What This Bill Does
This bill creates a new rule about how federal education money can be used when schools cannot teach students in person. The bill says states must let parents and guardians use certain federal education funds in different ways if their child's school is closed. The money would follow the student instead of staying with the closed school.
Who It Affects
- Parents and guardians of eligible children
- States that receive federal education funding
- Public elementary and secondary schools
- Children attending schools that receive federal Title I funds (money for schools serving low-income students)
Key Provisions
- States cannot receive federal Title I education grant funds unless they allow parents and guardians to use those funds directly for qualified educational expenses when a school fails to provide in-person instruction (Sec. 3(a))
- Qualified educational expenses include curriculum materials, books, instructional materials, technology for learning, online educational materials, tutoring, private school tuition, testing fees, diagnostic tools and educational therapies for students with disabilities (Sec. 3(a))
- An eligible child is one who attends a public school receiving Title I funds that fails to provide in-person instruction for all students who want to attend due to collective bargaining action (a labor dispute) or public health emergency (Sec. 3(b))
What Changes
States must allocate federal Title I funds directly to parents and guardians for qualified educational expenses instead of keeping the money when schools cannot offer in-person instruction for all students who wish to attend.
Important Definitions
- "Eligible child" means a child attending a public elementary or secondary school that receives Title I federal funds and fails to offer in-person instruction for all students due to labor disputes or public health emergencies (Sec. 3(b))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 952
To establish an alternative use of certain Federal education funds when
in-person instruction is not available.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 23, 2023
Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
A BILL
To establish an alternative use of certain Federal education
funds when in-person instruction is not available.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kids in Classes Act’’.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
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Congress finds the following:
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(1) Research indicates that children living in
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the poorest 20 percent of neighborhoods in the
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United States will experience the most negative and
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long-lasting effects of school closures.
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•S 952 IS
(2) Researchers predict that 1 year of school
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closures will cost ninth graders in the poorest com-
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munities a 25 percent decrease in their post-edu-
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cational earning potential, even if that year of clo-
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sure is followed by 3 years of normal schooling. By
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contrast, the same researchers predict no substantial
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losses for students from the richest 20 percent of
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neighborhoods.
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(3) Long periods of school closures during the
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COVID–19 pandemic deprive low-income students
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and students of color the equalizing force of edu-
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cation.
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(4) School closures will widen educational in-
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equality and the learning gaps created by these clo-
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sures will persist as students progress through high
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school, putting their future prospects at risk.
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(5) Data shows that closed classrooms were dis-
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proportionately composed of disadvantaged students,
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as well as students with low mathematics scores,
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students with limited English proficiency, or stu-
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dents who qualify for a free or reduced priced lunch.
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(6) School shutdowns contribute to dispropor-
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tionate learning loss for disadvantaged students,
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compounding existing gaps.
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•S 952 IS
SEC. 3. USE OF TITLE I FUNDS IF IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION
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IS NOT AVAILABLE.
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(a) TITLE I FUNDS TO FOLLOW ELIGIBLE CHIL-
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DREN.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
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State educational agency shall not receive grant funds pro-
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vided under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
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cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), unless the
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State has provided for the allocation of those funds di-
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rectly to the parent or guardian of an eligible child for
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qualified educational expenses (including curriculum and
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curricular materials, books or instructional materials,
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technological educational materials, online educational
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materials, tutoring or educational classes outside the
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home, private school tuition, testing fees, diagnostic tools,
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and educational therapies for students with disabilities)
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for the purposes of ensuring that funding under such title
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follows eligible children.
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(b) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—In this section the term ‘‘eli-
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gible child’’ means a child who attends a public elementary
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school or secondary school that—
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(1) receives funds provided under title I of the
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Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
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(20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and
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(2) fails, for reasons related to a collective bar-
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gaining action or public health emergency, to make
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•S 952 IS
available in-person instruction for all students who
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wish to attend.
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Æ
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