Lawmakers include $2.75 billion for private schools in stimulus after prodding by orthodox Jewish and Catholic groups
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speak after a press conference on Capitol Hill on December 20, 2020. By Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Following a coordinated lobbying effort by Orthodox Jewish and Roman Catholic groups, the $900 billion coronavirus stimulus includes $2.75 billion for private schools hit hard by the pandemic.
“As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has been terribly disruptive and costly to America’s K-12 schools — the students and families they serve, the teachers and many other staffers who work tirelessly to educate our children,” Nathan Diament, the Orthodox Union’s Washington director, whose group was among the Jewish and Catholic organizations pushing lawmakers for the funds, said Monday in a news release.
“That is why it is essential for this latest federal relief package to include a great amount of support for these schools and, among them, America’s Jewish, Catholic and other nonpublic schools.”
The nonpublic schools will have to apply for the funding.
The backing for the added funding was bipartisan, led in the Senate by senators known for their efforts to reach across the aisle: Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat.
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have agreed on the outlines of the stimulus package and are expected to finalize it by Tuesday.
The post Lawmakers include $2.75 billion for private schools in stimulus after prodding by Orthodox Jewish and Catholic groups appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
