Today, as part of the budget hearings being held by the House Appropriations Committee, Betsy DeVos will attempt to testify. I say attempt, because we all remember her bumbling answers at her confirmation hearings. I just can't wait to hear the comedy that comes out of her mouth when she tries to defend a 13.5% proposed cut in education spending. That 13.5% translates into $9.2 billion. The proposed cut would be from K through 12 and extend into higher education. Smart (pun intended)! By the way.......I keep saying proposed' because this is not going to happen. This is just so much smoke. Congress will not agree to this and as I pointed out yesterday, Ryan is already pushing back on trump's budget.
One of the largest cuts will be $2.3 billion for a teacher training and class size reduction program. Also a $1.2 billion cut for an after school program which serves almost two million children, many of them who are poor. And of course a program that neither trump nor DeVos understand, they would cut a literacy program with $190 million of funding.
It is also noteworthy that trump's proposed cuts to medicaid will effect schools and students to the tune of $4 billion in reimbursements per year. These reimbursements will effect both special-needs students and poor students in public schools for services ranging from vision screening to speech therapy.
Why would they do this. DeVoss would have us believe that school choice is the issue. I think that's a load of shit. I do not believe that the federal government will be enabling school choice by taking this money, from these programs. off the table. I think that trump found a real dumb one in deVos to cover his desire to take money from domestic programs to pay for a military build up.
My son is currently a student at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. only four blocks from the White House. The first half of his K through 12 education was home schooling. My wife laid down a strong foundation for his continued education in public schools starting in seventh grade and graduating from our local high school. At no time, did we think, believe or feel that our money was being mis-spent or wasted in the arena of public education. By example, by the way we conducted ourselves, we are living (albeit anecdotal) proof that citizens can support public education while choosing an alternate path. To make the deep cuts that d. j[ackass] and his stooge DeVos are proposing would be setting up millions of children for failure, not success. And by extension, they would be setting up our country for failure, not success.
As I have done before, i am providing links that list contact information for members of the House and the Senate. Please find your representatives and call them. Let them know that these callus a literally careless cuts can not occur and that if they do, they will be placing yet another nail in their own political coffins.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/05/22/529534031/president-trumps-budget-proposal-calls-for-deep-cuts-to-education
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/devos-to-testify-on-trumps-budget-her-first-time-before-congress-since-rocky-confirmation-hearing/2017/05/23/db2934e8-3fe2-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?utm_term=.b406b3c8608f
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/devos-to-testify-on-trumps-budget-her-first-time-before-congress-since-rocky-confirmation-hearing/2017/05/23/db2934e8-3fe2-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?utm_term=.b406b3c8608f
No comments:
Post a Comment