By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – Central Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis is introducing a bill that would provide financial flexibility for students seeking in-person courses for the upcoming fall semester.
In early March, Davis introduced the Keep College Students Learning Act, designed to keep a student’s place if they decide to seek in-person learning.
“I introduced a bill that I hope get’s passed that would require our colleges and universities, that if they choose to go remote then if a student wants to go somewhere else, that’s in-person for that year, for that semester. Then that student will not lose his or her place or financial aid packages or scholarships at the institution that is chosen not to go back to full in-person learning.”
The Taylorville Republican said the bill that he introduced has yet to get passed.
“My thoughts are we should be moving ahead based upon the data. Our schools should be open; our kids should be back in school; our colleges should be planning for fully in-person learning next semester. I’ve seen the impacts on so many families because I have college-aged kids, and I’ve seen the impact on my own family because of remote learning.
“And with vaccines being available and exponentially becoming more available over the summer, there is no reason why our colleges and institutions should be fully in-person learning.”
Davis, who is fully vaccinated, said that universities in the Twin-Cities like Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan, requiring students to be vaccinated to return to campus, are up to the school.
“The key is, if these universities aren’t planning to reopen for in-person learning, then the debate about who’s going to get vaccinated and the availability of vaccines doesn’t matter. So hopefully, they are all planning to reopen fully.”
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
