# Plain Language Summary: Open Schools Act

This bill would create a $10,000 grant program for parents whose children attend public schools that aren't offering full, in-person classes due to COVID-19. If your child's school is doing remote learning or hybrid schedules for any pandemic-related reason during the 2021-2022 school year, you could apply for money to use toward alternative education options. The grants would come from federal COVID relief funds that were previously sent to schools, which states would be required to return to the federal government specifically for this program.

Parents who receive these grants could use the money in several ways: paying tuition at a private school, covering the cost of attending a different public school that offers in-person learning, paying for private tutoring or learning pods, covering homeschooling expenses, buying educational materials and textbooks, purchasing computers or tablets, or other education-related purposes the Secretary of Education approves. Each eligible student could receive up to $10,000, but only once. The bill also protects private and religious schools from having to change their policies or curriculum to participate in the program.

The practical effect would be redirecting pandemic relief money away from schools that have remote or hybrid learning and instead giving it directly to parents to seek alternatives. This could help families afford private school tuition or tutoring they otherwise couldn't access, but it would also reduce funding available to the public schools themselves. The bill specifically targets schools that received federal COVID relief funds, so not all schools would be affected. Parents would need to apply and demonstrate their school isn't providing full in-person instruction to qualify for the grants.

Open Schools Act

Davis, Rodney

Open Schools Act This bill directs the Department of Education to make grants to parents of eligible students for certain education-related expenses. Eligible student refers to a student who is enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year in an elementary or secondary school that (1) is located in a local educational agency that received certain COVID-19 relief funds; and (2) does not provide, for any reason related to COVID-19, in-person learning for each enrolled student for each school day during the school year. Grant funds may be used to pay the tuition and fees for a private elementary or secondary school, pay the cost of attending a public school that provides in-person learning, or for other expenses and educational materials.