House Democrats grilled Betsy DeVos Tuesday over the education secretary’s latest budget proposal, which boosts appropriations for charter schools while slashing $17.6 million in funding for the Special Olympics.

During a contentious hearing before the House education appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., pushed DeVos on the proposed cuts to the Special Olympics, a sports competition for disabled athletes.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifying at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, March 26, 2019. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP) More

“Do you know how many kids are going to be affected by that cut, Madam Secretary?” Pocan asked.

“Mr. Pocan, let me just say again, we had to make some difficult decisions with this budget —” DeVos replied.

“Again, this is a question about many kids, not about the budget —” Pocan interjected.

“I don’t know the number —” said DeVos.

“It’s 272,000 kids,” Pocan interjected.

“Let me just say that I think Special Olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well,” DeVos said.

Overall, DeVos's proposal cuts the education budget by $7 billion, or 10 percent of the current level of funding. At the same time, it would raise charter school funding by $60 million.

The budget submitted by the administration and Cabinet agencies invariably gets overhauled by Congress, and is usually regarded as largely symbolic.

In @BetsyDeVosED’s budget, there are major cuts to programs like the Special Olympics. Sec. DeVos didn’t know the number of kids who would be hurt by that cut, so I made sure she now knows that 272,000 kids are seeing their support taken away. pic.twitter.com/6ZiOfDU4Ou — Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 26, 2019

As word of the exchange and DeVos’s budget request spread across social networking sites, others began to criticize the plan.

Terrible. We should support athletes with disabilities, not rip away their opportunities. https://t.co/vjkMKVfE6R — Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 26, 2019

DeVos sought to quell the growing anger over her budget request with a statement released Wednesday that made the case that Special Olympics already received ample funds from private donations.

“There are dozens of worthy nonprofits that support students and adults with disabilities that don’t get a dime of federal grant money,” DeVos said in the statement. “But given our current budget realities, the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations.”

Asked to comment on DeVos’s budget proposal, Special Olympics communications director Tara Baker told Yahoo News that progress has been made in recent years in “eliminating the stigma, stereotypes, isolation and discrimination” for people with intellectual disabilities.

“We ask federal, state and local governments to join Special Olympics in remaining vigilant against any erosion of provisions that have made a substantial difference in the lives of people with ID [intellectual disabilities],” Baker said in an emailed statement. “As is the case each year after the President presents his budget to Congress, we engage in opportunities, such as our annual Capitol Hill Day activities, to educate lawmakers about why grant funding for our health and education programming is critical to protecting and increasing access to these services for people with intellectual disabilities. We look forward to continuing to raise awareness among U.S. government officials about the important work that Special Olympics is doing in the United States and around the world.”

The 2019 Special Olympics were held last week in Abu Dhabi, and DeVos tweeted her support for the organization in February.

It was great to spend time with the @SpecialOlympics athletes! Thanks for all you do, @TimShriver. https://t.co/tCrpx40xaN — Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) February 15, 2017

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</s>Senators grilled Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on her proposed budget cuts to the Special Olympics and special education grants.</s>Donald Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared before a congressional subcommittee yesterday attempting to defend billions of dollars worth of proposed cuts to disability education programs, including the Special Olympics.

DeVos' wants to decrease her department's spending by at least 10 per cent ($7 billion) for fiscal year 2020, and in doing so wants to slash funding for after-school programs as well as support for children from low-income families.

She also intends to withdraw the entire $18 million of federal funding for the Special Olympics, the world's largest sports competition for children and adults with learning or physical disabilities.

Justifications appeared to elude DeVos on Tuesday as she struggled against furious House Democrats during an Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

After pointing out that previously proposed budgets had also tried to remove federal funding for the Special Olympics, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) told DeVos: 'I still can't understand why you would go after disabled children.'

'You zero that out,' she added. 'It's appalling.'

Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, having spoken about his nephews with autism, asked DeVos: 'What is it that we have a problem with, with children who are in special education?'

She replied: 'Supporting children with special needs, we have continued to hold that funding at a level amount and in the context of a budget proposal that is a 10 per cent reduction.'

During the session, Pocan also asked the Education Secretary to state how many children would be affected if funding for the Special Olympics was removed.

When DeVos admitted that she did not know, he said: 'I'll answer it for you, that's OK, no problem.

