Connect with us

US News

Flush with COVID-19 aid, schools steer funding to sports

Published

on

Flush with COVID-19 aid, schools steer funding to sports

One Wisconsin school district built a new football field. In Iowa, a high school weight room is getting a renovation. Another in Kentucky is replacing two outdoor tracks — all of this funded by the billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief Congress sent to schools this year.

The money is part of a $123 billion infusion intended to help schools reopen and recover from the pandemic. But with few limits on how the funding can be spent, The Associated Press found that some districts have used large portions to cover athletics projects they couldn’t previously afford.

Critics say it violates the intent of the legislation, which was meant to help students catch up on learning after months of remote schooling. But many schools argue the projects support students’ physical and mental health, one of the objectives allowed by the federal government.

Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the U.S. House education committee, said the money shouldn’t be used to fund athletics at the expense of academics. It was meant to help students, he said, not sports programs.

“I suspect you can make a case for anything, but the purpose is clear: It’s to open safely, stay open safely and deal with learning loss,” Scott said. “These are targeted resources needed to address the fact that a lot of children just didn’t achieve much for about a year.”

Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, said every dollar of pandemic relief spent on sports could be used to expand tutoring, reduce class sizes and take other steps to help students who are struggling academically.

“Can these districts show that all their kids are ready to graduate at the end of this year — college- and career-ready?” she said. “If not, then stop the construction. Stop it right now.”

In some parts of the country, exercise equipment companies have tried to capitalize, contacting school coaches and superintendents to suggest upgrades.

It’s impossible to know exactly how many schools are using pandemic relief on athletics. Districts are required to tell states how they’re spending the money, but some schools are using local funding for sports projects and then replacing it with the federal relief — a maneuver that skirts reporting requirements.

The funding is part of the American Rescue Plan signed in March by President Joe Biden that sent money to schools, giving larger shares to those with higher poverty. It’s the latest of several rounds of funding Congress funneled to the states to address education needs. The AP has tracked more than $157 billion distributed so far to school districts nationwide.

Schools have wide flexibility in how they use the money but only three years to spend it, a deadline that has led some to look for quick purchases that won’t need ongoing funding after the federal money is gone.

Read more on AP News

Local News

Concerns Grow Over Non-Citizen Voting in Arizona

Published

on

Concerns Grow Over Non-Citizen Voting in Arizona

In Arizona, to vote in federal elections (President, the House, and the Senate) you are required to swear (under penalty of perjury) that you are a U.S. citizen…

But there is no proof requirement.

Official Arizona Secretary of State Citizenship Requirements for Voting:

Source: https://azsos.gov/elections/voters/registering-vote/registration-requirements/proof-citizenship-requirements

The federal government relies on the attestation of the individual, the penalties for false statements, and the states’ efforts to cross-check information to maintain the integrity of the voter registration process (Source).

The process is largely based on the honor system.

The Associated Press recently reported this fact:

Source: https://apnews.com/article/arizona-voting-laws-citizenship-proof-50dafd68f8dd4af5cf669afa62efdf19

Currently, there is no national database or system that verifies the citizenship of voters directly. There is no guaranteed audit at the federal level specifically targeting “federal only” voters who have not provided proof of citizenship.

What about election audits? Wouldn’t non-citizen voters get caught?

Non-citizens in the country on parole awaiting an asylum hearing could potentially be identifiable in databases used for post-election audits, such as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which is designed to verify the immigration status of individuals (Source).

As for “gotaway” illegal immigrants who evaded entering in a documented fashion, it would be significantly more challenging to identify them in databases for the purposes of a post-election audit.

Since they have not been processed through official immigration channels, they would not have records in the same databases that document legal entries and immigration statuses. Therefore, they would not be easily identifiable through the standard verification processes used in post-election audits.

I’ve seen studies that claim non-citizen and Illegal Immigrant voting is extremely rare… What about those?

Studies such as those from the Brennan Center for Justice (link), indicate that non-citizen voting is extremely rare based on available data and the significant legal risks involved.

However, these studies rely on the analysis of documented cases and official records, which would not include undocumented individuals who evaded detection entirely.

For “gotaway” illegal immigrants, since they lack official records, there would be no straightforward method to audit their voting activity after an election. This is a limitation of the current verification systems, which are designed to prevent ineligible voting using the records available. The rarity of non-citizen voting cited in studies is based on the assumption that the risk of severe penalties, including deportation and imprisonment, serves as a strong deterrent against such actions.

In summary, while there are robust systems in place to deter and detect ineligible voting, the nature of undocumented entry into the country creates a gap in the ability to audit post-election voting activity for those individuals. The extent to which this occurs is unknown, and the studies available do not account for individuals without any official records.

All things considered, voting is only a small fraction of the overall concerns that Americans are expressing related to illegal immigration and asylum into the United States.

Gallup recently reported:

Quote from Gallup:

“For the third month in a row, immigration is the problem Americans name more than any other as the most important facing the U.S. While immigration has not ranked as the top problem often in Gallup’s monthly trend, it stands alone as the most politically polarizing issue in the past 25 years of Gallup’s measurement.

The record surge of migrants at the southern U.S. border in December brought even more focus on the issue — and while attempted crossings have eased slightly since then, they are expected to increase as spring continues. President Joe Biden’s approval rating for his handling of immigration has been persistently poor. With the presidential election about six months away and immigration top of mind, the issue remains a significant vulnerability for Biden as he seeks reelection.”

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/644570/immigration-named-top-problem-third-straight-month.aspx

Continue Reading

US News

Illegal Immigration Massively Surges in 2024

Published

on

Illegal Immigration Massively Surges in 2024

Continue Reading

Health

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, Has Been Diagnosed with Terminal Cancer

This follows his transfer to a medical facility in December

Published

on

The new comes from a letter he wrote:

Continue Reading

Trending