The Kids in Classes Act would require school districts to establish plans that directly pay parents when schools close for more than three days due to public health emergencies or labor disputes and fail to provide in-person instruction. Parents would receive daily payments equal to their child's share of federal Title I education funds, calculated by dividing a school's total Title I funding by the number of students and school days. These direct payments must be used for qualified educational expenses, including tutoring, private school tuition, instructional materials, and educational therapies for students with disabilities, with parents required to submit receipts or return unused funds within 30 days of schools reopening. The bill is motivated by research showing that school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately harmed low-income and minority students, with projections that a single year of closure could reduce future earnings for disadvantaged ninth graders by 25 percent. Districts must adopt these failure-to-open payment plans by the first school year after enactment to remain eligible for federal Title I funding.
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