Court blocks DeVos from diverting COVID-19 relief from public schools

By the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

A federal court has sent a clear message to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos: You cannot use a national crisis as an excuse to advance your education privatization agenda by siphoning desperately needed COVID-19 relief money away from public schools….

[O]n Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ruled that DeVos and USED (US Education Department) violated the language of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – to the detriment of underserved children in public schools, including children from low-income families, children with disabilities, children of color and English language learners. The decision vacated the USED rule nationwide….

Now, public schools will receive the full amount of federal aid to which they are entitled and the resources they need to support their students and keep them safe, nourished, healthy and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public schools are open to all, serve the vast majority of children across the country and are accountable to our communities – yet are often severely underfunded. Our public schools are struggling during the pandemic to provide meals to students, access to technology and internet to continue remote learning, social and emotional supports, and PPE to their staff and students.

Read the full article here

Learn more about Secretary DeVos and her ideas about civil rights in education here.

Explore schooling for Black children past and present here, here, and here.

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