A debate regarding the funds for the impacted families took place in Harrisburg on Monday. The pandemic has affected millions of people with many losing their jobs. However, those who still have a job are getting lower salaries compared to the pre-pandemic phase. The condition is so bad that a lot of families can’t even afford the basic necessities like the educational expenses of their kids.
So to help these families, the lawmakers had a debate in which they talked about granting Federal CARES Act money to them.
The author of the famous book ‘The Whistling Irishman’, Colleen Hroncich, said that the parents don’t have to pay for the fee-only but some students even need counseling as the lockdown has mentally affected a lot of children as they are not used to this type of environment.
The students also need additional funds for distance learning, like computers and the internet, as they can’t go to school.
According to the available statistics, in addition to the fees, low-income families would have to spend approximately $790 on distance learning expenses. But as their earnings have decreased so much, it has become even harder for them to afford these expenses.
The scholarships will be granted to the parents who have a child studying in K-12 amounting to $1000, but the parents that have the lowest income would be given priority, said Judy Ward, the State Senator of Pennsylvania.
The lawmakers have come up with a bill by the name of ‘Back on Track’ which would help such families in these difficult times.
Natalie Wallace, a mother of 4 children said that such resources for online learning should not be a luxury but a necessity, so the government should step up and play its part by helping those who can’t afford these expenses.
Some lawmakers expressed their opinion that the extra federal money should be given to the public school districts who are incurring more costs as this is the only way to help all the families instead of just the lower-income ones.
An amount of $1000 would be given to the parents and that would be a one-time payment for approved educational expenses.
Rich Askey, the PSEA President says that the general assembly should invest more in PA K-12 students.
