Secretary of Education Betsy Devos' proposal of $17.6 million cut to Special Olympics sends a damaging message to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
that prison inmates are four times as likely to have a cognitive disability than the general population, it being six times more likely for jail inmates.by saying the Special Olympics is funded by both the public and private sector, implying that the federal budget cut will not cause that much collateral damage to the program.
The Special Olympics not only promotes athletic enrichment but also provides social and academic support for children with special needs, who are disproportionally marginalized and excluded from the mainstream education system. DeVos’ proposed budget cut will hurt 272,000 children across the nation, a statistic that she was not aware of. However, on the same night, she also proposed afor companies that donate scholarship funds for private schools.
Monetary values aside, this proposal sends a damaging message to the targeted population—that the government does not have the livelihood of children and adults with special needs on the forefront of its mind. There already is a paucity of programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but programs like the Special Olympics offers snippets of joy and encouragement for them.
California’s Democratic Representative Barbara Lee told DeVos on Tuesday night, “I still can’t understand why you would go after disabled children in your budget.”I focus on the intersectionality of race, socioeconomic status, and politics on people with disabilities, especially women. I hold a master’s degree from Columbia Univer...
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