Betsy DeVos touts school choice, STEM as education priorities
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has put forth a new set of priorities for states, schools and universities competing for federal grant money. The priorities include school choice, science and technology, special education and school safety. The Education Department awards approximately $4 billion per year in new and continuation competitive grants across some 80 programs, the agency said Thursday. Education secretaries have historically used these competitions to push their priorities. “It’s a little nudge,” said Chad Aldeman, an associate partner at Bellwether Education Partners. “This allows the department to nudge the education field toward these priorities.” There are a total of 11 priorities on DeVos’ list. After receiving public comments on these proposals, the agency will settle on one or several of them. Promoting school choice has been a key focus of the Trump administration. School choice refers to providing parents and their children with options besides their district public school, such as charter schools, vouchers or education savings accounts to attend private schools. DeVos and her supporters say these options better serve students’ individual needs and can benefit children whose local schools are underperforming. Critics say charter and private schools don’t necessarily outperform neighborhood schools and they lack accountability mechanisms. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate committee devoted to education, criticized DeVos’ priorities as a way to privatize education and said the department should be focusing on supporting local, public education. “Since her confirmation hearing, I have voiced concern that Secretary DeVos would abuse her position to prioritize privatization, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing,” Murray said. “Instead of listening to the millions of students, parents and teachers who stood up against her extreme ideological agenda, her proposal will allow her to prioritize applicants that would siphon taxpayer funds away from the public schools that serve the vast majority of students.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Change.org petition calls for removal of State BOE member Ella Bell
Vice-President of the Alabama Board of Education Ella Bell has found herself under fire following a June 21 board meeting in which she asked whether or not a special academy could be formed for special needs students in order to improve test scores within Alabama’s public schools. “Is it against the law for us to establish perhaps an academy on special education or something on that order,” asked Bell, “so that our scores that already are not that good would not be further cut down by special-ed’s test scores involved?” While her question didn’t draw ire on the spot, it caught the attention of Cameron Smith, a regular columnist for AL.com and vice president for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. who wrote a column on Thursday saying Bell wants to “force special needs children into an institution.” Now there’s a change.org petition calling for her to immediately be removed from the board of education. Less than 18 hours after it’s creation, the petition started by Mary Catherine Hanson of Bessemer, Ala. has over 30,000 signatures. Bell claims her remarks were taken out of context. “The AL.com article with the headline stating a desire to ‘institutionalize’ special-need students takes my remarks out of context and defies the standards of objective journalism,” Bell released in a statement via the BOE on Thursday. “I never uttered the word nor have I ever considered ‘institutionalizing’ students with special needs. I asked a question about the legality of creating an academy that focuses squarely on the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. I understand how insensitive what I said must have sounded. To individuals who were offended by my remarks, no matter how well intended they were, I sincerely apologize. Watch Bell’s question at the board meeting below: https://youtu.be/q2nHaxJtFLc?t=17m38s
Critics worry Jeff Sessions as AtG could threaten special education rights
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has a history of not understanding special education laws, which he would be in charge of enforcing if he is confirmed as Attorney General in January. Sessions has said the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which codifies the right of disabled students receive a proper education, “may be the single most irritating problem for teachers throughout America today.” The former Alabama Attorney General also blames the law for, in his opinion, “accelerating the decline in civility and discipline in classrooms all over America.” Sessions’ biggest gripe with special education laws seems to center around discipline. “We are telling special children with physical disabilities, or disabilities as defined by the federal law, that they don’t have to adhere to the same standards other children do,” he said. “Right in the classroom, we create, by federal law, two separate standards for American citizens.” But that is the point of the law. These students cannot meet the standards set for other students because they are either physically or developmentally challenged. They still deserve an education, and it will be Sessions’ job to make sure they get it after his likely confirmation next year. Still, most advocacy groups see his nomination as troubling, with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network issuing a statement condemning his appointment and calling him “a staunch opponent of civil liberties.” “We have grave concerns that under Sessions, the Department of Justice would not protect the rights of disabled people and other marginalized populations,” the group said, citing his voting record and statements made as a Senator. Thomas J. Surgue brought up more of Sessions’ record on special education in a New York Times editorial published last week. During his tenure as Alabama Attorney General, Sessions “used the power of his office to fight to preserve Alabama’s long history of separate and unequal education” by fighting to overturn a court order that the state fixes inequitable funding across Alabama public schools. If Sessions elects to continue pushing such positions as U.S. Attorney General, progress in special education could be set back decades.
