# The RECOVER Act: Using Leftover Pandemic Education Money for Student Scholarships

The RECOVER Act would let schools use money that wasn't spent from the American Rescue Plan—the big federal relief package passed during the COVID-19 pandemic—to give scholarships directly to families. Specifically, it would allow leftover education funds to be converted into "Child Opportunity Scholarships," which are essentially vouchers that parents and guardians could use to pay for various educational services and materials for their kids.

The scholarships would go to families earning up to three times the federal poverty level (roughly $75,000 for a family of four). Parents could use this money for a wide range of educational expenses: tutoring and classes outside school, private school tuition, books and learning materials, computers and tech equipment, online courses, testing fees, and special educational therapies for students with disabilities. The idea is to help kids who fell behind during the pandemic by giving families flexibility to choose how to address their child's specific learning needs.

Right now, schools have a deadline to spend pandemic relief money, and anything left over has to go back to the federal government. This bill would change that by creating a new option: schools could keep those unspent funds and distribute them as scholarships instead. This means families in lower-income brackets would have more choices about how to help their children catch up academically, whether through private tutoring, specialized programs, or other educational services they might not otherwise afford.

RECOVER Act

Owens, Burgess

Raising Expectations with Child Opportunity Vouchers for Educational Recovery Act or the RECOVER Act This bill directs local educational agencies to use certain federal COVID-19 relief funds to address student learning loss by distributing direct financial assistance (i.e., Child Opportunity Scholarships) to the parent or guardian of an eligible student for certain qualified educational expenses (e.g., educational materials, tutoring, or private school tuition). Eligible student refers to a child who is a member of a household with an income that is not more than 300% of the federal poverty level.