DeVos to Propose a Rule on the Matter of COVID-19 Financial Aid for Private Schools
May 26, 2020
According to Education Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will soon be releasing a proposed rule to resolve the “dispute over how much coronavirus aid private school students should receive.” In a letter to a group representing state education leaders, DeVos announced the soon-to-be proposed rule, which will be open for public comment, in the coming weeks. She also “reiterated her position that a relief package passed by Congress in March was designed by lawmakers to benefit all private school students within local school district boundaries.” However, state and local leaders remain adamant that “congressional intent was to have the aid provide ‘equitable services’ to disadvantaged and at-risk private school students”—the same students who would normally be eligible for such support under the Every Student Succeeds Act—and “not private school students in general.”