Betsy DeVos’ Department of Education 2020 budget proposal is a disaster. She tried and failed to cut funding for the Special Olympics, but that was only part of her plan. She also wants to cut billions from public education. Instead of supporting the public schools she is supposed to serve, she wants to create a $5 billion tax credit to shift more children to private schools.
DeVos’ cruel budget plan would hurt children’s education, threaten school safety and increase the disparity between rich and poor communities. Congress must stand up for children and reject her draconian budget cuts.
Tell Congress: Block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from cutting billions from the Department of Education budget.
DeVos’s plan cuts more than $8.5 billion, eliminating about 12 percent of the budget of the Department of Education.1 Trump rolled back her proposal to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics because of overwhelming outrage.2 But her plan goes even further. She wants to cut programs for after-school activities for children in low-income communities. She wants to cut grants for textbooks and other school needs.3 Her budget would even cut school safety efforts, including mental health services and safety equipment.
DeVos’ real goal is to funnel money away from public education to private schools. She proposed a change to the tax code that would give wealthy individuals and corporations a $5 billion tax credit for making donations to private school scholarships. That’s $5 billion that the government would no longer have available to spend on schools that benefit all children.
Trump and DeVos like to pretend that budget cuts are sadly unavoidable, but the truth is that Trump’s overall budget plan calls for a record $4.75 trillion in spending. But he wants to increase funding for the military and immigration enforcement – prioritizing the politics of fear and racism over the things we actually need to thrive.
This budget is not set in stone. It requires approval from Congress, which is likely to reject at least some of the worst cuts. But we can’t let Congress end up “compromising” with a heartless billionaire over children’s education. A budget reflects a country’s moral priorities, and our priorities should be education, health care and the environment – not walls, incarceration and separating families.
Every member of Congress must reject DeVos’ inhumane cuts to the Department of Education.
Tell Congress: Block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from cutting billions from the Department of Education budget.
References:
- Laura Meckler, “DeVos defends billions in education-spending cuts to skeptical House Democrats,” The Washington Post, March 26, 2019.
- Shira Tarlo, “Trump says ‘Special Olympics will be funded’ amid outrage over budget cuts proposed by Betsy DeVos,” Salon, March 29, 2019.
- Meckler, “DeVos defends billions in education-spending cuts to skeptical House Democrats.”