The House Republican Caucus is proposing a group of bills as an Education Package this Session. The following are the bills being proposed and the Delegates proposing them:
REAL MONEY FOR REAL EDUCATION ACT – Proposed by Delegate Arikan
Any family that lives in a school district that fails to FULLY REOPEN by the fall 2021 semester, those families would be eligible for an amount of money equal to the portion of the per pupil spending that comes from the state. Families will then be able to take those funds and use them at any private or parochial school in the state.
LEARNING AT HOME RELIEF ACT – Delegate Thiam
The Learning at Home Relief Act will provide a $250 per child tax credit to help offset some of the costs of educating Maryland’s children at home.
EDUCATION EQUALITY FOR ALL ACT – Delegate Griffith
If schools are closed and unable to perform the necessary evaluations special needs children are entitled to, the school system must provide parents with information to have these evaluations done independently.
VULNERABLE STUDENT PROTECTION ACT – Delegate Griffith
Requires schools to provide critical services in-person to at-risk student for 2021-2022 school year. Even if schools are closed, this bill would require specific services such as special education, speech and language services, counseling and behavioral health, physical and occupational therapy, and nutritional services be offered on an in-person basis to at-risk students. Students entitled to these in-person services would include students with disabilities and other at-risk populations including economically disadvantaged, homeless, and those in foster care.