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Congress·In Committee·S. 4047

Sen. Scott Introduces Kids in Classes Act to Give Parents Federal School Funds During Closures or Strikes

Kids in Classes Act

10 days ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • The bill would require school districts to pay federal education money directly to parents if a public school closes for more than 3 days due to a public health emergency or a labor strike (like a teachers' strike).
  • The payments come from Title I federal funds — money specifically set aside for schools serving low-income students. The daily payment per student is calculated by dividing the school's total Title I funding by the number of students and the number of school days.
  • Parents could spend the money on a wide range of educational expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, technology, online materials, testing fees, and therapies for students with disabilities.

    From policy text

    “The term `qualified educational expenses' means curriculum and curricular materials, books or instructional materials, technological educational materials, online educational materials, tutoring or educational classes outside the home, private school tuition, testing fees, diagnostic tools, and educational therapies for students with disabilities.”
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  • Parents must submit receipts showing they used the money on approved educational expenses, or return any unspent funds within 30 days after the school reopens for in-person classes.
  • The bill's findings emphasize that school closures disproportionately harm students in low-income communities. Research cited in the bill predicts that one year of closures could cut future earnings by 25% for ninth graders in the poorest neighborhoods, while wealthier students face no substantial losses.

    From policy text

    “Researchers predict that 1 year of school closures will cost ninth graders in the poorest communities a 25-percent decrease in their post-educational earning potential, even if that year of closure is followed by 3 years of normal schooling. By contrast, the same researchers predict no substantial losses for students from the richest 20 percent of neighborhoods.”
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Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Mar 11, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mar 11, 2026

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

Beginning of first school year after enactment

School districts must establish direct payment plans

Every school district receiving Title I funds would need to create a plan explaining how they would pay parents directly if a school closes for more than 3 days due to a health emergency or strike. This must be ready before the first school year after the bill becomes law.

Whenever qualifying closures occur after plans are in place

Direct payments triggered during qualifying school closures

If a Title I school closes for more than 3 days due to a public health emergency or teacher strike, parents would start receiving daily payments from federal education funds to spend on alternative educational options for their children.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Kids in Classes Act

Bill NumberS 4047
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.