'It's 272,000 kids that are affected.'

DeVos replied: 'I think that the Special Olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well.'

Pocan then stated that the proposed budget would also reduce state grants for special education by 26 per cent, and remove millions of dollars in funding for programs to support blind children.

According to Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee before which DeVos was testifying, the three education budgets written by President Trump's administration have proposed the largest cuts to education funding since the department's creation in 1979.

DeLauro called the budget a 'cruel and reckless,' proposal that 'will hurt the middle class and low-income families that most need our help.'

'How can you support this budget? I mean that genuinely,' she said.

'As secretary of the Department of Education, how can you support, even boast, about taking 10 per cent... away from our teachers and students?'

This latest budget proposal includes a $2 billion reduction for Pell Grants, as well as further billions for about 30 other programs.</s>For the third year in a row, Democrats dinged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday for proposing to cut funds from the Special Olympics, after-school programs and support for students from low-income families.

The difference is that this time, Democrats control the House.

“The three education budgets from this administration have proposed the largest cuts to education funding in four decades. That’s since the department was created in 1979,” said Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who chairs the Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, at a hearing on DeVos’ proposed 2020 budget.

“Madam Secretary, I have to say, and maybe it’s offensive: Shame on you,” DeLauro said.

Overall, DeVos proposed a 12% decrease in funding for her department for fiscal year 2020.

Lawmakers have rejected the Trump administration’s previous efforts, increasing the Education Department budget instead, even when Republicans controlled both the Senate and House.

Even though the secretary’s budget has even less of a chance of being adopted this year, it lays out a set of priorities for the administration — and gives advocacy groups plenty to complain about.

One proposal that has repeatedly gotten attention from lawmakers is DeVos’ suggestion to cut funding from Special Olympic events at schools.

“We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget,” DeVos responded when asked about the proposal by Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, who said that more than 270,000 children benefit from those programs.

“I think the Special Olympics is an awesome organization, one that is supported by the philanthropic sector as well,” she said.

DeVos has personally supported the group. After proposing to cut the funding in her first budget, she announced that she would donate part of her salary to the organization. A spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that the secretary made the donation last year and added that DeVos is “personally supportive of Special Olympics and its mission.”

The proposed budget maintains the same level of funding for core special education programs, including grants to states under the department’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The secretary was also criticized at Tuesday’s hearing for eliminating money for the 21st Century Community Learning Center, which supports after-school and summer programs for students, particularly those who come from low-income families or attend low-performing schools.

“This year, I’m puzzled. You’re trying to cut it again, completely ignoring the strong evidence that parents support this program and in fact want more of it,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat who’s the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Republican ranking member Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma commended DeVos for several aspects of her budget, including support for charter schools and for science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) programs, as well as expanding the Pell Grant program to students enrolled in short-term certificate programs.

But he called some of the proposed reductions “shortsighted,” including those to the federal TRIO programs, which provide support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The secretary’s budget requests new funds for K-12 school choice tax credits, called Education Freedom Scholarships. They could be used for both private and public schools. The agency is asking the Treasury Department for $5 billion a year for the new program.</s>WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testified in front of the House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday, defending the 2020 education budget proposal which has deep cuts to programs, one of them being the Special Olympics.

The budget proposes cutting $17.6 million from Special Olympics education programs. It also showed that 29 programs would be eliminated; the cost of those programs is $6.7 billion.

“We had to make difficult decisions in the budget,” said DeVos. “In doing so, we have really focused in on the things that we are know are yielding results.”

The budget proposal says that the Special Olympics education programs are getting a budgetary cutback because “such activities are better supported with other Federal, State, local, or private funds.”

A Democrat-led Congress had plenty of questions about the budget proposal.

"Do you know how many kids are going to be affected by that cut?" asked U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin). He went on to say that there are 272,000 Special Olympics athletes that would be affected by the cuts.

“Special Olympics is an awesome organization—one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well,” DeVos said.

Pocan brought up other cuts to special education and asked DeVos, “What is it that we have a problem with children who are in special education? Why are we cutting all these programs over and over within this budget?”

DeVos defended the budget saying that the federal government has maintained funding. "Supporting students with special needs, we have continued to hold that funding at a level amount," she said.

