Sunday, July 12, 2020

DEVOS ON CNN WON'T SAY DISTRICTS SHOULD FOLLOW CDC GUIDELINES IN REOPENING SCHOOLS; ON FOX SHE SAYS IF SCHOOLS DON'T REOPEN, THEY SHOULD LOSE FEDERAL FUNDS

Donald Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared on the State of the Union Sunday talk show earlier. Here is a  response from the Democratic National Committee War Room that was sent to the ICEUFT email account:

Sunday Shows, DeVos Can’t Ensure Our Schools Reopen Safely

On the Sunday shows today, Secretary Betsy DeVos made it clear that the Trump administration has no plan to ensure our schools can reopen safely.

Betsy DeVos refused to give a straight answer on whether students, teachers, and parents will not get coronavirus when schools reopen.

BASH: “Yes or no: Can you assure students, teachers, parents that they will not get coronavirus because they’re going back to school?”

DEVOS: “Well, the key is that kids have to get back to school. And we know there are going to be hotspots.”

Betsy DeVos downplayed the risk of children spreading coronavirus and repeatedly dismissed CDC guidance on how to safely reopen schools.

BASH: “I’m asking you about your own federal government’s guidelines, the CDC guidelines. And what the CDC has said is if children meet in groups it could put everyone at risk.

DEVOS: “Well the CDC has also been very clear to say they never recommended schools close down in the first place.”

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “Asked twice, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos declines to say yes, schools should follow CDC guidance as they reopen. Instead she says every situation is going to look different and, of education leaders, ‘These are smart people who can figure things out.’”

Betsy DeVos made it clear that this administration has no plan for how to safely reopen our schools.

BASH: “Why do you not have guidance on what a school should do, just weeks before you want those schools to open, and what happens if there’s an outbreak?”

DEVOS: “There’s really good examples that have been utilized in the private sector and elsewhere.”

BASH: “Okay, but I’m not hearing a plan from the Department of Education. Do you have a plan?”

DEVOS: “Schools should do what’s right on the ground at that time for their students.”

Update

This is some of what the Secretary said on Fox News Sunday from Axios:

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "Fox News Sunday" that public schools that don't reopen in the fall should not get federal funds, and that the money should be redirected to families who can use it to find another option for their children.

Why it matters: The Trump administration is engaged in a full-court press to reopen schools this fall, despite warnings from some public health officials that the coronavirus outbreak is out of control in many states and that it will be difficult for many schools to reopen safely.

Grilled by Fox's Chris Wallace on what the administration is doing to make to make it safer or more feasible, DeVos repeatedly stressed that "kids cannot afford to not continue learning" and that she's not talking about places where the virus is "out of control."

"We're talking about the rule, not the exception. And where there are hot spots in the future and in the fall, of course that has to be dealt with differently," DeVos said.


17 comments:

waitingforsupport said...

Sooooo the federal government will NOT penalize states who "do what's right on the ground at that time for their students?" Oy vey

Anonymous said...


Florida reports record 15,300 new coronavirus cases, by far the most any state has reported in a single day
The staggering number shattered previous highs reported by California last week and New York on April 15. Florida is set to hold the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville next month and has ordered schools to reopen five days a week next month.

Anonymous said...

DEVIOUS ?

Anonymous said...

The worst is yet to come. Be patient. PERIOD.

Anonymous said...


“History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes” – Mark Twain.

Open a serving of Corona light and watch Mulgrew fold like a cheap suit, again.

Anonymous said...

Members must hold Mulgrew accountable. Although it is not the best of circumstances, live should not be at risk. Carriers (the students) could seriously cause harm and worse, death, to educators. No one knows how their bodies will react to this virus. This is scary. Scientists continue to state they don't know much about this virus. Just recently sneezing and congestion/runny nose got added to the list of symptoms. I could not even see a doctor due to coughing, sneezing, congestion and runny nose that I had developed back in March because it was not serious enough. Doctor offices did not even want to see people back then and now they are very cautious - appointments, video or phone consultations, will ask all the covid-19 exposure questions, etc.

How the heck are schools going to control the crowds that accumulate during the first two months of school in some of these buildings? Are there going to be barriers, distancing, federal expectations of hvac, transparency in everything, etc. The answer is NO. Our lives are at risk. No one has a crystal ball to see if and how their bodies will respond.

Anonymous said...

I don't know everyone is worried??? Rest assured we are in good hands with Trump, DeVos, Carranza, DeBlasio, and Mulgrew at the lead. Just remember to take your Lysol supplements daily

Anonymous said...

Don't forget put them in the nursing homes and shield them from liability Cuomo.

Anonymous said...

Worst day in the US again for COVID-19 cases: More than 66,000 coronavirus cases in the U.S. on Fri­day. Now to­tal in US is nearly 3.2 mil­lion, The U.S. has about a quar­ter of the 12.5 mil­lion cases re­ported glob­ally.

Let's open schools.

Anonymous said...

Hong Kong just shut their schools again because of 38 new cases. "The total number of cases since late January now stands at 1,404. Seven people have died."

NY had 677 new cases yesterday. Cuomo is great.

waitingforsupport said...

Hahahaha...@4:12 pm.

Anonymous said...

DeVos sounds just like Trump- "I'm the boss (so I can hold up the money), but expect you workers to figure it out. Don't look to me for guidance- do it yourself!" Honestly, why do we pay these clowns? Both of them donate their salary, but cost us taxpayers a fortune in perks and assistants.

Bloomberg didn't take a salary either. I think a rule for rich people who hold office is that they must take and live on only their salary while in office. Sadly, most, but not all, rich people are out of touch.

Anon2323 said...

Where the hell is the anger to China! Let's not forget what China was doing to Hong Kong as well as putting Muslims in concentration camps. Where is the anger to the WHO who was bought off from the chinese?!!?

I am livid with Cuomo Diblasio down, everyone loves blaming trump even though he brought everything and more to save these incompetent imobosciles here.

Anonymous said...

Sir, please stop drinking the Trump koolaid. Does it taste that good? We all agree deBlasio and Cuomo messed up but Trump and DeVos take it to another level.

I will give you that Trump has stood up a tiny bit to China which makes your Hong Kong anger kind of weird. The Chinese, like just about everyone else, are laughing at us right about now. I can acknowledge WHO lies. Can you concede that Trump is making things worse by encouraging states to open up too soon and not encouraging masks until this past weekend? It is not that hard to be critical of complete incompetence. That's why Trump's poll numbers are sinking.

Anon2323 said...

Biden and Obama never stood up to them! Appreciate your take, DEvos has always been a nightmare decision. I am SALTY in his SALT tax as well.

Schools should open it is not a one size fits all, outside new york there is a whole country and if people dont want to go in they can try and do full time remote. Flu kills more and we all go in to work, nobody seemed to be scared during H1N1 and that killed more.

Anon2323 said...

POll numbers lol, wasn't clinton 96% favorite, you guys and your polls!

Anonymous said...

Flu kills more. MAGA talking point.

National Geographic:

What’s more, scientists today have a better sense of how to measure COVID-19's lethality, and the numbers are alarming. Using a more sophisticated calculation called the infection-fatality rate, paired with the past few months’ worth of data, the latest best estimates show that COVID-19 is around 50 to 100 times more lethal than the seasonal flu, on average.