Rep. Pressley slams DeVos for pushing to reopen schools

• Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley called out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Sunday for insisting that schools should reopen in the fall.
• DeVos had dismissed CDC guidelines that warned against children meeting in groups and even threatened to pull federal funding for schools that don’t reopen.
• Pressley hit back at DeVos, saying, “I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Sunday for pushing for the reopening of schools.

The congresswoman wrote on Twitter, “@BetsyDeVosED you have no plan. Teachers, kids and parents are fearing for their lives.”

“You point to a private sector that has put profits over people and claimed the lives of thousands of essential workers. I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child.”

DeVos had repeatedly called for schools to reopen during an interview on CNN’s “State of The Union” early Sunday.

DeVos insisted, “What we’re saying is that kids need to be back in school and that school leaders across the country need to be making plans to do just that. There’s going to be the exception to the rule, but the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall.”

“Where there are little flare-ups or hot spots, that can be dealt with on a school-by-school or a case-by-case basis,” she argued.

She even pushed back against the social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC has warned that children meeting in groups “can put everyone at risk.”

But DeVos claimed that the CDC guidelines are “meant to be flexible and meant to be applied as appropriate for the situation.”

DeVos even warned that schools that don’t reopen in the fall will not receive federal funding.

President Trump had also stated that his administration would pressure governors to reopen schools, and that funding will be cut from schools that don’t reopen.

Trump had tweeted then, “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”

It is still unclear, however, if the Trump administration would be able to cut funding, and how much. The task of appropriating federal funding for schools falls to Congress.

Source: The Hill