One on Trump Screwing the Future of America: Screwing Students’ Education

Trump’s Administration Education Secretary DeVos is much just a typical Trump appointment, meaning just a horrible human being, and how did America get here?

Kamala Haris, Senator for California and Former CA Attorney General, says on her Twitter: “Don’t let it go unnoticed that this Administration is reversing protections for students struggling with debt while padding the pockets of predatory debt collectors.”

A country, more and more, competes on how educated the people of the country are, and most countries compete to make education more accessible to the people at a competitive cost, that produce graduates ready to proper and helps a country developed.

Few, if any country globally is doing what Trump Administration is, and that is hitting students with debt problems. Student debt is a cause of numerous problems to educating the public and benefiting from educated people.

Then on top of student loan problems in America, there is the GOP Congress war o teacher and numerous moves on higher education.

On Trump’s Administration Education Secretary DeVos Wikipedia reports: Elisabeth Dee DeVos is an American business woman, philanthropist and government official serving as the 11th and current United States Secretary of Education since 2017.

DeVos is a Republican known for her support for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools.[1][2][3][4] She was Republican National Committeewoman for Michigan from 1992 to 1997 and served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000, with reelection to the post in 2003. DeVos has been an advocate of the Detroit charter school system^[5][6] and she is a member of the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. She has served as chair of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter[7]PAC, which has received wide criticism for meddling in elections at the state level.

DeVos is married to Dick DeVos, the former CEO of the multi-level marketing company Amway, and is the daughter-in-law of Amway’s billionaire co-founder, Richard DeVos.[8][9] Her brother, Erik Prince, a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, is the founder of Blackwater USA.[10] Their father is Edgar Prince, founder of the Prince Corporation.[11][12] In 2016, the DeVos family was listed by Forbes as the 88th richest family in America, with an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion.[13]

On November 23, 2016 then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education in his administration, after his initial pick, Jerry Falwell Jr., rejected the offer.[14] On January 31, following strong opposition to the nomination from Democrats, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved her nomination on a party-line vote, sending her nomination to the Senate floor.[15] On February 7, 2017, DeVos was confirmed by the Senate by a 51–50 margin, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie in favor of DeVos’s nomination. This was the first time in U.S. history that a Cabinet nominee’s confirmation was decided by the vice president’s tiebreaking vote.[16][17][18]

Tenure

On February 10, 2017, as DeVos made a visit to Jefferson Academy, a public middle school located in Southwest, Washington, D.C., in her first official appearance as Secretary at a D.C. public school, dozens of protesters showed up to prevent her appearance and physically blocked her from entering through the back entrance of the school. DeVos was eventually able to enter the school through a side entrance.[91][92][93]

On February 27, 2017, DeVos released a statement calling historically black colleges “real pioneers when it comes to school choice”, causing controversy as some pointed out the schools originated after segregation laws prevented African-Americans from attending others. DeVos later acknowledged racism as an important factor in the history of historically black colleges.[94]

On March 24, 2017, during a visit to the Osceola County campus of Valencia College, DeVos said she was considering the extension of federal financial aid for students that were year-round and interested in placing more focus on community colleges.[95]

On March 29, 2017, DeVos delivered her first extended policy address at the Brookings Institution, stating an interest in implementing choice policies directed toward children as individuals and criticizing the Obama administration’s additional funding of $7 billion for the U.S.’s worst performing schools as “throwing money at the problem” in an attempt to find a solution.[96]

On April 6, 2017, DeVos visited Florida International University, marking her first visit to a public university, where she toured an area designed to resemble a hospital ward and was confronted by around 30 protestors.[97] The following day, the U.S. Marshals Service said after a threat evaluation was conducted in February that DeVos would be given additional security, projecting a cost of $7.8 million between February and September.[98]

On April 11, 2017, DeVos undid several Obama administration policy memos issued by John King Jr.and Ted Mitchell in an attempt to “create a student loan servicing environment that provides the highest quality customer service and increases accountability and transparency for all borrowers, while also limiting the cost to taxpayers”.[99]

In April 2017, DeVos praised the President’s nomination of Carlos G. Muñiz as the Department’s general counsel.[100]

In April 2017, DeVos named Candice Jackson Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, where she will be acting Assistant Secretary while that higher, Senate-confirmed appointment is vacant.[101] DeVos named Jason Botel Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.[101] Botel, a registered Democrat who supported President Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement, founded the KIPP Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore, after working for Teach For America.[101]

On May 10, 2017, DeVos gave a commencement speech at Bethune–Cookman University, a historically black college, and during her speech a majority of the students booed DeVos, with about half of them standing up and turning their backs to her.[102] She also received an Honorary Doctoratefrom Bethune–Cookman University.

