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Special Olympics Chairman responds to proposed cuts to program

Posted at 10:40 PM, Mar 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-28 00:40:11-04

US – The chairman of the Special Olympics offered his response today to the news that Education Secretary Betsy Devos has proposed cuts to the program.

Under the proposal, $18 million of federal funding for the Special Olympics would be eliminated.

Devos said she supports the Special Olympics, but it is not a federal program.

Chairman Timothy Shriver wants to look at the bigger picture.

“In our schools, there are young people who are fighting intolerance, who want to have programs in their schools that allow them to meet their peers who have differences, who want to overcome the fear of difference, and replace it with the choice of inclusion,” Shriver said.

The Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual and physical disabilities and works with more than five million athletes across 174 countries.