WithCOVID-19 cases spikingagain in the United States , and many schools from pre - kB through 12 to colleges and universities still unclear about whether or how to open up in the declivity , President Donald Trump is jeopardize to cut federal funding to dominion that do n’t .
In a tweet , he wrote , " May trim back off funding if not open ! " In the same tweet , he cited the fact that schools reopened in several European rural area without a trouble and put forward concern over doing the same in the U.S. were based on political goals .
" The schools will be open in the evenfall , and we trust that most school are going to be open , " Trump allege during aWhite House education briefingTuesday , July 7 , 2020 . " We do n’t require masses to make political statements or do it for political ground . They think it ’s hold up to be good for them politically , so they keep the schools closed . No way . So , we ’re very much lead to put press on governors and everybody else to start the school . " trump card did not , however , explicitly say who would actually skip the financial backing .
Most public school receive the majority of — about 90 percent — of their funding from state and local dimension and sale taxes ; that ’s money the Union government has no admittance to . The federal government does , however , finance about 8.5 per centum of K-12 backing , according to theCongressional Budget Office , a nonpartisan stage of Congress . But the chairperson would have little to no control condition over any money already earmarked by Congress .
Not even Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has the authority to withhold the money . Sasha Pudelski , protagonism director , AASA , the School Superintendents Association , remark in atweetthat DeVos and the Department of Education would need congressional confidence to withhold funding from schooltime for not reopen . However , Rep. Jim Banks ( R - Ind. ) did introducelegislationJune 11 , 2020 , that would give her that authority , though the flier has gone nowhere .
So the million - clam question here is can the president of the United States deny funds to schools that do not reopen ?
" Once again , Trump has acted without respect to basic limits on presidential power , " explains Caroline Mala Corbin , prof of police at University of Miami School of Law , in an e-mail . " The power of the purse lies with Congress , not with the president . If Congress has already seize money to public schools , then the president can not withhold those investment trust . "
COVID-19 Stimulus Funds
However , there is extra money allocated for training right now because of coronavirus . The$2 trillion stimulus packagepassed by Congress March 22 , 2020 , included$13.5 billion in dedicated fundingfor K-12 education . Trump could endeavor to interfere with some of the parking brake pandemic funding , Corbin explains . Or he could veto future funding if Congress legislate additional stimulus bills .
The $ 13.5 billion allocated for education in the current input parcel is n’t enough to reopen schools anyway , fit in to the American Federation of Teachers ( AFT ) union . In a letter to Congress , AFT and other organizations including AASA estimated that school will need at least an additional $ 200 billion to reopen safely .
" The Senate has failed to move forward with the $ 3 trillion input parcel — theHEROES Act — that passed in the House six week ago and could give our communities the backing they need to battle these crisis , " AFT President Randi Weingartensaid in a insistence instruction . " Simply put , we can not get back to piece of work , back to schooling and back to some kind of new normal without Senate action and without the Union government pee-pee vital investment now so we do n’t forfeit our hereafter . "
The CDC and School Opening Guidelines
Meanwhile , in another tweet July 8 , Trump quetch that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) guideline for reopen schools were " very problematic & expensive . " Schools are being call for to do " very airy things . "
Hours later , Vice President Mike Pence announce that the CDC would issue new school scuttle guidelines . However , CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield narrate " Good Morning America " that rather than revise its guidepost , the nub would furnish additional reference documents to aid communities examine to reopen K-12 .
All this news , of course of instruction , comes at a time when at least 38 of 50 states is experiencing anincreases in raw coronavirus cases .
