In response to Secretary of Education Betsy Devos’ visit to Pennsylvania today, DNC spokeswoman and Pennsylvania native Maddie McComb issued the following statement: 

“Just like her boss Donald Trump, Secretary DeVos has made it a practice to break her promises to Pennsylvania students; she has sought to siphon money away from their schools, made it harder for survivors to seek justice on college campuses, and defanged regulations protecting students from low-quality for-profit colleges. Put another way: DeVos and Trump have been a disaster for Pennsylvania students, their families and teachers. 

“Instead of showing up for a photo op today, she should head back to Washington and do the work to build an education system that works for everyone, not just the children of millionaires and billionaires.”

Here’s a reminder of how the Trump administration has broken their promises to students and families on education (so far):

• Trump’s budget proposals took an ax to higher education, slashing $8.5 billion from the Education Department budget. 
• Trump claimed that he would deal with student loan debt — but as president he has actually tried to eliminate the student loan forgiveness program.
• Trump claimed he would make America safe again — but his administration is making it harder for survivors of sexual assault at colleges and universities to seek justice.
• Trump’s 2019 and 2020 budgets proposed eliminating $2.1 billion in funding for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for after-school programs.
• Trump’s 2018 budget proposed cutting the Federal Work-Study Program in half, taking away jobs that allow students to pay for tuition while they are in school and slashing 55.8% – a $32.7 million cut — from Pennsylvania students alone. During the 2015-2016 school year, more than 45,000 students in Pennsylvania received over $51.5 million through federal work-study programs.
• Trump proposed eliminating the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant program that provides $41.4 million for low-income students in Pennsylvania to pay for college.