Education is the sacred cow of the left, and they are rather quickly destroying it from within. It would be spectacular, were it not so frustrating watching our money go up with it.
An expensive prep school with a $50 million endowment accepted a $5.2 million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Let me also add that the former president’s Bill Clinton and Barack Obama’s children attended said institution too.
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Now the school is refusing to return the money after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged “private schools with significant endowments” to “return” the funds.
Sidwell Friends School, Chelsea Clinton, Maila Obama, and Sasha Obama’s former and Barron’s current private school receives tens of millions of dollars in tuition every year. Still, the board of trustees claimed its “fiduciary responsibilities” and “Quaker values” are justifiable reasons for not returning the morning, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The school said it would utilize the money to pay its faculty and staff.
[Free Beacon [2]] Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker-affiliated independent school known for enrolling top lawmakers’ children—including the daughters of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama—accepted [3] a $5.2 million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Congress’s bailout fund for small businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis.
The school, which brings in over $40 million in tuition annually, declined to give back the loan after Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin called on [4] “private schools with significant endowments” to “return” PPP funds. In a letter to the community, the board of trustees cited its “fiduciary responsibilities” as well as “our Quaker values” in its decision to keep the money—with the latter claim particularly raising eyebrows among critics.
In so doing, Sidwell Friends joins the ranks of other large, well-funded entities that have benefited from a program designed to protect America’s collapsing small businesses [5]. Some, like Shake Shack or news site Axios, have returned [6] their loans following public outcry. The school, which enjoys connections to D.C.’s Democratic establishment, has faced some scrutiny for its decision to keep the money—but appears unlikely to back down.
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They should immediately and permanently be relieved of any government subsidies or support of any kind. I haven’t received a dime in over two months, and this organization received over $5 million to pay teachers to NOT teach. And administrators to NOT work.
Hey, Howard Stern! Does anyone that goes to this school look like the democratic voters? My guess is probably not. By your logic, the Democrats must hate their supporters. I am referring to Howard Stern claiming that Trump hates his supporters if you are a bit lost.
The loan, which the school has said will be used to pay its 257 [8] faculty and staff, is one of the largest in the second tranche of PPP funds. Data from the Small Business Administration indicate [9] that of the 2.2 million loans it has issued since April 27, fewer than 1,500, or 0.07 percent, have been in excess of $5 million.
The Treasury Department has stipulated [10] that companies must consider their “current business activity” and their “ability to access other sources of liquidity” before certifying that they actually need PPP funding. Sidwell Friends’ chief communications officer did not respond to a request for comment as to whether or not the school had made such considerations or sought other sources of funding.
The school likely has substantial benefactors, as indicated by the wealth of its board [11]. Members include Marla Beck, who sold cosmetics chain Bluemercury to Macy’s for $210 million [12]; Patrick Gross, cofounder of American Management Systems Inc., which was valued [13] at $1 billion; and Mark Jacobsen, CEO of Promontory Interfinancial Network, which provides financial services for half [14] of all banks nationwide and previously sold [15] for $2.5 billion.
This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on May 13, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com [16] and is used by permission.