The Special Olympics did not directly address the budget proposal in a statement, however they did post on a Facebook following the committee hearing. The post said “Our work in schools has been statistically proven to increase inclusion & improve whole school communities for millions of young people with & without intellectual disabilities.”

While the budget shows billions of dollars in program cuts, it also shows that there are millions of dollars allocated to increasing school of choice programs. A part of that is $500 million for the charter schools program, which is an increase to the $60 million allocated for the 2019 fiscal year.

DeVos has been a longtime advocate for charter schools and school of choice.

Tuesday was the Secretary of Education’s first appearance before a Democrat-controlled House panel.

►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.

Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.</s>Deep cuts to programs meant to help students were called into question Monday during a congressional subcommittee.Educational Secretary Betsy DeVos defended the cutbacks in the Department of Education's budget request for 2020, including the elimination of all $18 million in federal funding for the Special Olympics.272,000 children and adults from the United States participate in the Special Olympics.She suggested it is better supported by philanthropy and instead proposes to add $60 million more to charter school funding.DeVos's budget request also cut funds from after-school programs and support for students from low-income families, proposing a 12 percent overall decrease in federal funding for education.</s>WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday defended her request to cut billions of dollars from the agency’s budget, and Democrats attacked her plan as outrageous and damaging to students who need the most help.

Democrats were also cold to DeVos’ plan to use the federal tax code to support private-school scholarships, suggesting that the secretary’s priorities will face another tough year in Congress.

“I believe this budget is cruel, and I believe it is reckless,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who leads the education subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and presided over the hearing Tuesday. “I really am left with a very serious question for you: How can you support this budget? I mean that genuinely.”

Lawmakers singled out a range of programs targeted for cuts or elimination by the Trump administration, such as the $17.6 million supporting the Special Olympics.

“I still can’t understand why you would go after disabled children in your budget. It’s appalling,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said.

Even the top Republican on the panel, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said that while some proposed reductions make sense, others are “somewhat shortsighted.”

DeVos responded that she was forced to make difficult decisions to control spending, but she appeared to be realistic about her chances.

“This reduction is similar to last year’s request, and the year before that, as well. I acknowledge that you rejected those recommendations,” she said.

Overall, the budget plan would cut more than $8.5 billion, about 12 percent, from the Education Department. Programs that would face cuts include one that supports after-school activities for children in impoverished communities, as well as a grant program for textbooks, equipment, counseling services and other needs for schools. That pool of money – the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program – also underwrites school safety efforts, including mental health services and safety equipment.

“We’ve proposed this particular program elimination because it’s been thinly spread and not that effective on any particular thing,” DeVos said.

DeVos was more enthusiastic in promoting her own chief cause: a $5 billion tax-credit plan to help children attend private schools. She refers to the initiative as “education freedom.”

The proposal faces long odds for approval, especially in the House, where Democrats are in control.

DeLauro dismissed the idea as a “tax scheme” and an “unregulated, unaccountable” effort to fund private school vouchers.

The proposal would give individuals and corporations a 100 percent tax credit for contributions to state-sanctioned scholarship funds, meaning that donors could get back their entire donation through federal taxes. The money would be given to students to help pay for tuition at private schools and for other expenses.

Democrats also pressed DeVos on a report from the advocacy group Network for Public Education, which found that the federal government wasted up to $1 billion on charter schools that never opened, or that opened and then closed because of mismanagement and other reasons.

DeVos replied that more schools options, including charters, are needed.

“When you have experimentation, you’re always going to have schools that don’t make it, and that’s what should happen,” she said.

DeVos also faced questions about her decision to withdraw Obama-era guidelines regarding student discipline. The guidance had warned school systems that they might be in violation of federal civil rights law if they discipline students of color at a disproportionately high rate compared with white students.

“Are you saying that the problem really is that black children are just more of a discipline problem?” Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., asked.

DeVos sidestepped a discussion of why discipline rates frequently differ by race but said the previous guidance amounts to a quota system for disciplinary action.

“No child should be treated or disciplined differently based on his or her race or color,” DeVos said.

In another exchange, DeVos declined to say whether she believes schools should be allowed to discriminate against students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., pressed her on the matter.

DeVos said, “We have laws that cover discriminatory efforts, and our Office for Civil Rights has continued to be very diligent in investigating any allegation of discrimination and will continue to do so.”

