The bill, which the Senate passed in a 34-1 vote, would establish the $50 million "Empowering Parents Grants" program to provide grants of up to $1,000 per student or $3,000 per family. The funds could cover expenses including technology, textbooks, therapies and tutoring. Gov. Brad Little proposed the program during his State of the State address last month.
"Part of this is to address learning loss that may have occurred during the pandemic," Sen. Lori Den Hartog, a Meridian Republican who sponsored the bill, said on the Senate floor. "But it's also a recognition of the ongoing needs that students in our state have, and that there is a potential different avenue to provide resources to those students."
Senators said Thursday that the bill was important to help engage more parents, and to provide more resources to low-income students.
Hartog said the origins of the legislation started over two years ago, when she and other legislators were getting calls from parents who were struggling to deal with the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic was having on their children's education.
"We had parents desperately, desperately trying to figure out new solutions for providing an education for their children," she said. "We had our school districts scrambling, everyone was doing the very best that they could."
A program called Strong Families, Strong Students was created by Little at the time to similarly provide grants to help families address educational needs.
Which families would qualify for the grants?
Funds would first be available to families whose adjusted gross income is $60,000 or less per year and would then be expanded if there was money left.
Families interested in the grants would apply through an application process determined by the State Board of Education. Their income would be verified, and then the funds would be put into a digital account. All transactions would take place on the digital platform. Families would then have two years to spend the funds.
The legislation also creates a parental advisory panel, made up of parents of eligible students, to help with the implementation of the program.
The bill will now go to the House.
©2022 The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
