DEMOCRATS: COVID projected to last through 2028
Did you know the COVID crisis is projected to last through 2028?
At least that’s what House Democrats and the Biden Administration are saying.
Schools need money now, but of the $129 billion allocated in this COVID package only $6 billion goes to schools in 2021.
The other $123 billion is spread out until 2028.
Democrats’ corrupt COVID package confirms the money is for teachers union interests, not kids.
In Case You Missed It…
Covid ‘Relief’ Through 2028
Editorial Board
The Wall Street Journal
February 23, 2021
https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-relief-through-2028-11614098697
Perhaps you’ve heard that the $1.9 trillion House spending bill is meant to provide “urgent” and “emergency” relief. But did you know that the Covid emergency in America’s schools will apparently last through 2028?
The House proposal showers K-12 schools with nearly $129 billion. That’s on top of the $13.2 billion allocated in last spring’s Cares Act and the $54.3 billion in December’s bipartisan splurge. According to the Congressional Budget Office, schools have spent only a fraction of that previous $67.5 billion. It’s hard to spend money when schools aren’t open for classroom instruction since unions have resisted returning to work in much of the country.
Because of this leftover cash, CBO estimates that a mere $6.4 billion of the new aid package will be spent for K-12 schools in the 2021 fiscal year. That’s right—only $6 billion of $129 billion will be spent during the pandemic emergency.
CBO estimates that $32.1 billion will be spent in fiscal 2022 on K-12 schools, $32.1 billion in 2023, $25.7 billion in 2024, $19.3 billion in 2025, $9 billion in 2026, $2.6 billion in 2027, and $1.3 billion in 2028.
In other words, this isn’t about Covid relief. School districts can spend the funds on a wide range of options—from sanitizing classrooms to “continuing to employ existing staff of the local educational agency”—and the money is fungible. This means that, after the pandemic eases perhaps as soon as this year, school districts are likely to use the money to pad their bureaucracies and teacher payrolls. One of the bill’s few limitations is that local educational agencies must spend 20% of their funds to address “learning loss” with interventions such as summer school or extended-day programs. This would require more money for teacher pay or additional hiring for union dues-paying positions.
You can bet many districts will also use the money for pensions and higher salaries. The bill is essentially a nearly decade-long subsidy for the unions that supported Joe Biden.
House Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee rejected amendments stipulating that schools return to the classroom to receive money. They also nixed an amendment from Illinois Rep. Mary Miller that would have directed money to education savings accounts in districts where public schools stayed closed. Unlike the December bill, this one sets aside almost no money for private schools—though most of them have returned in part or whole to classroom teaching.
The December bill and Cares Act gave governors discretion over a few billion dollars of education funds, which they could apply to private schools or vouchers. But the new bill directs money to school districts, which must give funds to private schools only to provide “equitable services” such as tutoring and special education programs. Only private schools with a certain number of low-income students are eligible.
These facts underscore the political nature of the House spending bill. Democrats are using the banner of “Covid relief” not to increase student learning but to reward a Democratic constituency at taxpayer expense.