The Wall Street Journal - 20.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Friday, March 20, 2020 |A

U.S. NEWS

NCTC is a part.

After ousting Mr. Maguire,

the president picked Mr.

Grenell, a political ally. Upon

taking office, Mr. Grenell dis-

missed several top DNI per-

sonnel and brought in as a top

adviser Kashyap Patel, an aide

to Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Ca-

lif.), who helped lead the con-

gressman’s efforts to discredit

probes into Russia’s 2016 elec-

tion interference.

A spokeswoman for Mr.

Grenell said Mr. Travers

hadn’t been dismissed from

the agency.

“Assertions that Russ was

fired are inaccurate,” said the

spokeswoman, Amanda

Schoch. “He was offered the

opportunity to move to a new

role and chose to retire.”

Mr. Miller, the White

House’s nominee to succeed

Mr. Travers, is a decorated

Army Special Forces veteran.

He has previously worked on

counterterrorism issues on the

National Security Council and

was an intelligence adviser in

the office of the secretary of

defense.

Mr. Travers didn’t respond

to a request for comment.

In a note to the NCTC work-

forcereviewedbyTheWall

Street Journal, Mr. Travers

said that with Mr. Miller’s

nomination to head the center,

Mr. Grenell “wants to assem-

ble a new team to best sup-

port Chris upon confirmation.

Accordingly, Pete [Hall] and I

will be leaving our positions

very soon.”

The NCTC, he wrote agency

personnel, recently had been

the subject of an external

evaluation by a group of na-

tional security experts who he

said validated the need for the

center.

“I have no doubt that the

Center is postured for success

going forward,” he wrote.

With the departures of

Messrs. Travers and Hall, at

least six senior intelligence of-

ficials have been pushed out of

their posts since last summer,

including the last Senate-con-

firmed intelligence chief, Dan

Coats, and his deputy, Sue

Gordon, as well as Mr. Ma-

guire and one of his deputies,

Andrew Hallman.

WASHINGTON—The acting
chief of the National Counter-
terrorism Center and his dep-
uty were fired, according to
people familiar with the mat-
ter, the latest in recent per-
sonnel changes that have
alarmed current and former
officials worried that Presi-
dent Trump is politicizing the
U.S. intelligence community.
Russell Travers, a veteran
counterterrorism official who
took charge of NCTC last sum-
mer, was dismissed Wednes-
day by Richard Grenell, the
acting director of national in-
telligence, the people said.
The White House nominated a
new head of NCTC on Wednes-
day, tapping Christopher
Miller, a Pentagon counterter-
rorism official.
Mr. Grenell, formerly the
ambassador to Germany, is
seen as a Trump loyalist who
has scant intelligence experi-
ence. He was named to his
post after his predecessor, Jo-
seph Maguire, a retired Navy
vice admiral, was berated by
the president over how a sub-
ordinate briefed lawmakers
about Russia’s potential goals
in interfering in the 2020
election.
Mr. Travers is a highly re-
garded veteran of counterter-
rorism work, who oversaw de-
velopment of the U.S. database
of known and suspected ter-
rorists, called TIDES.
The dismissal of Mr.
Travers was reported earlier
Thursday by the Washington
Post.
“If the reporting is true, it’s
unfortunate, even tragic. Russ
is one of the heroes of our
counterterrorism efforts since
9/11. He and the [intelligence]
community deserve better,”
said Nicholas Rasmussen, a
former NCTC director who is
now at Arizona State Univer-
sity’s McCain Institute.
The dismissal of Mr.
Travers and his deputy, Pete
Hall, who was previously a top
counterterrorism official at
the National Security Agency,
comes amid broader upheaval
at the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence, of which

BYDUSTINVOLZ
ANDWARRENP.STROBEL

Counterterror

Agency Chief

Is Terminated

recent days. But she is disap-

pointed about spring tuition.

“It doesn’t seem fair to me

to pay for an education that I’m

not receiving,” said Ms. de la

Paz, 22 years old.

Much of her learning came

from such interactions as fac-

ulty office hours and study

groups, not the lectures them-

selves. It is hard to re-create

that remotely, she said.

Some schools, including Har-

vard University, Ohio State Uni-

versity and the University of

California, San Diego, have told

students and their families that

they will get back some portion

of room and board fees for the

weeks not spent on campus.

Others are asking parents to

sit tight while they deliberate.

They may mail out checks, or

credit accounts for the coming

term—an inadequate response,

say parents who also now have

the expense of having their

children at home.

At public, four-year colleges,

average net tuition and fees

were $3,870 for the current

year, according to the College

Board, and net room and board

totaled $11,510. For private,

nonprofit schools, those figures

were $14,380 and $12,990, re-

spectively. Many colleges col-

lect a large share of their reve-

nue from room and board, and

other fees besides tuition.

