In the week since Congress passed the CARES Act,  informational materials and resources have been made available to help schools, families, and small business navigate the complicated process. We have compiled some resources in case they can be helpful to your families, staff, or schools during this challenging time.

Support for Schools

Equitable services for private schools

Related Articles:

• The Constitutionality of K-12 Private School Choice
• COVID-19 and Educational Choice in ACE States
• COVID-19 Stimulus Package and What It Means For K-12 Private Schools

Earlier today, the United States House of Representatives used a voice vote to pass an enormous $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package—the largest such bill in United States history. The bill will now head to President Trump for signature, which is expected to happen quickly.

We know that many of you have questions about what the stimulus might mean for your schools. With that in mind, the ACE Policy team has conducted an initial analysis of those portions of the bill that affect K-12 private schools.

The bill is 880 pages long, but private schools will want to pay particular attention to Sections 18002, 18003, and 18005, which begin on page 754. These sections deal with how emergency education funds (totaling $30.75 billion) will be allocated across states and local educational agencies.

Below is an initial overview of all three main sections and how they connect to private schools.

Overview of CARES Act Provisions Related K-12 Private Education

Section 18002 (p. 754, line 12) – Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (about 10 percent of the total funding available)

This section allows states to submit applications for grant money from the federal government. That grant money will be allocated based on states’ relative population of students between the ages of 5 and 24, as well as the relative number of school-age children counted for federal funding purposes under the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA).

States can use the funds awarded under this section for the following purposes:

• Providing emergency grants to local educational agencies (school districts) that the state education agency (state department of ed) deems to have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus
• Providing emergency grants to institutions of higher education serving students that the governor deems to have been most significantly affected by coronavirus
• Provide support to “any other institution of higher education, local educational agency, or education-related entity within the state that the governor deems essential for carrying out emergency services to students for [higher education], the provision of child care and early childhood education, social and emotional support, and the protection of education-related jobs.”

Section 18003 (p. 756, line 12) – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (about 40 percent of the total funding available)

This section allows states to apply for emergency relief grants from the federal government. Funds will be allocated by the proportion of Title I, Part A funding received by states under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

States can use these funds to provide subgrants to local educational agencies (school districts) for the following purposes:

• Any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NOTE: this would include services for low-income and at-risk students), the Individuals with Disabilities Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and a variety of other existing federal laws.
• Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies to fight coronavirus
• “Providing principals and other school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their individual schools” (i.e., unrestricted block grants)
• Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, homeless and foster students, etc.
• Training and professional development for staff of the local educational agency on sanitation and infectious disease suppression
• Purchasing sanitizing and/or cleaning supplies
• Planning for and coordinating long-term closures, provision of meals to eligible students, provision of technology for online learning to all students, provision of services to students with disabilities, etc.
• Purchasing educational technology for students that aids in “regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors”
• Providing mental health services and support
• Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental after-school programs, including summer learning for low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, homeless students, and foster students.
• “Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation and continuity of services in local educational agencies”

Section 18005 (P. 764, line 11) – Assistance to Non-Public Schools

This is the big one—the section that allows K-12 private schools to access the assistance under the CARES Act.

Section 18005 allows K-12 private schools to access, through their local school districts, “equitable services” under Sections 18002 and 18003 above. Note that, as with current equitable services under federal law, schools CANNOT receive actual funding under those sections. They CAN, however, receive fully or partially subsidized services covered under the CARES Act. 

(UPDATE: Upon further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, it seems that governors may indeed be able to send funds directly to private schools or families under the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund should they so choose.)

To better understand how the equitable services process works, please see this white paper. Note that the paper focuses primarily on Colorado. While federal requirements for equitable services cover all states, exact processes may vary in your state and/or locality. For specific questions, the best person to contact in is your state department of education’s Equitable Services Ombudsman. You can find an official directory of all state ombudsmen here. 

What comes next?

The passage of the CARES Act is a massive step, but the conversation is not over. Both the United States Department of Education and state departments of education will need to have significant discussions about how funding is allocated under these grant programs. And private schools will still need to interface with their local school districts to access equitable services under the act.

Further, which allocation formulae states adopt with regard to equitable services for private schools could have large impacts on how many resources are ultimately made available on the ground. ACE will be watching these conversations closely and will follow up with you as needed.

