Sponsors (3)
The bill provides targeted, timely federal assistance to help schools and students recover after disasters, but it limits spending on long-term rebuilding, adds administrative constraints, and imposes a multi-year federal cost that may affect taxpayers and program speed.
Students and local schools in disaster-declared areas receive prompt federal funds to restore instruction, materials, and services (authorizes up to $200M/year), speeding recovery of schooling.
State and local school systems can quickly replace critical systems and transportation after disasters, reducing instructional disruption and enabling faster resumption of services.
Students at non-public (private) schools are guaranteed equitable, timely access to disaster-relief services comparable to public school students.
Taxpayers fund a new $200M/year program (FY2026–2030), increasing federal outlays and potentially contributing to deficits.
Schools and local governments cannot use the funds for major construction, leaving long-term rebuilding needs unfunded and potentially slowing full recovery.
Nonprofit and private schools must have services administered by a public agency and comply with secular/nonideological rules, which may limit how some private schools receive or use aid.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes the Department of Education to provide emergency payments to SEAs so schools—public and eligible private—can recover and restart instruction after declared disasters, subject to appropriation.
Introduced January 27, 2026 by John W. Mannion · Last progress January 27, 2026
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to provide emergency payments to State educational agencies so SEAs can assist local school districts and eligible private schools in areas with a declared disaster or emergency. Funds (when appropriated) are allocated with priority for areas with larger pre-disaster enrollment and for schools that were closed 30+ days, and may be used for a range of recovery activities such as data recovery, replacing information systems, transportation, temporary facilities, and initial replacement of instructional materials. Requires SEAs to distribute funds to LEAs and eligible non-public schools based on numbers of school-aged children and severity of impact, to deliver assistance quickly, and to provide equitable and timely services to eligible private school students comparable to public-school services. The authority is tied to appropriations and sets application, allowable uses, and supplement/not-supplant rules rather than specifying dollar amounts.