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The LIBRE Initiative Calls for Approval of Microgrant For Families and Students

The LIBRE Initiative Calls for Approval of Microgrant For Families and Students

Latino families and students stand to benefit from microgrants

The LIBRE Initiative signs coalition letter urging Georgia Governor

Brian Kemp, to direct portion of CARES Act funds to education microgrants.

(Arlington, VA) –  Today, The LIBRE Initiative, an organization committed to empowering the Latino community,  joined forces with several educational advocacy groups in order to encourage Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to leverage Georgia’s unspent funding from the CARES Act to allocate funds in the form of microgrants, which would directly support families and students’ unique educational needs during this unprecedented time.

David Casas, The LIBRE Initiative’s Community Engagement Director in Georgia, said:

Hispanic families would greatly benefit from, and welcome, the direct assistance from microgrants to offset the unexpected costs of things like, tutoring, the purchase of needed technology, or “pod” learning. Families have already paid for the ability to access public education. These microgrants would allow families to further invest in their child’s education in a way that directly meets their individualized needs, instead of waiting for the investments to trickle down through the school system months into the school year.”

He went on to add:

Hispanic families would greatly benefit from, and welcome, the direct assistance from microgrants to offset the unexpected costs of things like tutoring, the purchase of needed technology, or “pod” learning. Families have already paid for the ability to access public education. These microgrants would allow families to further invest in their child’s education in a way that directly meets their individualized needs, instead of waiting for the investments to trickle down through the school system months into the school year.”

Background:

Latinos make up 9.9% of the population in Georgia and about 16.1% of the students in Georgia public schools. Out of the Hispanic population in Georgia, 41% of those school aged, 17 and younger, live in low-income communities. [Source: Pew Research Center]

Previously existing educational barriers for Latinos are being compounded by the effects of COVID-19 disproportionately affecting the Latino community. Not to mention, many Latino workers are deemed “essential,” leading them to work long hours with no choice but to leave their children home for extended periods of time.