Josh Hawley proposes amendment to withhold federal relief funding from schools refusing to reopen

Sen. Josh Hawley proposed an amendment to withhold federal relief funding from schools that refuse to allow students to return to classrooms.

“In spite of overwhelming evidence that schools can reopen safely, partisan advocates are using children’s education as a cudgel to push their radical agendas,” Hawley said in a Wednesday statement. “The effect on children and working-class families has been absolutely devastating. The federal government should put an end to this two-tiered education system for the haves and the have-nots by incentivizing schools to safely reopen.”

The amendment, which was made to Congress’s proposed budget resolution, comes in the wake of a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluding that schools that have resumed in-person learning have not increased the spread of the coronavirus.