The latest budget plan from the Department of Education will include cutting federal grant funding for the Special Olympics, a move that has been widely panned and criticized.
Betsy DeVos has defended the actions, insisting that Special Olympics, which receives approximately 12 percent of its funding from the government, makes enough in private donations it can withstand losing federal funding. That hasn’t gone over well and has received push back from a number of high profile individuals, from congressmen and women to WWE’s Big Show to ESPN hosts Kevin Negandhi and Tony Reali.
On Wednesday’s episode of Around The Horn, Woody Paige got the win and ceded his face time to end the show to Reali to expand on his thoughts about the importance of Special Olympics and, in general, being inclusive to everyone in our every day lives.
.@TonyReali with thoughts on @SpecialOlympics and the ways we are all asked to include all people, everyday.
"This is a test for all of us. Do we include all? In what ways can we encourage better? We can't be brave in the fight and win unless we include and encourage all." pic.twitter.com/bg7aWGPiTH
— Around the Horn (@AroundtheHorn) March 27, 2019
It’s a powerful statement from Reali, who has done lots of work with Special Olympics, and he calls on everyone to do their part in speaking out against the cuts to Special Olympics and to work to do better on a day-to-day basis in trying to be inclusive and welcoming to all types of people.
Special Olympics is an organization that has such a positive impact on everyone involved that it seems almost impossible that they would be a choice for budget cuts, but the response to those cuts and the support they’ve received in the wake of cuts has, if nothing else, been nice to see.