On May 22, 2017, DeVos announced the Trump administration was offering “the most ambitious expansion” of school choice within American history. DeVos cited Indiana (which has the U.S.’s largest school voucher program) as a potential model for a nationwide policy, but did not give specific proposals.[103] In a May 2017 House of Representatives committee hearing, Rep. Katherine Clark, said an Indiana private school in which takes publicly funded vouchers maintains it is entitled to deny admission to LGBT students or those coming from families with “homosexual or bisexual activity.” Clark asked if she would inform Indiana that it could not discriminate in that way if it accepted federal funding, and asked her how she would respond in the event a voucher school rejected black students but a state “said it was okay.” DeVos answered: “Well again, the Office of Civil Rights and our Title IX protections are broadly applicable across the board, but when it comes to parents making choices on behalf of their students. . .” Clark stopped her saying, “This isn’t about parents making choices, this is about the use of federal dollars. Is there any situation? Would you say to Indiana, that school cannot discriminate against LGBT students if you want to receive federal dollars? Or would you say the state has the flexibility?” DeVos responded: “I believe states should continue to have flexibility in putting together programs. . .”[104] CBS reporter Lesley Stahl questioned her, in a March 2018 “60 Minutes” interview, about the documented failure of the DeVos programs to demonstrate a positive result, in Michigan, her home state: “Your argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better is not working in Michigan…where you had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system.” Stahl added, “The public schools here are doing worse than they did.” DeVos was unable to provide any actual examples of improvement, but stated there were “pockets” where schools had done better than public schools.[105]

On June 2, 2017, DeVos announced her support of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement the prior day.[106]

On June 6, 2017, Devos said states’ rights would determine private schools being allocated funds by the federal government during an appearance before members of a House appropriations committee.[107]

On July 6, 2017, Democratic attorneys general in 18 states and Washington D.C., led by Massachusetts’s A.G. Maura Healey, filed a federal lawsuit against DeVos for suspending the implementation of rules that were meant to protect students attending for-profit colleges. The rules, developed during the Obama administration, were meant to take effect on July 1, 2017.[108][109]

On July 13, 2017, Candice Jackson, who is a sexual assault survivor, organized a meeting with DeVos, college sexual assault victims, accused assailants, and higher education officials, and said she would look at policies on sexual assault accusations on campuses from the Obama administration to see if accused students were treated within their rights.[110] Asked by CBS 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl about her repeal of Obama administration guidelines for colleges dealing with reports of sexual assaults, she said her concern was for men falsely accused of such assaults. Her changes made it harder for victims to prove their allegations.”Survivors, victims of a lack of due process, and campus administrators have all told me that the current approach does a disservice to everyone involved,” said DeVos. [111][104]

In October 2017, DeVos revoked 72 guidance documents of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services which outlined the rights of disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act.[112]

In January 2018, Devos said in a speech that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) found that “60 percent of its teachers reported having moderate to no influence over the content and skills taught in their own classrooms.” In response, AFT noted that in the same survey of around 5000 educators, 86% felt that Devos had disrespected them.[113]

The following are some news on Student Debt:

Ameritech Financial: Paying Off Student Debt Doesn’t Always Feel Like a Party PR Newswire (Press Release)02:11 Fri, 04 May

Thursday

How student debt is fueling the racial wealth gap MarketWatch22:38 Thu, 03 May

3 Ways To Get Money For Your Student Loan Debt CNBC21:08 Thu, 03 May

Wednesday

New report details experiences of graduates with student loan debt during the Great RecessionEurekAlert!21:48 Wed, 02 May

5 Crowdfunding Sites That Will Destroy Your Student Loan Debt Forbes17:07 Wed, 02 May

Ameritech Financial Suggests That IDRs Can Help Borrowers With Whole Student Debt SituationPR Newswire (Press Release)02:52 Wed, 02 May

Tuesday

Hearing Could Determine Fate Of Corinthian Colleges Student Loan Debt CBS Los Angeles00:32 Tue, 01 May

Monday