California lawmaker proposes program to cover parents’ out-of-pocket remote learning costs

A California state assemblyman is proposing a privately funded grant program to help parents who have been forced to pay out-of-pocket expenses to keep up with their children’s remote learning.

Kevin Kiley, a Republican member of the California State Assembly, is spearheading the initiative to create the “Cal Grant K-12,” Fox News reported on Monday.

The bill “incentivizes individuals and businesses to make donations that will provide eligible students scholarship funds they can use for approved expenses to help reduce pandemic-induced learning loss,” Fox News reported, citing Kiley’s office.

“Over the past year, school closures have had a devastating impact on the mental health and academic progress of California students,” Kiley told Fox News. “A central part of our state’s strategy for overcoming learning loss should be to give parents greater control over their child’s education.”

The donations, which would receive a tax credit from the state, could go toward educational resources including computers, tutors, and instructional materials, Kiley’s office told the network.

“Cal Grant K-12 empowers parents to spend education dollars on the services their kids need,” Kiley added, according to Fox News.

According to the assemblyman’s office as cited by the network, distribution priority will go to low-income students “most disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shift to distance learning.”

The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee, according to Fox News, and if approved, the program would go into effect at the beginning of 2022.