The U.S. Department of Education has announced tens of millions of dollars in grants following insistence last month by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that schools reopen this fall.
DeVos announced Aug. 10, that approximately $3.9 million in new grant awards had been approved for 17 historically Black colleges and universities, and other minority serving institutions. The grants are intended to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs at the selected colleges and universities, according to a DOE press release.
"The administration is focused on making sure each and every student has access to the education opportunities they need to reach their full potential," DeVos said in the release. "All too often, minority students lack access to STEM education and are underrepresented in STEM jobs. That's why this grant program is so important."
Announcement of the grants came less than two weeks after the DeVos announced the award of more than $180 million to 11 states "rethinking education to better serve students during the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Rethink K-12 Education Models Grant awards are intended to support states' efforts "to create new, innovative ways for students to continue learning in ways that meet their needs," a July 29 DOE press release states.
States receiving the $6-to-$20 million awards include Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, according to the release.
"Ensuring every student can continue to learn during the coronavirus pandemic requires innovation from local education leaders and a laser-like focus on doing what’s right for students," DeVos said in the July 29 release. "This grant will help states adapt and overcome challenges to strengthen education both now and for the longer term. If we've learned anything from this pandemic, it’s that the antiquated one-size-fits-all approach to education is no longer tenable and education going forward must be more adaptable and student-centered. I want to congratulate today’s awardees for making the needed effort to rethink education on behalf of their students."
The grants follow release of a CDC report last month that emphasized the "importance of reopening America's schools this fall" and issued new guidelines to make school reopening safe and secure. The report also recommended that schools should be kept closed or be closed should substantial and difficult to control COVID-19 transmission occur.
"It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement issued along with the new report. "School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable."
The CDC report came shortly after DeVos set off a backlash, which is still ongoing, when she told Fox News Sunday Host Chris Wallace that reopening schools this fall would be reopening schools this fall and are getting considerable push back over what DeVos called "doing what is right for students."
During the July 12 interview, DeVos said "there's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous."
"We know that children contract and have the virus at far lower incidence than any other part of the population and we know that other countries around the world have reopened their schools and have done so successfully and safely, and kids there are going back to school every day," DeVos continued, adding "that has got to be the posture here."
As widely reported over the last two days, Georgia schools have encountered widespread coronavirus positive testing, resulting in the quarantine of more than 900 students a week after reopening.
