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Thornburgh confident with PSS funding
As President Donald Trump finalizes his Cabinet picks, the nomination of Michigan’s Betsy DeVos to become his education secretary has riled up many within the education circle.
The nomination of DeVos has been opposed in many blogs, by PTA administrators, and protesters denouncing any attempts to replace acting Secretary of Education Phil Rosenfelt. Trump described DeVos as “a brilliant and passionate education advocate.”
Much of the controversy around DeVos focuses on her support of charter schools, which are outside the state school system but are publicly funded and set up by teachers, parents, or community groups.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, her work in Michigan involved “elevating for-profit schools with no consideration of the severe harm done to traditional public schools” despite “overwhelming evidence” that charter schools were no more successful than public schools.
Tim Thornburgh, the federal programs officer of the Public School System, feels confident that the CNMI Public School System will not be drastically affected whether DeVos gets the position or not.
Thornburgh says that there would not be a “big change” in the CNMI’s funding and that any change would lead to just a “small reduction in funding.”
“I am hopeful that any reduction will be very modest,” said Thornburgh.
Thornburgh says in order to cut funding from public education, Congress would have to amend the Every Student Succeeds Act, passed in December 2015. Like the No Child Left Behind Act, the ESSA is a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which constitutes the federal government’s expanded role in funding public education.
“I’m very confident that U.S. Congress will continue to provide funding for supplemental educational services and we will continue to receive that here in the CNMI,” Thornburgh said. “She could succeed, but it is highly unlikely that [the U.S.] will do any school choice program.”
The U.S. Senate voted on Friday to advance DeVos to a final confirmation vote, which is expected Monday (Tuesday, Saipan time).
