Tri-Caucus Chairs: HEALS Act Will Endanger Students of Color and their Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus—composed of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20)—released the following statement on the K-12 education provisions in the Senate Republicans' HEALS Act.

"Over the past six months, we have watched the COVID-19 pandemic worsen existing inequality and inflict devastating harm on communities of color. Rather than providing these communities with relief, the Senate Republicans' HEALS Act exploits that inequality in a way that will endanger the health and safety of students of color, their teachers and school staff, and their families.

"Public health experts and education leaders across the country have repeatedly warned that school districts need significant and immediate federal funding in order to physically reopen safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The need is particularly great for chronically underfunded low-income school districts serving predominantly students of color. Many of these schools are in communities that have already suffered disproportionate harm from this pandemic.

"The Senate Republican proposal offers just a fraction of the funding schools need to physically reopen safely. Even worse, two-thirds of that funding is only available to schools that reopen for in-person instruction. These provisions will coerce cash-strapped schools into reopening, regardless of local health risks, putting students at risk in order to claim the relief that schools desperately need. In low-income districts that are already bracing for deep budget cuts next year, the promise of additional resources would be enough to compel some schools to physically reopen before it is safe to do so.

"To further pressure schools to reopen, the Republican bill offers school districts a liability waiver to shield them from accountability if and when students, school staff, or their families become ill from COVID-19. Employers that ignore public health experts and disregard safety guidelines during a global pandemic should not be granted immunity from the consequences of their actions, and school districts are no exception. Our priority must be health and safety.

"The combination of providing inadequate funding for public schools, conditioning most of that funding on physically reopening, and allowing school districts to evade responsibility for keeping students and staff safe is a lethal mix for communities of color.

"We unequivocally reject this proposal. The Trump Administration's failed response to COVID-19 has already taken a tragic toll on our constituents. We will not allow Senate Republicans to inflict more pain on vulnerable communities."

# # #

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.