Pelosi Criticizes DeVos’ ‘Dereliction of Duty’ for Pressing for Schools to be Reopened

Pelosi Criticizes DeVos’ ‘Dereliction of Duty’ for Pressing for Schools to be Reopened

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unloaded on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Sunday for saying that having kids go back to school later this summer won’t be dangerous.

“Given what you just heard briefly, are you confident that students and teachers will go back to school in the fall?” host Dana Bash asked.

“No,” Pelosi responded. “I think what we heard from the secretary was malfeasance and dereliction of duty. This is appalling…the president and his administration are messing with the health of our children.”

DeVos has pressured schools to not adopt remote learning strategies, but rather commit to in-classroom instruction five days a week.

“We all want our children to go back to school. Teachers do, parents do, and children do. But they must go back safely,” Pelosi said.

“And when you hear what the administration is saying, we know that they have no appreciation for the failure that has brought us to this point. Going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of the coronavirus. They ignore science and they ignore governance in order to make this happen. If there are CDC guidelines, they should be requirements.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt is a writer and editor from New Hampshire whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, Slate and Areo Magazine, among other places. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from Boston University.

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