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CONGRESSMAN PASCRELL ANNOUNCES LEGISLATION AIMED AT MAKING TUTORING SERVICES AVAILABLE TO MORE CHILDREN

Pascrell joins local residents at tutoring center to unveil his Affordable Tutoring for Our Children Act (H.R. 4391)

VERONA – U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) today met with Eighth District constituents, leaders of after-school tutoring organizations, as well as student and parents, to announce the introduction of his legislation aimed at making tutoring available to more students.

“President Obama made clear right away in his State of the Union address that he understands exactly what the struggle of the working class family in America is -- as he said it is ‘the burden of working harder and longer for less; of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college,’” said Pascrell, a former educator and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“At some point almost every child needs extra help in academics, but not every family can afford extra tutoring for their child if that is what they need. By allowing employers to amend their dependent care benefits to include after-school tutoring, I hope my legislation can be another tool parents can use to ensure young people are more successful in school and life.”

Financial help is available for low-income households, and upper-income households are able to pay for tutoring. But middle-class families neither qualify for federal assistance nor can afford tutoring.

The Affordable Tutoring for Our Children Act (H.R. 4391) would allow employers to amend their Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) to include after-school tutoring services. Under present law, dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts cannot pay educational expenses unless the primary purpose is day care or an afterschool athletic camp. The legislation has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

In order to qualify for this bill’s benefit, the services must be provided after school and in core academic subjects -- civics and government; economics; arts; social studies; science; math; English; reading, language; and geography.

The bill includes costs of preparing for college entrance exams.

Also, to guarantee that this benefit is not abused, the supplemental tutoring must be provided by a state-certified instructor or by a state- recognized or privately accredited organization.