speech at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. “That’s why we must do better, because the current approach isn’t working.”

However while DeVos said the guidelines will be rolled back, she did not announce any new policies that would immediately be put in place to help combat sexual assault on college and university campuses across the country.

“Our interest is in exploring all alternatives that would help schools meet their Title IX obligations and protect all students,” DeVos said. “We welcome input and look forward to hearing more ideas.”

In 2011, the Obama administration told colleges and universities that they have an obligation under Title IX to combat sexual harassment and sexual assault on campus. If colleges and universities did not meet that obligation, the Obama administration threatened to pull their federal funding. Continue reading “Betsy DeVos announces rollback of Obama-era Title IX sexual assault guidelines”

DeVos Pick to Head Civil Rights Office Once Said She Faced Discrimination for Being White

The following article by Annie Waldman was posted on the ProPublica website April 14, 2017:

Candice Jackson’s intellectual journey raises questions about how actively she will investigate allegations of unfair treatment of minorities and women.

Candice Jackson MIKE WINTROATH (AP Photo)

The new acting head of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights once complained that she experienced discrimination because she is white.

As an undergraduate studying calculus at Stanford University in the mid-1990s, Candice Jackson “gravitated” toward a section of the class that provided students with extra help on challenging problems, she wrote in a student publication. Then she learned that the section was reserved for minority students. Continue reading “DeVos Pick to Head Civil Rights Office Once Said She Faced Discrimination for Being White”