Do You Support House Dems Probing Betsy DeVos’ Overhaul of Campus Sexual Assault Rules?

What’s the story?

• House Democrats are preparing to scrutinize Education Secretary Betsy DeVos regarding her overhaul of campus sexual assault rules and rollback of regulations on for-profit colleges.

What policies are Democrats referring to?

In November, DeVos released a proposed overhaul of how colleges and universities handle complaints of sexual assault and harassment, including adding protections for students accused of sexual misconduct and narrowing the type of cases schools would be required to investigate.

The Education Department’s rollback of regulations on for-profit colleges include:

• Eliminating policies requiring for-profit colleges to show that their graduates were able to obtain "gainful employment.”
• Targeting a “borrower defense” rule that provides students a streamlined path to debt relief if they were defrauded by their college.

What are both sides saying?

• “We are going to hold Secretary DeVos accountable for, in so many ways, failing to uphold federal protections for our students,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), head of an appropriations subcommittee that oversees the education budget.

“It has to do with hurting student borrowers, protecting predatory for-profit schools and, above all, moving toward privatizing public education.”

• Education Dept. spokeswoman Liz Hill countered that DeVos has been responsive to requests for information from Congress.

“She’s ready to work with any member of Congress who wants to rethink education and do better for America’s students,” Hill said.

What do you think?

Do you support efforts to probe DeVos’ overhaul of campus sexual assault rules and rollback of regulations on for-profit colleges? Take action above to tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr)