Does Senator Collins care about Education Secretary DeVos’ love of for-profit schools?

The Attorneys General of Massachusetts, Illinois, and  New York  have filed a third  lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education. According to the lawsuit, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has failed to assist the tens of thousands of victims of for-profit colleges. Specifically, the agency has allegedly violated federal laws with its endless delays in offering thousands of affected students crucial federal loan aid. Since President Trump took office, some 95,000 claims for debt relief have been submitted.

To make matters worse, the Department of Education has generally refused to respond to formal requests for action. Such requests by public officials are dismissed as partisan rants. Tell that to the many Mainers affected

The best known of these illustrious institutions is the now defunct Trump University. But this latest lawsuit concerns the far larger Corinthian educational empire.

Let us recall that Senator Susan Collins could have blocked the nomination of DeVos in Senate Committee but instead provided the crucial vote in DeVlos’ favor, thereby allowing the nomination to go to the entire Senate. Collins then voted against DeVos when it was clear that her vote wasn’t needed. How clever!

Collins claimed that she needed more time to study DeVos’ record, as if it would have changed over the course of a few days. And as if DeVos would not have joined almost all of her fellow Trump cabinet nominees in working to undermine the very federal agencies they were appointed to administer.

Today’s Bangor Daily News has a full-page ad asking readers to “Call Senator Collins and thank her for her leadership and commitment to Maine’s families.” I very much doubt that the many Mainers and their families who have lost precious dollars in enrolling for a worthless degree or certificate will run to their phones.