Parent-Led Tutoring Cooperative Grant

The Parent-Led Tutoring Cooperative Grant Program empowers parents to directly respond to the learning loss caused by prolonged COVID school closures. The program provides up to $50,000 in startup grants and liability coverage to parent groups that form neighborhood tutoring pods and hire certified teachers, retired educators, or graduate students. This policy treats parents as education entrepreneurs, bypassing district red tape while restoring control and delivering immediate learning recovery solutions.

Why It Matters:

• Restores control to parents who were sidelined by slow, bureaucratic district responses.

• Creates jobs for educators and graduate students while reducing student-teacher ratios.

• Delivers high-impact remediation in local communities without waiting on state systems.

• Builds educational resilience by decentralizing and diversifying student support options.

Funding Strategy (Conservative-Aligned):
To avoid new spending or expanding government control, this policy draws from underutilized and existing federal sources:

• Reallocate unspent COVID education funds (ESSER) still sitting unused in state budgets.

• Repurpose Federal Work-Study programs to allow graduate students to earn compensation while tutoring in pods.

• Redirect 1–2% of Title I administrative budgets toward direct academic remediation efforts.

• Consolidate DOE pilot programs with duplicative goals to fund results-driven, community-led tutoring.

The Big Picture:
This policy is about correcting course—not expanding bureaucracy. Parents know their children’s needs better than any central office. By funding their ability to act, we give working families real tools to recover, rebuild, and thrive.

How It Works:

• Eligibility:
  Parent groups consisting of at least 3 families, including at least one parent with a coordinating/administrative role, are eligible to apply for funding.

• Use of Funds:
  Funds can be used to:

  • Hire credentialed tutors, retired teachers, or graduate-level education students

  • Rent or maintain space (such as a church, community center, or even home-based setting)

  • Purchase curriculum or instructional tools

  • Provide light meals or snacks

  • Cover background checks or insurance for tutors

• Support Included:

  • A federally-backed liability coverage umbrella allows pods to operate legally and safely without needing to incorporate as non-profits or take on complex legal costs.

  • A fast-track approval system (within 30 days) to reduce red tape.

Why It’s Needed:

1. Districts Are Still Playing Catch-Up
   Many school districts—including in Illinois—have been slow or ineffective in deploying COVID relief funds. Billions remain unspent or are buried in bureaucratic uses that don’t touch the student directly.

2. Parents Are Motivated but Undersupported
   Parents—especially mothers—have stepped into leadership roles throughout the education crisis. This policy honors and equips them to be real education innovators.

3. Trusted, Localized Remediation
   Tutoring pods run by families have high trust and flexibility. They can adapt to student needs more quickly than large districts and reach underserved areas immediately.

4. Supports the Workforce
   The program allows:

   • Retired teachers or underemployed educators to re-enter the workforce in a flexible capacity

   • Graduate students to earn income while gaining instructional experience

   • Parents to build leadership and administrative experience

Bottom Line:

This isn’t about creating another top-down program. It’s about unlocking the expertise and energy of parents, bypassing the bureaucratic barriers of failing systems, and putting real learning back in the hands of the community.