Community colleges sue DeVos for restricting eligibility for emergency student aid
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
OAKLAND, Calif. - The chancellor of California Community Colleges, the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and four other districts have sued U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in federal court in Oakland for restricting students' eligibility for U.S. emergency relief funds.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that DeVos's plan to restrict
funds to students eligible for federal financial aid would exclude about 800,000 of the 1.5 million students enrolled in the college system this spring.
Among those excluded would be students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, those seeking asylum and those who have not finished high school.
The lawsuit claims the restriction is not specified in the federal
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is not within DeVos's authority and interferes with Congress's constitutional spending powers.
California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley stated, "The Department of Education ignored the intent of the CARES Act to give local colleges discretion to aid students most affected by the pandemic, and instead has arbitrarily excluded as many as 800,000 community college students.
"Among those harmed are veterans, citizens who have not completed a federal financial aid application, and noncitizens, including those with DACA status," Ortiz said.
The CARES Act allocates $12.56 billion to help higher education
institutions respond to the coronavirus. The share for California's two-year community colleges is $580 million, according to the lawsuit. The law provides that half of each college's portion can go to help students pay for the costs of adapting to the disruption, such as the costs of computers and other aid needed to switch to online instruction at home.
A spokesperson for the Education Department was not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Yvonne
Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland. It asks for a court order declaring the restriction illegal and an injunction barring use of the restriction.
In addition to the Foothill-De Anza district, other individual
districts joining the lawsuit are based in Fresno, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Foothill-De Anza Chancellor Judy Miner said, "Foothill-De Anza
joined this lawsuit because we want to support the most vulnerable of our students, many of whom are now deemed ineligible for CARES emergency assistance as a result of Secretary DeVos's interpretation of legislation.
"As an open-access institution, we are the social safety net for
veterans, the newly unemployed as a result of COVID-19, and those who were unable to finish high school to name just a few of the populations we serve," Miner said.
Foothill College, in Los Altos Hills, and De Anza College, in Cupertino, have a combined total of 64,000 students.
The state's community college system is the largest higher
education system in the nation, serving 2.1 million students per year in 115 colleges in 73 districts. An estimated 70,000 students are undocumented, many of whom have DACA status, according to the chancellor's office.