The READ Act establishes a program to provide immediate federal aid to State educational agencies for distribution to public and non-public schools to restart operations following a major disaster or emergency.
John Mannion
Representative
NY-22
The Restarting Education After Disasters (READ) Act establishes a program to provide immediate federal aid to State educational agencies to help local public and eligible non-public schools restart operations following a major disaster or emergency. Funds are prioritized for schools severely impacted and can be used for essential recovery activities like data recovery, temporary learning spaces, and replacing initial instructional materials. The bill authorizes $200 million annually from 2026 through 2030 to support these critical, short-term recovery efforts.
New READ Act Authorizes $200 Million Yearly to Get Schools Back Online Immediately After Disasters
When a hurricane or a massive wildfire hits, we usually talk about power lines and roads. But for parents and teachers, the real crisis starts when the local elementary school is underwater or the high school’s computer lab is fried. The READ Act is designed to be the financial first responder for education, authorizing $200 million every year from 2026 through 2030 to jumpstart school operations the moment a disaster declaration is signed. Instead of waiting for the slow-moving gears of traditional insurance or massive federal construction grants, this bill funnels cash directly to state agencies to get the doors back open and the Wi-Fi running.
The Fast-Track Recovery Kit
Under Section 2, the priority is simple: if a school has been dark for 30 days or more, they move to the front of the line. The money isn't for building a brand-new stadium; it’s for the ‘unsexy’ essentials that actually make a school day happen. We’re talking about Section 2’s list of approved spends: recovering lost student data, replacing hacked or damaged hardware, renting mobile classrooms, and buying textbooks to replace the ones lost to mold or smoke. It even covers ‘reasonable transportation costs,’ which is a huge deal for districts where the bus fleet was wiped out or students are temporarily displaced and need a ride to a neutral leasing site.
Fairness in the Rubble
This bill doesn't just look at public schools. It requires states to set aside a proportional slice of the pie for non-public schools—private and parochial—based on their enrollment numbers before the disaster hit. However, there’s a ‘use it or lose it’ clock: if that private school money isn’t claimed within 120 days, it flows back into the public school pot to ensure the funds don't just sit in a bank account while kids are out of class. To keep things strictly educational, the bill mandates that any materials or services provided must be ‘secular, neutral, and nonideological.’
Cutting the Red Tape (Mostly)
One of the smartest moves in this text is how it handles the ‘Supplement, Not Supplant’ headache. Usually, federal agencies get into a standoff over who pays first—FEMA or the Department of Ed. The READ Act allows schools to get this emergency money even if they have a pending FEMA application. The catch? If FEMA eventually cuts you a check for the same thing, you have to pay the READ Act funds back. It’s essentially a bridge loan to make sure a principal isn't waiting six months for a FEMA inspector while their students are falling behind in their curriculum. While the $200 million cap is a solid start, the real test will be how quickly state agencies can process these ‘expedited’ applications when an entire region is offline.