 

 

It’s getting wild out there! We at ACE would like to encourage all our families, students, and partner schools to take care of themselves during this difficult time.

In the meantime, we know many of you have been anxiously watching (and participating in) legislative discussions related to educational choice in your states. We want to provide a quick update on where each of those conversations stand right now—and what we can expect to come next.

Arkansas 

Arkansas does not have a regular legislative session in 2020. Instead, the state is scheduled to hold a fiscal session for several weeks beginning on April 8. That fiscal session will not include discussion of any form of new state K-12 scholarship program at this time.

It remains to be seen whether or how the coronavirus will impact this session, but ACE does not anticipate any direct impact on our Arkansas scholarship programs at this time.

Colorado

The Colorado General Assembly will temporarily adjourn until at least March 30. Given the expanding pandemic, we believe the adjournment could last even longer.

The shutdown leaves in limbo three separate bills related to the use of 529 educational savings accounts for K-12 tuition. Here’s a quick rundown of those bills:

• HB 1034 – Colin Larson is once again running a bill that would allow families to access their educational savings for K-12 tuition without fear of state tax penalties. Unfortunately, the bill likely does not have the political support it needs to survive the Colorado House of Representatives.
• SB 073 – This bill is a new version of the same bill ACE has opposed and defeated for the past two legislative sessions. It would explicitly forbid parents from using 529 accounts for K-12 tuition despite federal law to the contrary and codify penalties against parents who do so.
• Potential compromise – ACE has been working with a variety of stakeholders to craft a bipartisan compromise that would allow families to access their savings for K-12 tuition under certain circumstances. Unfortunately, leadership in the House has yet to greenlight the compromise despite support from both sides of the aisle.

How the current shutdown will affect these bills remains to be seen. But at the very least, we can expect a vastly accelerated timeline for hearings, debate, and votes when the legislature reconvenes to finish its business. We know this issue is important to many of you, so please stay tuned!

Kansas

The Kansas legislature is still considering two changes to student eligibility under the state’s scholarship tax credit program for low-income students:

1. Expand student income eligibility to better reflect student need in Kansas. The bill would raise income eligibility requirements from the current free lunch line under the National School Lunch Program (130 percent of federal poverty guidelines) to the free and reduced-price lunch line (185 percent of federal poverty guidelines). For an average Kansas family of three, this change would raise the income-eligibility threshold from $28,200 to $40,200

1. Allow participating students to come from ANY Kansas public school, not only those enrolled in the lowest-performing 100 elementary schools. Currently, access to scholarships is only available to students who happen to reside in the right enrollment zone. This means that in some cases, students from the same neighborhood have their eligibility determined by which side of the street they live on. If the intent of this program is to serve disadvantaged and at-risk students, those opportunities should be determined solely by need, not by arbitrary enrollment zones or invisible geographic boundaries.

These changes are currently included in several bills, including SB 382, all of which have cleared committee and are awaiting a vote by the full Kansas House of Representatives. We had planned for that vote to happen this week, but the state legislature has decided instead to finish budget work and adjourn until April 27.

We do believe the legislature will address pending business when it returns in April, and that business should include these important changes to the Kansas program.

Louisiana

The Louisiana State Legislature also decided to shut down until March 31. While ACE is not currently supporting any legislation in the state, we do closely monitor potential changes to the Tuition Donation Credit program.

We do not anticipate that this shutdown will impact the ACE program directly because the 2020 legislative session is a “non-fiscal session.” In practice, this means that the legislature is constitutionally prevented from making changes to state law that would impact the state’s fiscal situation—including changes to tax credits and other programs.

Missouri

Missouri is considering several choice-related bills, but ACE has not been directly involved in those conversations. The Missouri legislature takes a regularly scheduled spring break from March 23 to March 27, but the Senate has adjourned early in light of the pandemic.

Wyoming

Has already adjourned its state legislative session on March 12.

Texas and Montana

Texas and Montana, two other ACE states, do not have legislative sessions in 2020.

 

Related Articles:

• The Constitutionality of K-12 Private School Choice
• The Battle After Blaine
• Colorado Lawmakers Move to Formalize Penalties for K-12 529 Withdrawals