Steve Hinnefeld writes here about a rare act of courage in a red state. Indiana State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick defied Betsy DeVos and has refused to hand out money from the CARES Act to private schools, without regard to need.
Superintendent McCormick told DeVos to stuff it. For her courage and independence, she goes on the blog’s honor roll.
Hinnefeld writes:
The good news: In Indiana, at least, public school districts won’t need to worry about Betsy DeVos diverting their anticipated funding to private schools.
DeVos, the U.S. secretary of education, may still succeed in her scheme to use the act to boost funding for even the wealthiest private schools. But the Indiana Department of Education will make up any funds that are lost to public schools.
“The CARES Act was intended to assist those most in need …,” Indiana Superintendent of Public Education Jennifer McCormick told school officials. “COVID-19 has affected everyone, but not equally. It is my responsibility and IDOE’s obligation to ensure those most in need receive the appropriate support.”
The CARES Act, signed into law in late March, provides $215 million to Indiana to help public school districts and charter schools cover costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The act says the funds should be allocated in the same manner as annual Title I grants, with more money for high-poverty schools.
Public school districts must share some of their Title I funds to provide “equitable services” in local private schools, with the amount based on the number of students from low-income families enrolled in the private schools.
But DeVos, in guidance issued in early May, said that CARES Act funding for private schools should be based on their total enrollment, not their enrollment of poor students: presumably a private school with zero poor students would qualify for as much money as a private school where all students are poor.
The guidance was nonbinding; states could ignore it, and Indiana did.
DeVos then doubled down, issuing a rule that would severely restrict how public school districts can use CARES Act funding if they don’t follow her guidance. The rule would have the force of law – if it’s legal. Several states, school districts, parents and the NAACP have sued, arguing that it isn’t.
Meanwhile, the school year is starting, and school districts need to know how much money they can spend. To stave off the uncertainty, the Indiana Department of Education says it will use its own share of CARES Act funds to offset any money that school districts lose, should DeVos prevail in court.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Unbelievable. In Indiana? And McCormick is a Republican appointee? WOW? I would never have “thunk” it. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope in the Hoosier state yet.
I have two daughters who teach here and all of this is NOT an academic debate for me AND obviously for so MANY other people who teach here.
The legislature and governor in Indiana plan to abolish her post because of her independence. They want a robot in her place, someone whom they control.
Jennifer McCormick is not an appointee; she was elected to the position. She has done a wonderful job, but, because she has not toed the Republican line, the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction will now become an appointed position at the end of her term this fall. 😦
“Courage” against the Indiana Catholic Conference- An article in the Journal and Courier (Indiana newspaper) reported in 2018 about McCormick’s fight for anti-discrimination rules attached to voucher money. A representative of the Indiana Catholic Conference was quoted in the article. He said that the implication was Catholic schools are not friendly to LGBT students. He added, “That’s not the case”. The reporter then asked about the guidance counselor in an Indianapolis Catholic school who was put on leave when news of her same sex marriage was made public. The ICC’s rep’s comeback, the same would be true if a heterosexual relationship was uncovered and there was no marriage. Say what?
If, as some Ravitch blog commenters opine, the religious don’t have political influence, why did the reporter seek out the ICC for comment?
Here’s the US Department of Education website:
https://www.ed.gov/
Try to find something on there that is at all relevant to public schools or public school students and families.
This is what you get when you create an echo chamber and only hire people who come from Walton, 50CANN, or StudentsFirst, which is where ALL of DeVos’ policy priorities and personnel came out of- mainstream, lock step ed reform.
Public school students and families no longer exist. 90% of the students in this country are simply no longer served, at all, by the tens of thousands of people they employ in government. They’re too busy serving the purely theoretical privatized school systems they envision.
Three Presidents in a row who had such disdain for public schools and public school students they simply refused to do any practical or positive work on their behalf at all.
Can we finally, finally hire some people who come to work to serve the public school students that exist instead of serving their ideological agenda or “reinventing” systems or “disrupting” systems? There are 50 million of them. They exist and their schools are in crisis and all they get out of the ed reform club is elaborately crafted criticism. No one in the federal government works for them. It’s a problem.
July 25nd and every public school in the country is closed. Here’s what ed reformers are up to:
“U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced today that the Department of Education will award at least $85 million over the next five years for disadvantaged students from families with lower incomes in Washington, D.C., to attend private schools of their choice, as part of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) is the only federally-funded school choice program in the nation. The program was restored by President Donald J. Trump in May 2017 following a cruel decision by the Obama Administration to cut its funding.”
It’s ludicrous and what it indicates is CAPTURE. They can no longer serve 95% of students and families in this country because this “movement” disallows positive contributions to public schools or work on behalf of public schools in favor of working for a privatized system. They forbid it.
Every public school student in this country is collateral damage to their quest for privatized systems. They threw every one of our kids under this bus. What did they do to deserve that? They attend public schools, which ed reformers have decided should be gutted and phased out.
Just the cynicism of it is amazing. Public schools are reeling due to a pandemic and ed reformers looked around and said “seems like we could push through the national voucher we’re all lobbying for amid this chaos”
Once again. Public school students were the dead-last priority. Always.
Here’s Education Next with THEIR contribution to the fact that public schools are closed and no one bothered to get them any funding:
https://www.educationnext.org/how-coronavirus-crisis-may-improve-teacher-quality-recession-hiring-student-earning/
The pandemic may “improve teacher quality” because so many people will be unemployed it will be a very competitive job market.
Lemons, lemonaide, folks! That’s your ed reform movement hard at work!
Still nothing for public schools, though. Since March. When schools starts in 15 days.
Not a single one of the three authors have spent a day teaching in a K-12 setting.
I am so very tired of the Ivies/Wall Street grip on American policy, be it health care, defense or education.
3 white guys – privilege protecting privilege.
Martin West’s bio mentions Russ Whitehurst like it’s a good thing- didn’t Chester Finn of the Hoover Institute (promoters of colonialist entitlement) write a defense for Russ when Brookings parted ways with him?
West was schooled at Brown and Harvard – two schools whose luster has been diminished by the recent uprising of the 99%- particularly its education department, which has dogma that contrasts with the NAACP and ACLU’s evidence.
The 3rd author was “hosted” by MIT’s David Autor, a neoliberal. David Koch, before he took up residence in hell, was a lifetime board member of MIT.
The 2nd author and the third are associated with a think tank- who knows the source of its funding but, I can speculate.
I have the distinction of having been fired by Russ Whitehurst from a non-paying job at Brookings because I was “inactive.” It occurred on the same day I wrote a critique of Romney’s education plan in 2012, which Russ helped to write.
Diane uses her knowledge and platform to serve mankind.
There are others who get easy payoffs by advancing the dominion of the 0.1%. If justice prevails, the latter will pay at the hands of those they harmed.
I wonder how long the legal case against DeVos will take to settle and if an appeal process will be needed or initiated. It is worth doing but any outcome is likely to be too late to help with the problem of underfunded schools, the arbitary demand that schools be open without online instructional delivery and so on.
I admire the action of Indiana State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick, but also worry that her action will lead to her being fired.
The Indiana GOP won’t fire her. She’s the second uppity woman in the job. They are changing the selection process so they control it.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé.