U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., announced this week she will take up U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s, R-Fla., “Keep Kids in School Act” in the U.S. House.
The bill “would prohibit around $164 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief funding from going to elementary and secondary schools that do not offer in-person instruction on a full-time basis for all enrolled students” and “would include an exception for schools that cannot provide in-person instruction due to personnel following the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) quarantine and isolation guidelines.”
Rubio brought out the bill last week and offered his reasons for introducing it.
“Students have already lost a year or more of in-person instruction, and the impacts on their well-being have been catastrophic,” Rubio said. “Taxpayer dollars should not go to schools that cave to the ridiculous calls from teachers’ unions and their progressive allies to stay home. My bill is commonsense – if a school keeps students out of the classroom, it won’t receive any unspent federal relief funding.
“Nearly everyone in America agrees that our kids need to be in school,” Rubio continued. “And if my bill comes up for a vote, I expect a majority of my colleagues will agree as well.”
Cammack announced this week that she will champion the bill in the House.
“Our students deserve and need to be in school. After more than a year of on-and-off virtual and in-person education, it is no longer acceptable to keep students out of the classroom, forcing them to miss out on important milestones for their academic and social development,” said Cammack. “In Florida, we’ve been fortunate to have Governor DeSantis leading the way and pushing for in-person instruction, and I’m pleased to join Senator Rubio in this important effort to get our kids back in the classroom.”
Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Neal Dunn, Brian Mast, John Rutherford and Mike Waltz are co-sponsoring Cammack’s bill in the House.
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