Tag: Trump Education Department

I asked these 3 simple questions of Betsy DeVos’ Education Department. It ‘created havoc’ among the staff.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is famous for giving nonresponses to fairly straightforward questions. More than one commentator has had fun with her contorted evasions, but her inability to explain the rationale for current education policies isn’t confined to her own personality and ideology. It’s actually been endemic in the education policy world for years, particularly in how the federal government continues to hide its agenda to further privatize the nation’s public school system by creating and expanding charter schools.

Arne Duncan, who served as secretary for the longest period of time before DeVos, was famous for being the consummate non-listener, often talking over people with his prepared remarks and ignoring the advice of teachers and education experts.

This is not a partisan issue. Teachers demanded Duncan’s resignation, and Republican members of Congress have complained that DeVos’ department isn’t responsive to requests for information.

View the complete April 5 article by Jeff Bryant with the Independent Media Institute on the AlterNet website here.

Education Dept. rejects vast majority of applicants for temporary student loan forgiveness program

Tens of thousands of public servants have applied to have their federal student loans forgiven through a temporary relief program run by the U.S. Education Department. Fewer than 300 have had success.

Now, one of the lawmakers who championed the initiative wants to know what happened.

“We authorized $700 million dollars to help ensure public servants — including firefighters, teachers, and nurses — receive the loan forgiveness they have earned, and it’s maddening that the Trump Administration is letting it go to waste,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in an email.

View the complete April 2 article by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel on The Washington Post website here.

Betsy DeVos promotes plan to hand over billions in federal tax credits to private, religious and home schooling

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been touring the country to promote her plan to hand over billion of dollars in federal tax credits to dramatically expand the number of students attending private schools, religious schools, or even being homeschool. The program, part of a bill in Congress, would be funded through private donations in exchange for tax credits. In other words, tax dollars would effectively be paying for the program, as those dollars will have to be made up by taxpayers.

Secretary DeVos’ “Education Freedom Scholarships” program would continue the Trump administration’s blurring of the lines between church and state. Just last week Sec. DeVos announced the Dept. of Education will no longer ban religious organizations from being funded with taxpayer dollars for secular projects.

The Dept. of Education claims up to $5 billion annually could be allocated, but Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who spoke at an event with DeVos to roll out his bill to support the program (video below), said it would be $10 billion.

View the complete March 18 article by David Badash with The New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

DeVos proposes federal tax credits to advance school choice

Credit: Sarah Silbiger, The New York Times

The Trump administration renewed its push for school choice on Thursday with a proposal to provide $5 billion a year in federal tax credits for donations made to groups offering scholarships for private schools, apprenticeships and other educational programs.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos unveiled the plan as a “bold proposal” to give students more choices without diverting money from public schools.

“What’s missing in education today is at the core of what makes America truly great: freedom,” DeVos said. “Kids should be free to learn where and how it works for them.”

Legislation for the tax credits is being introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala.

View the complete February 28 article by Collin Binkley of the Associated Press on The Star Tribune website here.

Democrats accuse Education Department of interfering in probe of DeVos

House and Senate Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Tuesday alleging they have proof of the agency urging an independent watchdog to drop an active internal investigation into DeVos’ reinstatement of a controversial accrediting body, NBC News reports.

Details: Following a congressional request in December, the inspector general began investigating DeVos’ decision to reinstate ACICS, an accrediting agency the Obama administration discontinued. Democrats claim that Deputy Secretary Mitchell Zais wrote a letter to Acting Inspector General Sandra Bruce asking her to reconsider the investigation and instead look into the Obama administration’s decision to end ACICS. When Bruce refused, Zais attempted to remove her from office.

Show less
  • The agency later had to reverse the decision to replace Bruce with a hand-picked inspector general once allegations of conflict of interest came to light.

View the complete February 19 article by Gigi Sukin on the Axios website here.

The Risks in Betsy DeVos’ Rethink of Higher Education

Credit: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

In its first two years, the Trump administration bent over backwards to gut Obama administration regulations designed to hold colleges or programs accountable for ripping off students. Now, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is kicking 2019 off with an attempt to dismantle bedrock protections created decades ago that define what it means to receive a college education and the role gatekeepers play in conducting quality oversight.