“Many families are losing in-

come now, and may need the

money. But colleges need the

money, too,” said Robert

Kelchen, an associate professor

of higher education at Seton

Hall University. “They don’t

have the kind of operating mar-

gin that lets them refund a cou-

ple of million dollars in the

short term.”

Smith College in Northamp-

ton, Mass., charges about

$17,000 a year in room and

board, though not all 2,400 stu-

dents who live on campus pay

the full rate. Students have

been asked to leave campus by

Friday, and the school expects

to reimburse families about

25% of the annual rate, or

$4,000, said Audrey Smith, vice

president of enrollment. “This

is definitely a financial blow,”

she said.

About half of students have

left Albion College in Michigan,

where the campus remains

open but classes are online

only. President Mauri Ditzler

said he hasn’t yet decided how

to handle rebates.

One challenge for schools is

they have no way to make up

the lost revenue now, partway

through spring term. They can’t

re-rent rooms that sit empty, or

stuffed with abandoned belong-

ings as students scrambled to

depart on short notice.

Paying for food is also more

complicated than simply

charging by the day. “The last

meal the student eats is not as

expensive as the first meal,”

Mr. Ditzler said. “The actual

meal itself isn’t as expensive

as the fact that one has to hire

cooks and set up a good deliv-

ery system.”

As colleges and universities

nationwide shut down dorms

and dining halls, cancel athletic

events and commencements

and shift to remote instruction

amid the growing threat of the

novel coronavirus, many fami-

lies have a pressing question:

Will there be a refund?

To the frustration of families

who have invested tens of thou-

sands of dollars and whose own

finances may feel suddenly pre-

carious, the answer depends on

the school.

Stanford University, which

has moved all classes online,

will eliminate housing and din-

ing charges for the spring quar-

ter, which starts March 30, for

students who have left campus.

But it isn’t prorating the last

few weeks of winter quarter,

which were also affected.

The university states on a

frequently asked questions sec-

tion of its website: “No, we are

not going to reduce tuition.”

Jessica de la Paz, a senior

who moved back home to

nearby San Jose to finish out

her college career online, said

she isn’t too worried about the

winter-term charges, given how

frenzied everything has been in

BYMELISSAKORN

ANDDOUGLASBELKIN

Students Want Some Money Back

As Colleges Shut Down Campuses

Howard University students, like many others across the country, have been moving out as colleges close dorms and dining halls.

PATRICK SEMANSKY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Shareofnetcostthatcomes

fromroomandboard

Source: College Board, Trends in College Pricing

Note: For full-time students; 2019-20 figures

are preliminary

90

30

40

50

60

70

80

%

2005 ’10 ’

Privatenonprofit

four-yearschools

In-statestudentsat

publicfour-yearschools

open this school year.

“It’s an equity issue. If you

can’t guarantee all your stu-

dents have online access, noth-

ing’s graded,” said Tim Robin-

son, a spokesman in Seattle

Public Schools in Washington,

which closed schools and plans

to broadcast not-for-grade ed-

ucational activities online and

by TV. “Our goal is to keep the

students from going into a

summer slide.”

The U.S. Department of Ed-

ucation recently sent out infor-

mation to remind educators

that schools moving to online

learning must comply with

civil-rights laws, including

making sure such tools are

available to students with dis-

abilities.

Some teacher unions have

decried school districts rolling

out online plans not accessible

to all.

Schools are expected to ad-

vance students to the next

grade, come fall, even with all

the months of missed course-

work, though many administra-

tors say they haven’t addressed

it yet. Teachers already dread

what they call “the summer

slide,” or information children

lose over summer vacation,

and schools haven’t yet said

how curricula in the fall may

need to be adjusted to make up

missed work.

In Washington state, where

schools are closed statewide

until at least April 24, the Edu-

cation Department has warned

against using online learning

that isn’t equitable. At least one

district in Bothell, Wash., halted

the online model it had rolled

out to students to address eq-

uity issues.

Now, the Northshore School

District superintendent said, in

a letter to families this week,

the district has launched a re-

source page online for families

to keep students moving for-

ward. This week, students are

being encouraged to create

projects that could be useful in

relation to the current health

situation, such as building a

hand-sanitizer dispenser. A pe-

tition to restore online learning

had over 11,000 signatures on

Thursday.

Chicago Public Schools

posted on Twitter on Tuesday

that work online or sent home

during its shutdown won’t be

graded, sparking criticism

from some parents.

“Gee thanks, you have taken

away any incentive for my

children to do any school work

while they are home,” one re-

sponse said in part.

On Wednesday, citing up-

dated state guidance, Chicago

school officials changed course

and said that teachers can

grade work as long as it in-

creases academic standing and

doesn’t negatively affect a stu-

dent’s grades.

