[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4047 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4047
To establish an alternative use of certain Federal education funds when
in-person instruction is not available.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 11, 2026
Mr. Scott of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an alternative use of certain Federal education funds when
in-person instruction is not available.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Kids in Classes Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Research indicates that children living in the poorest
20 percent of neighborhoods in the United States will
experience the most negative and long-lasting effects of school
closures.
(2) Researchers predict that 1 year of school closures will
cost ninth graders in the poorest communities a 25-percent
decrease in their post-educational earning potential, even if
that year of closure is followed by 3 years of normal
schooling. By contrast, the same researchers predict no
substantial losses for students from the richest 20 percent of
neighborhoods.
(3) Long periods of school closures during the COVID-19
pandemic deprive low-income students and students of color the
equalizing force of education.
(4) School closures will widen educational inequality and
the learning gaps created by these closures will persist as
students progress through high school, putting their future
prospects at risk.
(5) Data shows that closed classrooms were
disproportionately composed of disadvantaged students, as well
as students with low mathematics scores, students with limited
English proficiency, or students who qualify for a free or
reduced priced lunch.
(6) School shutdowns contribute to disproportionate
learning loss for disadvantaged students, compounding existing
gaps.
SEC. 3. USE OF TITLE I FUNDS IF IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION IS NOT AVAILABLE.
Section 1112 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 6312) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) comply with the in-person instruction requirements
described in subsection (f).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) In-Person Instruction Requirements.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Covered funding amount.--The term `covered
funding amount' means the quotient of--
``(i) an amount equal to--
``(I) the funds provided under this
part to a particular elementary school
or secondary school; divided by
``(II) the number of students who
attend that school; divided by
``(ii) the number of school days for which
such funds have been provided.
``(B) Covered school.--The term `covered school'
means a public elementary school or secondary school
that receives funds provided under this part.
``(C) Qualified educational expenses.--The term
`qualified educational expenses' means curriculum and
curricular materials, books or instructional materials,
technological educational materials, online educational
materials, tutoring or educational classes outside the
home, private school tuition, testing fees, diagnostic
tools, and educational therapies for students with
disabilities.
``(2) Distribution of covered funding.--Not later than the
beginning of the first school year that begins after the date
of enactment of the Kids in Classes Act, and notwithstanding
any other provision of law, in order to be eligible to receive
funds under this part, each local educational agency shall--
``(A) establish a failure to open direct payment
plan in accordance with paragraph (3); and
``(B) agree to carry out such plan in the event
that a covered school served by the local educational
agency fails for more than 3 days during a school year,
for reasons related to public health emergency or
collective bargaining action, to make available in-
person instruction for all students who wish to attend.
``(3) Failure to open direct payment plan.--
``(A) In general.--Each local educational agency
shall establish a failure to open direct payment plan
that establishes and explains how a parent of each
child who attends a covered school served by the local
educational agency will be directly paid, for use on
qualified educational expenses, the amount described in
subparagraph (B), if that covered school fails for more
than 3 days during a school year, for reasons related
to public health emergency or collective bargaining
action, to make available in-person instruction for all
students who wish to attend.
``(B) Amount of payment.--The amount of payment
shall be an amount equal to--
``(i) the covered funding amount;
multiplied by
``(ii) the number of days in which such
school fails, for reasons related to public
health emergency or collective bargaining
action, to make available in-person instruction
for all students who wish to attend.
``(C) Timing of payment.--To the greatest extent
practicable, direct payments made to parents under this
subsection shall be made to parents on each day that a
covered school fails to open as described in
subparagraph (A).
``(D) Receipts.--As part of the failure to open
direct payment plan, each local educational agency
shall require that parents receiving direct payments
under this subsection--
``(i) submit receipts to the local
educational agency to demonstrate that such
direct payments have been spent on qualified
educational expenses; or
``(ii) return any amounts of such direct
payments that are not used for qualified
educational expenses to the local educational
agency not later than 30 days after the covered
school has resumed in-person instruction.''.
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