DeVos says school vouchers part of tax discussions

DeVos says school vouchers part of tax discussions

LAS VEGAS

More than a third of U.S. states have created school voucher programs that bypass thorny constitutional and political issues by turning them over to nonprofits that rely primarily on businesses to fund them. But the programs are raising questions about transparency and accountability at a time when supporters are urging that they be expanded into a federal program.

Unlike traditional school vouchers, which are directly funded by the states – or in the case of Washington, D.C., the federal government – these programs don’t use any public money. Instead, those who contribute to the voucher program get tax credits. Seventeen states now have the so-called tax-credit scholarships.

Both President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have promoted the scholarships as a way to give parents greater choice in deciding where their children will go to school. Supporters are pushing the administration to launch a federal program extending the tax-credit scholarships nationwide.

Billionaire suggests black senator worse than Ku Klux Klan

ALBANY, N.Y.

A billionaire hedge fund manager has apologized for an online post saying that a black state senator has “done more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood” because of her support for teachers unions.

Daniel Loeb issued a statement saying he regrets the language he used in the Facebook post about Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat. The post, an apparent reference to the white headgear of the Ku Klux Klan, was deleted late Thursday.

Loeb, the CEO of the investment firm Third Point, is a top donor to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and many other politicians. He is a leading supporter of charter schools.

Renovations underway at the White House

WASHINGTON

The White House is undergoing a major face-lift while President Donald Trump is out of town.

The Oval Office and other working quarters of the West Wing have been cleared of furniture while crews work on upgrades, including to the heating and air-conditioning system. Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the system is 27 years old.

Workers also are fixing leaks, repairing the South Portico steps, renovating the Navy mess kitchen and West Wing lower lobby and updating the IT system.

Slain hairstylist stabbed more than 40 times, police say

CHICAGO

A hairstylist suffered more than 40 stab wounds to his upper body in a fatal attack last month in the high-rise Chicago condo of a Northwestern University professor, police said Friday.

The since-fired professor, Wyndham Lathem, and Oxford University financial officer Andrew Warren were arrested in the San Francisco area eight days after 26-year-old Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau was found dead last month.

Cornell-Duranleau suffered “lacerations and mutilations to his body, his upper body, but not to the point of decapitation,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. He described the attack as “certainly very intense.”

Guglielmi said police believe there might have been some tension in Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau’s relationship.

Associated Press