Brown: Don’t tie aid to schools to students in classrooms

Even with additional federal aid, it was a stretch for Campbell City Schools, a low-wealth district in Mahoning County, to prepare for the resumption of classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Special cleaning equipment was purchased. Medical-grade HEPA filters were installed. A vendor was hired to provide Chromebooks and hot spots for the 40% of students whose parents opted for online learning.

And, Superintendent Matthew Bowen says the extra money will be gone by the end of the year, leaving his district strapped to keep students and teachers safe as COVID-19 endangers both health and education.

“We can’t afford to be short-changed with federal funding,” Bowen said Wednesday speaking to reporters with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-ohio, during the senator’s weekly press call.

“We need Washington to really trust us and allow us to do our jobs,” said Bowen, whose district southeast of Youngstown is one of the poorest in Ohio both in terms of property tax values and household income.

Brown endorsed trusting local educators and communities to decide what is best for their students, rejecting Republican attempts in the Senate to route the bulk of additional federal school aid to in-person learning.

The senior senator wants Congress to appropriate at least $175 billion to support K-12 schools nationwide, with no strings attached to also fund virual learning, as a stalemate continues on a new virus relief package.

“Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell and Donald Trump have abandoned parents and students and teachers in the middle of a national crisis,” Brown said.

“Parents are under unbearable stress. Teachers are doing their best, while worried for their own health, and worried about their students, and the achievement gap we know is getting worse because of this pandemic. We need to pass a real relief bill that includes that funding — and that gives Ohio communities the flexibility they need to respond to local conditions.”

Brown said “schools should base their decisions on science and public health experts” on whether to offer virtual learning, not the political inclinations of Mcconnell and Trump to insist on students in classrooms.

“The bottom is falling out and will fall out more if we don’t do more,” Brown told reporters.

He also continues to call on the Republican-controlled Senate to approve the Heroes Act, passed months ago by the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.

The pandemic-relief bill would provide $90 billion to schools and higher education, $500 billion to states and $375 billion in aid to local governments nationwide, Brown said. rludlow@dispatch.com @Randyludlow