Senators Confused by DeVos Refusal to Answer Questions About Education Discrimination

June 9th, 2017

Awake Goy

Senators Confused by DeVos Refusal to Answer Questions About Education Discrimination

Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Host of Hardline Radio Show

Betsy DeVos spoke with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee earlier this week on federal laws and how they play a role in funding that schools receive.

Numerous times, DeVos was asked by committee members whether or not she would allow taxpayer funded programs to discriminate against LGBTQ students and children with disabilities.

Senator Patty Murray asked DeVos if private schools would be mandated to follow the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but the secretary of education began a deflection pattern seen before.

DeVos answered Murray with the phrase: “Any institution receiving federal funding is required to follow federal law.”

Senator Jeff Merkley brought the topic up, adding that current anti-discrimination laws are “somewhat foggy”. DeVos deflected again, telling Merkley: “Senator, I said it before and I’ll say it again, that schools that receive federal funds must follow federal law.”

Senator Jack Reed decided to approach DeVos refusal to answer the committee’s question by asking about discrimination with a question. Reed asked “what does that mean” in response to DeVos reiteration that “schools that receive federal funds must follow federal law.”

Last February, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Besty DeVos, secretary of the Department of Education (DoE), told the crowd that transgender bathroom rights afforded to the LGBTQ community under President Obama was classic “government overreach”.

President Obama did not enforce a legally binding directive, but rather issued guidance to schools on accommodating transgender students’ necessity to use school bathrooms. This issuance was based on Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.

When asked about transgender rights, DeVos said: “Let me just say that this issue was a very huge example of the Obama administration’s overreach. To suggest that a one-size fits all federal government approach, tap down approach to issues that are best dealt with and solved on a personal level and on a local level.”

DeVos’ stance is that the right of a transgender student to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with should be left to the states… and people’s personal opinions.

Patricia MacCorqoudale, sociologist and professor of gender and women’s studies for the University of Arizona (UA), explained the damage of “the ‘choice system” that DeVos is trying to make the norm by creating an education market-place.

MacCorqoudale explained that the caveat DeVos and Donald Trump do not mention is that “school choice camouflages discrimination based on race, ethnicity, social class and ability.”

And this is because “private schools, including religiously based ones, are not legally obliged to admit or enroll students” which leaves all the “choice” to them.

Another method used by charters and some magnet schools in order to camouflage their discrimination tactics is to provide what is called an “equitable system” by “capping class size”. They also use their own “placement tests” that are not standardized, but tailored to each charter which serve as a diversionary scheme to weed out students they do not want.

Carol Burris, former high school principal and executive director for Network for Public Education (NPE) explained that “charters control the number of students they have, and they do not have to take students mid-year, like traditional public schools do.”

Burris goes on to point out that “taxpayers foot the bill” for charters who openly discriminate. In Arizona, the enrollment figures for charter versus public show that charters in that state have a diversity problem with 51% being white students, 3% African-American, and 10% Latino.

In addition, 1.23% of those charter school students are classified as learning disabled; however 11.3% of the public school student rolls are learning disabled in some capacity.