Democrats have long professed to be staunch supporters of public education and against school choice, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., struck an 11th-hour deal to fund almost $3 billion for private schools, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The $2.75 billion for private schools came together from Schumer after aggressive Orthodox Jewish lobbying and rare support from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, according to the Times.

Notably, though, Democrats excoriated Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for fitting in funding for private schools in past stimulus bills last year, only to turn around and do the same thing with Biden's $1.9 trillion spending package signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday.

"We never anticipated Senate Democrats would proactively choose to push us down the slippery slope of funding private schools directly," lamented School Superintendents Association Advocacy Director Sasha Pudelski, in a letter to Congress. "The floodgates are open and now with bipartisan support, why would private schools not ask for more federal money?"

The machinations began behind a push from Orthodox Jewish lobbying in New York, and Catholic schools, according to Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Director for Public Policy's Nathan J. Diament.

"It's still the case that 10% of America's students are in nonpublic schools, and they are just as impacted by the crisis as the other 90%, but we're getting a much lower percentage overall," Diament told the Times.

"We're very appreciative of what Sen. Schumer did."

Schumer's late deal in the Senate version gave about 12 times more to private schools than the $200 million capped in the original House bill, per the report.

"This fund, without taking any money away from public schools, will enable private schools, like yeshivas and more, to receive assistance and services that will cover COVID-related expenses they incur as they deliver quality education for their students," Schumer told Jewish Insider.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, fought for a provision for "nonpublic schools that enroll a significant percentage of low‐​income students and are most impacted by the qualifying emergency."

More here: https://www.newsmax.com/politics/private-schools-funding-randiweingarten/2021/03/14/id/1013743/