This week, the U.S. Department of Education detailed exactly how it plans to accomplish its goals. The elimination of these protections risks the proliferation of poor-quality schools in the name of innovation, leading to more dead ends and broken promises for students.

Efforts to implement these changes kick off next week and negotiations will take months. But the Center for American Progress got its first look at what exactly the Trump administration hopes to accomplish. Here are the five biggest risks in the Department’s agenda.

View the complete January 9 article by Antoinette Flores on the Center for American Progress website here.

Trump Officials Plan to Rescind Obama-Era School Discipline Policies

Credit: Saul Loeb, Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to roll back Obama-era policies aimed at ensuring that minority children are not unfairly disciplined, arguing that the efforts have eased up on punishment and contributed to rising violence in the nation’s schools, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

The decision culminates a nearly yearlong effort begun by the Trump administration after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The deaths of 17 students and staff members on Feb. 14 prompted lawmakers in both parties to demand tougher gun laws, but after a brief flirtation with gun control, President Trump abandoned that focus and instead empowered a school safety commission, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Almost immediately, the commission turned away from guns and instead scrutinized the Obama administration’s school discipline policies, though none of the most high-profile school shootings were perpetrated by black students. The commission’s focus was part of a broader effort to reject the previous administration’s race-conscious education efforts, which have included siding with Asian students suing Harvard to end affirmative action and delaying an Obama-era rule to prevent disproportionate numbers of minority children from being funneled into special education classes.

View the December 17 article by Erica L. Green and Katie Benner on The New York Times website here.

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has systematically dismantled an Obama-era crackdown on for-profit colleges. Credit: Matt Rourke, AP

The rejection letter was harsh.

Page after page, an accrediting agency ticked off all the problems at Virginia College, a large chain of for-profit schools with dwindling enrollment. There would be no seal of approval, the accreditor declared, no imprimatur necessary to participate in the federal student loan program that is the lifeblood of most colleges and universities.

But it turned out that Virginia College — and other for-profit schools — had a friend in high places.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has led a rescue squad for the nation’s for-profit colleges. Step by step, she has dismantled an Obama-era crackdown on the industry, and she plans to deliver a set of regulations next year that many expect to again boost the industry.

View the complete November 23 Laura Meckler on The Washington Post website here.

Betsy DeVos’ predecessor says new TItle IX rules will dissuade victims from reporting sexual assault

Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ predecessor said in an interview that DeVos’ proposed new Title IX rules designed to strengthen the rights of accused sexual assaulters will have the adverse effect of dissuading victims from coming forward.

“One of the likely effects of the rules as currently proposed is that people who today would report what happened to them and be protected will now be afraid to do so,” John King Jr., who served as secretary of education during former President Barack Obama’s final year in office, said Tuesday in an interview with Mic.

On Friday, DeVos proposed sweeping changes to Title IX rules — which dictate how education institutions that receive federal funds handle allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

View the complete November 21 article by Emily C. Singer on the Mic.com website here.

How the DeVos Family Is Buying Political Sway Ahead of the Midterm Elections

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos shakes hands with President Donald Trump during a White House meeting, February 2017. Credit: Saul Loeb via Getty Images

Over the past year, the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been quietly funding far-right Republican politicians. This CAP Action Fund analysis shows that the DeVos family has poured more than $2 million in donations into Republican coffers over the past 12 months—despite Secretary DeVos’ clear pledge not to make political contributions.

Even by the loose standards of U.S. campaign finance laws—and President Donald Trump’s blatant corruption—the donations by the family members of a Cabinet official have been brazen. In February 2018, Richard DeVos, Secretary DeVos’ father-in-law, gave $1 million to the Freedom Partners Action Fund—a political action fund that has long been associated with far-right causes. Over the past year, the DeVos family has also given $350,000 to the Republican Congressional Leadership Fund and another $400,000 to the Republican National Committee.

The DeVoses have also donated to specific candidates for federal and state office. (see Methodology) Wisconsin’s far-right firebrand, Gov. Scott Walker (R), for example, has received more than $635,000 over the past decade from the DeVos family—including $30,000 in 2018. Bill Schuette, Michigan’s Republican attorney general who is running for governor, received almost $40,000 over the past year.

View the complete October 29 article by Ulrich Boser and Perpetual Baffour on the Center for American Progress website here.