Pocan replied, “So is that a yes or is that a no?”

DeVos said, “We follow the law as defined.”</s>The Alaska House Finance subcommittees have proposed spending reductions that are much smaller than those in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal.

The House Finance subcommittees have proposed a total of $47 million in reductions from the portion of the current budget the Legislature controls. This doesn’t include most of the funding for public schools, which could receive a $10 million increase under a law the Legislature passed last year.

Dunleavy proposed $794 million in cuts to state agencies, including $323 million in school reductions that would require repealing portions of last year’s law.

The largest proposed cut by the House subcommittees was to the Department of Corrections, with a proposal to increase the use of community residential centers — similar to halfway houses — and electronic monitoring. Both are less expensive than housing offenders in prisons. But the subcommittee didn’t adopt Dunleavy’s proposal to send some inmates to out-of-state prisons.

The second-largest proposed cut by the subcommittees was to the Department of Health and Social Services. Most of this reduction is due to the 2016 law that overhauled the state Medicaid program. The House subcommittee didn’t adopt the additional Medicaid reductions that Dunleavy proposed. The governor may be able to reach some of those cuts administratively, working with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But most of those cuts will require the Legislature to act.

House minority-caucus Republicans declined to vote on some of the subcommittee recommendations. Rep. Lance Pruitt, an Anchorage Republican, said the House majority should have started with Dunleavy’s proposal as a basis.

The subcommittees’ proposals are “clearly closer to a status quo,” Pruitt said. “It is going in the wrong direction.”

Now the budget is in the full House Finance Committee. Rep. Neal Foster, the committee’s co-chairman, said he’s planning to introduce a new version of the budget bill on Thursday. The House majority has a goal of having the budget reach the floor for debate by April 8 — six days before the scheduled end of the 90-day legislative session under state law. The Legislature has more time under the state constitution, which sets 121 days — ending on May 15 this year — as the maximum session length.

Majority-caucus senators have indicated they’re seeking deeper cuts than what the House has proposed so far.

It’s not clear how much lawmakers will consider Dunleavy’s line-item veto authority as they work on the budget.



 The overall gap between what the state is set to spend under current law and what it’s expected to raise in tax, fees and oil royalties is roughly $1.5 billion.

One area that could take some pressure of the budget is savings. Dunleavy has proposed spending up to $172 million from the statutory budget reserve and $180 million from Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority reserves. But those are strategies that can only be pursued once, before the state government would need to find a long-term solution.

Much of the budget gap could be closed by reducing Alaska Permanent Fund dividends. Balancing the budget with only PFD cuts would lead to dividends of roughly $600, according to a House Finance Committee presentation made at public meetings across the state last weekend. To have dividends at the same $1,600 level as last year would require $600 million in cuts. And having the full $3,000 dividends under the formula set by state law would require $1.5 billion in cuts.

Senate Democrats in the minority caucus have proposed eliminating oil production tax credits to close most of the budget gap, but neither of the majority caucuses have advanced a similar proposal.</s>House lawmakers chastised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday for the administration’s attempt to slash the State Department budget, repeatedly highlighting the disconnect between the Trump administration’s rhetoric about priorities and its willingness to fund them.

Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee that examines the State Department and foreign operations budget, noted that the administration wants to cut the department’s budget by 21% for the 2019 fiscal year.

Rogers noted that the Trump administration’s Congressional Budget Justification said its budget request prioritizes “the security of US citizens, increases American prosperity, and supports our allies and partners,” said Rogers, who described himself as “disappointed” by the budget request. “I believe you would see more support in Congress if the proposed funding level matched this rhetoric.”

The administration is proposing deep reductions in security assistance, global health, democracy promotion and “even life-saving humanitarian assistance,” Rogers noted. “Given what the world looks like right now, this approach seems detached from reality.”

Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee told Pompeo that “we’ll be working in a bipartisan fashion to plus up your budget,” adding that, “we need stability around the world.”

New York Rep. Nita Lowey, the appropriations subcommittee chairwoman, said the budget request would undermine US leadership, deepen long-term damage to the State Department and US Agency for International Development, and stymie important foreign policy priorities, including worldwide counter terrorism efforts.

“The State Department has never had to operate under the draconian levels proposed by the President,” Lowey said. “I’m astonished that three years into his administration, the President still does not appreciate the merits of sustained investment in diplomacy and development.”

