Five states and Washington, D.C. sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “unlawfully and erroneously” earmarked coronavirus relief funds for private and affluent schools.
What We Know:
- The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, states that the Trump administration misinterpreted a key portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to determine how aid was distributed to schools.
- In the lawsuit, the states, which include California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia, say that the CARES Act intended to distribute $30.75 billion for elementary and secondary schools, as well as for colleges and universities, based on the number of low-income students. But the Trump administration “misinterpreted” the Act and has said it must distribute the funds equally using the total number of public and private-school students, not just low-income ones.
- “The Department’s interpretation will deprive low-income and at-risk students, their teachers, and the public schools that serve them of critical resources to meet students’ educational and social-emotional needs during and after pandemic-related school closures,” the court filing says. “The States will also be harmed by the loss of these critical resources at a time of severe crisis,” the states add.
- An Education Department spokeswoman, Angela Morabito, said the department does not comment on pending litigation, but did say, “The Secretary has said many times, this pandemic affected all students, and the CARES Act requires that funding should be used to help all students”.
- The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration presses schools to open in the fall with Florida’s Education Commissioner mandating all schools in the state to open in August for the start of the school year. Businesses and conservative groups say opening schools is necessary for the economy to rebound but health and safety experts are concerned about the safety of schools that do so.
SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
The United States has seen a rebound in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in states across the country and has reported the most cases and deaths related to the virus in the world.