And students who opt not

to do the work can’t be penal-

ized. The Illinois State Board

of Education says the rule ad-

dresses students with support

and technology issues and chil-

dren with mental and physical

health challenges during the

statewide school shutdown,

which is now scheduled

through March 30.

For all the talk of online
learning during shutdowns be-
cause of the coronavirus pan-
demic, many U.S. public school
students will find that the
work they do while at home is
actually optional. It won’t be
graded and it won’t count.
Some public schools are
calling online work “enrich-
ment,” not part of the curricu-
lum, because they can’t guaran-
tee that all students will have
access to it. Students without
the internet or home comput-
ers can’t do it, and special-
needs students may require ac-
commodations to complete it.
As a result, millions of
schoolchildren risk missing
weeks of school. Most states
have closed schools, leaving
more than 43 million children,
in grades K-12, out of school,
and some schools won’t re-

BYTAWNELLD.HOBBS

Online Work Won’t Be Graded or Counted at Many Schools

Online school work is being called ‘enrichment’ because districts

can’t guarantee all students have internet access or computers.

EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES

Republican strategist not in-

volved in the campaign. “In the

beginning he downplayed it

too much and that hurt his

credibility, but there is a lot of

time to go now where he can

compensate.”

That is forefront in the

thinking of Mr. Trump’s cam-

paign advisers. The virus

might ease amid extraordinary

steps affecting all aspects of

everyday life, and the cam-

paign could resume its normal

rhythms before Election Day.

But the situation might also

get worse.

Mr. Trump’s campaign is

banking on the economy

bouncing back ahead of the

crucial several months before

November when voters are

paying the most attention, ad-

visers say. It has begun to for-

mulate an argument that Mr.

Trump’s policies since taking

office fueled the economy to

new heights, and that he is

best equipped to build it up a

second time if necessary.

“We will point out that it is

under the present policies that

it was so vibrant and those

policies are still in place,” cam-

paign spokesman Tim Mur-

taugh said. “The stock market

will rebound, and the economy

will still be in solid shape.”

This week the main super

PAC supporting Mr. Trump’s

re-election held discussions on

possible ads highlighting steps

the president has taken to

combat the virus, including

putting travel restrictions on

China, according to a person

familiar with the talks.

In recent days Mr. Trump

has referred to the “Chinese

virus,” a term that has been

criticized for its racist conno-

tations. His campaign on

Wednesday moved to portray

him as taking tough actions

against a world rival and

sought to draw a contrast with

Democratic presidential candi-

date Joe Biden, who is closing

in on the party’s presidential

nomination.

The former vice president’s

campaign observed that the

president has praised Chinese

President Xi Jinping for his

handling of the emergency. Of

a Trump-campaign email that

accused Mr. Biden of “incom-

petence and misinformation,”

Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo

said, “This is projection, pure

and simple—a classic Trump

campaign move.”

For now, campaign mechan-

ics—including the rallies that

energize Mr. Trump as much

as his supporters—are in the

background or on hold and the

burden largely rests on the

president using the White

House stage to make his case.

His discipline at news confer-

ences this week has pleased

advisers, though they privately

acknowledge anything can

change.

“I think the base will hold

with him no matter, but if he

does dumb stuff, he won’t be

able to build on his reach to

voters,” one adviser said.

Only a short time ago Mr.

Trump was feeling especially

confident. He emerged from

the investigation into Russian

interference in the 2016 elec-

tion and then withstood im-

peachment. His campaign was

running smoothly.

Now those gains are in jeop-

ardy. A Gallup poll released

Tuesday showed Mr. Trump’s

approval rating was down to

44%, slipping 5 percentage

points and back to pre-im-

peachment levels. Among inde-

pendent voters, his approval

was down 7 percentage points.

Campaign officials and ad-

visers said the tactics are

evolving. While the campaign

is unlikely to run any new ads

focused on the economy, some

believe those spots could be

airing again by the fall. Mr.

Trump and his team have ca-

reened from one political crisis

to the next since the 2016 elec-

tion, and there has been little

change in his approval rating

since he took office.

“Look, if in 45 days it looks

like everything is going back to

normal,” one adviser said,

“then everything is going to go

back to where it was.”

WASHINGTON—The corona-
virus crisis is rapidly changing
President Trump’s re-election
strategy, forcing him into the
position of leading the nation
through a sprawling, complex
emergency while undermining
his greatest asset: a strong
economy.
Mr. Trump this week has
taken steps to demonstrate
more command, appearing at
daily news conferences and
taking a solemn outlook, while
his campaign weighs how to
contend with battered finan-
cial markets and rising unem-
ployment.
“People are going to judge
him in this moment—and this
moment is going to last for a
while,” said Mike DuHaime, a

BYALEXLEARY
ANDMICHAELC.BENDER

Faltering Economy Prompts Trump Campaign to Change Its Strategy