Pompeo pushed back in appearances before the appropriations subcommittee and the House Foreign Affairs committee, saying the request was designed around the administration’s national security strategy.

That framework is focused on a series of goals including countering China and Russia in “great power competition,” denuclearizing North Korea, stabilizing Venezuela, confronting Iran, helping allies become more secure, and giving diplomats the resources they need.

“We make this request mindful of the burden on American taxpayers and take seriously our obligation to produce exceptional results on their behalf,” Pompeo told the committee.

Yet again and again, lawmakers on the appropriations subcommittee and the House Foreign Affairs committee questioned how the administration could meet these and other goals when it plans to scale back funding.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, noted that when Pompeo was a congressman, he had personally made a cause of embassy security after the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Despite that, Meeks noted, the administration’s budget would make “somewhere between 17 and 20% reduction for embassy security, construction, and maintenance.”

“I don’t have the numbers in front of me,” Pompeo said in response. He said that the administration had increased the budget “for the overall scope of security” inside the State Department, but offered no details.

At a time when the administration is focused on rallying Latin America to help oust embattled President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and restore democracy to that country, Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, noted that the White House is proposing to cut assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean by about one-third.

“These significant cuts … appear to be at odds quite frankly with the State Department’s own policy to promote economic growth and prosperity and democratic governance,” said Lee. She noted that China “is filling the void in many ways that have historically been neglected by the United States.”

Pompeo told Lee that US foreign assistance is “directly aimed at competing every place that China is trying to compete. It is a fact that we will never show up with as much money as China is going to show up with.”

“Mr. Secretary, I’m not asking us to show up with as much money,” Lee shot back. “I’m asking us why are we cutting where we’ve never really invested?”

Pompeo didn’t answer, turning instead to a tactic he used through two House hearings of criticizing the Obama White House instead of answering. “The previous administration failed to invest there. I’ll concede that,” he said.

The appearances Wednesday were Pompeo’s first before the House since Democrats assumed control and questions ranged widely, touching on China’s push to introduce 5G technology overseas, to Saudi Arabia’s killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Iran’s nuclear program and Venezuela’s upheaval.

The top US diplomat made clear later, in the foreign affairs committee, that the US is intent on ousting Maduro, but wants to share responsibility for the reconstruction bill.

“The world will have to provide the economic assistance to get them through this transition period,” Pompeo said. “The United States will certainly be part of it. But I’m confident we will find the coalition that we’ve built, some 50 countries strong, that our state department has built, will be part of that as well.”

Rep. David Price, North Carolina Democrat, questioned Pompeo on how the Trump administration expects Palestinians to consider it “a fair-minded arbiter” after a series of moves that appear to favor Israel and cut off Palestinians. The US has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moved its embassy to the city, closed the Palestinian embassy in Washington and the US consulate that serves Palestinians, cut aid to the UN that helps Palestinian refugees and direct US aid to the West Bank.

“Can you tell me how this is supposed to work,” Price asked. “Am I missing something?”

“Yes, yes you are,” Pompeo said. “What went before didn’t work. I think you’d have to acknowledge that. Decades of trying the old way failed to resolve this conflict.”

Global health came up repeatedly, as lawmakers questioned the administration’s proposed cuts to programs focused on AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and women’s health.

Pompeo said that “this administration is absolutely committed to” fighting those diseases, even as the White House would cut by about 22% the budget for PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and pledge less to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria than it needs to replenish its funds.

Lee noted that reports show “that if we pull back, the infection rates will increase and we won’t succeed,” adding that Americans support the policies and that “you’re stepping back on our global leadership.”

Pompeo said that, “there comes a time in every program where you have to begin to think, you’ve been at this a long time. Is there a way you can deliver on this better. That’s the objective we have set out in our budget.”</s>Speaking via video to TMZ Sports, the Big Show spoke out against United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and her plan to eliminate the Special Olympics, among other programs, from the federal budget. Show doesn’t usually get political, but he works with the Special Olympics, and it’s always been something he’s passionate about. Here’s a brief excerpt from his passionate remarks, which are worth listening to in their entirety:
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies before a House appropriations subcommittee about this year's DoED budget request. The committee heavily criticized Secretary DeVos for the proposed budget cuts.