Betsy DeVos on Coronavirus: What Are the Feds Doing to Help Schools? – Education Next
The coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for America’s schools and colleges. Washington has sought to respond with last week’s CARES Act, including more than $2 trillion in new federal spending. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education has been making decisions about federally required testing, student loans, special education policy, and much else. I had the chance to talk with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about what she’s doing at the department and the federal response to coronavirus. Here’s what she had to say.
Rick: What is the federal government doing in regard to the coronavirus and education?
Secretary DeVos: President Trump and this administration took immediate and decisive action to support students, families, and educators. We created a streamlined waiver to allow states to opt out of federally mandated standardized testing for this year. We also provided clarity to states that education must continue for all students, including for students with disabilities.
We quickly afforded higher education institutions distance-learning flexibilities so that many of them could move to online learning; that likely helped prevent the spread of Covid-19 on many college campuses. On student loans, recognizing the economic hardships many are facing right now, the president set interest rates on all federally held student loans to zero percent, we allowed borrowers to stop making payments without penalty or without watching interest accrue, and we ended all collections activities.