The pandemic doesn’t distinguish between public school children and teachers versus nonpublic school children and teachers. Every child, every teacher, every family is affected the same.
Given these facts, why are teachers unions and public school groups not only demanding more than $200 billion in additional dollars for K-12 but demanding with equal vigor that no money should be allocated to help nonpublic school students, families, and teachers?
Every policymaker in Washington should be outraged by this.
On March 27, President Trump signed the CARES Act, which included $16 billion for K-12 education. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her team got the money out the door in record time, making funding available to the states within days of receiving their applications. Yet today, only 3% has been drawn down by state and local educational agencies, and virtually no money has been provided for nonpublic schools through equitable services as the law requires. State and local education agencies are sitting on these previously appropriated emergency funds, the teachers unions and public school groups are demanding another $200 billion, and many school districts will begin the school year offering only remote learning. In contrast, most nonpublic schools are trying to open schools physically, yet they’ve received no aid to prepare for reopening adequately.
Every policymaker in Washington should be outraged by this, too.
Nonpublic schools are an essential part of our K-12 system. They educate 10% of the K-12 population, which saves taxpayers $75 billion annually. They represent 25% of the nation’s K-12 schools and employ 500,000 teachers. Thousands are in imminent danger of closing because struggling lower-income and middle-class families cannot pay the tuition due to the economic effects of the pandemic. Contrary to what you hear from teachers unions, these are not elite private schools with children from wealthy families, they are primarily schools that charge modest tuition. If just 20% of nonpublic school children are forced back into the public system, the cost to states, school districts, and taxpayers will be at least $15 billion. There is a compelling financial reason for Congress to make a strategic investment to ensure this doesn’t happen.
The Senate HEALS Act would allocate $70 billion for K-12, reserving a portion of those funds for nonpublic schools that is based on nonpublic school enrollment in each state. This is just basic fairness.
The HEALS Act includes an authorization for Education Freedom Grants, where the nonpublic school set aside would be appropriately routed through nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations designated by governors and distributed directly to families. These grants, of course, must be funded.
The HEALS Act doesn’t include a federal tax credit, which would have generated $5 billion in new education funding through corporate and individual contributions to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations. This would have created educational opportunity for millions of public and nonpublic school students by allowing families to use scholarships for special-needs services, tutoring, purchase of education technology, nonpublic school tuition, or workforce training. At a time when many large public school districts are rejecting any in-person learning, these scholarship funds would have provided invaluable pandemic assistance, especially for the 30% of low-income families who lack a high-speed internet connection and for families with special-needs children who desperately need in-person instruction.
With a few small tweaks, the HEALS Act is the COVID-19 relief bill that delivers equity and fairness for families with K-12 children. By contrast, the House-passed HEROES Act would deliver a new $100 billion payment to the status quo. The HEROES Act expressly prohibits any funds from going to nonpublic schools and families — that’s 5.7 million children left in the cold. It would also further degrade equitable services to private schools.
There is no question that education will look different this fall. It is incumbent on federal and state policymakers to deliver maximum flexibility and choice for families and students to ensure that every child can access a full-time, quality education. Policymakers should not discriminate against lower-income families or special needs families or any other family by denying them the critical flexibility and choice they need right now.
While Congress must act, we also call upon governors to insist that state and local educational agencies release equitable services funds from the CARES Act to nonpublic schools immediately. In addition, more governors should use their discretionary education funds from the CARES Act to expand educational choice for families in their states. Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, and Chris Sununu have done just that.
It is time for policymakers to act on behalf of all school-age children, no matter where they go to school.
John Schilling is president of the American Federation for Children.
