Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ plan to funnel money to private schools through additional grants made under the guise of funding pandemic relief through the CARES Act has been struck down by a Federal district judge, Politico reports.
District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the DC District ruled that DeVos’ order that public school districts direct more public funds to private schools in their jurisdiction was an unconstitutional use violating the CARES Act. Friedrich is a Trump appointee.
DeVos had demanded that public school districts allot a larger share of pandemic relief to private schools than they would normally be allowed by law. DeVos wanted public money to go to privately-funded schools or schools with endowments, regardless of their fiscal needs.
Friedrich’s ruling, which cannot be appealed, stated that DeVos does not have the authority to unilaterally determine the distribution of the funds from the CARES Act in contradiction to the direction of Congress.