Giving Private Schools Federal Emergency Funds Slated for Low-income Students Will Shortchange At-risk Kids - Education Law Prof Blog

Education Law Prof Blog

Giving Private Schools Federal Emergency Funds Slated for Low-income Students Will Shortchange At-risk Kids

Derek W. Black, University of South Carolina

Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets.

Congress tried to help in the US$2 trillion economic relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, by designating $13.5 billion for public schools. The money was supposed to be distributed to school districts based on the number of low-income students they enroll. A new directive from the U.S. Department of Education, however, tells districts to share far more of the money than expected with private and religious school students, even though fewer than 5% of those children are poor.

I’m a scholar of federal education policy and history who has testified before a congressional commission and federal courts in disputes over federal funds. In my view, this new policy runs counter to what Congress has tried to achieve in public education for the past 50 years and it directly contradicts the CARES Act.

A new formula

The funding is supposed to stabilize public school budgets as local and state revenues, the primary sources of U.S. public school funding, decline and the costs of responding to the pandemic increase.

Schools from coast to coast are buying computers and scrambling to get low-income students the bandwidth they need for distance learning.

The relief package specified that the money would go to school districts based on the number of low-income students they serve. Those are children who are eligible for free and reduced-priced meals. Students whose families are below 185% of the official poverty line – which as of 2020 stands at $26,200 per year for a family of four – fall into this category.

School districts are also to reserve a portion of those funds to ensure equitable services for any low-income CONTINUE READING: Education Law Prof Blog