COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE
WORKFORCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 19, 2005
Support Hurricane
Education Relief that is Simple for Parents & Simple for Schools
COSPONSOR THE FAMILY EDUCATION
REIMBURSEMENT ACT
Dear
Colleague:
In the wake
of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, our educational system is experiencing
challenges like never before. Public, private, and charter schools have
all generously opened their doors to welcome students displaced by the
storms, helping to provide children some sense of stability and normalcy
as the region rebuilds.
This week, we plan
to introduce a proposal to provide relief for the schools that have
enrolled displaced students by establishing Family Education
Reimbursement Accounts.
These accounts would bypass bureaucracy and directly reimburse schools
that have taken in students after the storms.
Family
Education Reimbursement Accounts would offer three key advantages for
individuals, schools, and communities impacted by the Gulf Coast
hurricanes: simplicity, flexibility, and portability.
-
Simplicity for
parents and schools.
The accounts would be simple for families to create and simple for
schools to receive reimbursement. Parents would register through
the Internet or a toll-free number to create an account for the family
for use by each child from pre-K to 12th grade. The accounts
would provide up to $6,700 per child, the average per pupil
expenditure in the states enrolling significant numbers of displaced
students. Parents would then provide their account number to the
school enrolling the child, and the school would use that information
to be reimbursed on behalf of the child. The accounts would
provide for a simple electronic payment for the period a child is
enrolled without having to navigate complex payment systems or
overcome the hurdles of a bureaucracy that was not created to
withstand the challenges of a natural disaster of this magnitude.
-
Flexibility
through the power of technology.
The accounts would provide greater flexibility than other proposals to
aid the affected region by utilizing technology to respond quickly to
the changing needs of families and communities. Parents displaced by
the storms have already enrolled their children in whatever schools
were willing to open their doors. These reimbursement accounts would
not punish private schools that have opened their doors and enrolled
children, often at free or reduced tuition, but would provide the same
reimbursement on behalf of all affected children.
-
Portability to
provide funds directly and efficiently.
The proposal would also provide greater portability for relief funds,
ensuring a more efficient use of resources on behalf of students and
schools. For the current school year, schools would be reimbursed
quarterly through the accounts based on the number of weeks each child
is enrolled. Rather than forcing welcoming schools to navigate
federal, state, and local education bureaucracies, the plan calls for
an experienced, independent contractor to act quickly to establish a
system that would reimburse schools.
The
accounts would provide a seamless funding process, allowing multiple
schools to be reimbursed using the same account with no duplication, no
waste, and no complex paperwork or registration process. At the end of
the current school year, the accounts would be closed and any unused
funds would be immediately credited back to the federal government.
Over the
last several weeks, a growing consensus has emerged among both
Republicans and Democrats who recognize that the unprecedented nature of
the tragedy requires an unprecedented response. If we expect our
response to meet the needs of all stakeholders – parents, students,
schools, and taxpayers alike – we need solutions that bypass cumbersome
bureaucracies and, instead, provide direct education aid on behalf of
parents and families who need it most, whether their children are
attending public, private, or charter schools.
A fact
sheet on Family Education Reimbursement Accounts is available on the
Education & the Workforce Committee “Gulf Coast Hurricanes: Rebuilding &
Recovery” website at
http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/hurricane/ferafs.htm.
For more
information or to sign on as an original cosponsor, contact Lucy House
with the Committee at x5-6558 or email
Lucy.House@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely,
/s/
John Boehner
Chairman
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Bobby Jindal
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Cathy McMorris
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Charles Boustany
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Virginia Foxx
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Marilyn Musgrave
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
John Kline
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Sam Johnson
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Joe Wilson
Education & the Workforce Committee |
/s/
Kenny Marchant
Education & the Workforce Committee |
|