Loeffler joins push to underwrite private school tuition as part of COVID-19 relief

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lamar Alexander is pushing Congress to underwrite private school tuition as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic — one of his final acts as the Tennessee Republican heads for retirement from Congress.

The bill has seven Senate co-sponsors, all Republicans, including Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Marco Rubio of Florida. Similar legislation in the House has 110 Republican co-sponsors.

Alexander, the powerful chairman of the Senate panel that oversees education policy, is a leader in a growing drive by the GOP to direct some federal relief toward private schools in the next pandemic package. But Republicans are being met with intense opposition from teachers unions, state school superintendents and civil rights groups who say it would deprive public schools of aid they need to keep kids and educators safe.

Alexander, who’s also a former governor, U.S. secretary of education and president of the University of Tennessee, co-sponsored the “School Choice Now Act” this summer with South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott. Alexander wants the school choice proposal wrapped into the next coronavirus relief bill, according to an aide. Talks on that pandemic bill remain stalled but could resume once Congress returns from recess this month, and Senate Republicans are expected to vote on a slimmed-down alternative as soon as next week.

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/brief/loeffler-joins-push-to-underwrite-private-school-tuition-as-part-of-covid-19-relief/