In the News

Congressman Matt Cartwright visited Pocono Mountain West High School Wednesday to participate in a roundtable discussion with school leaders and legislators on federal funding for schools, including the use of COVID-19 relief funds and the American Rescue Plan.   

“A year and a half into this pandemic has weathered a lot of hardship and frustration,” said Cartwright, a democrat who represents Pa.'s 8th congressional district. “I’m glad to have made enough progress to gather like this today, much in thanks to the passage of the American Rescue Plan which has been about getting money into people’s pockets, shots in people’s arms, kids back in school and people back to work.”   

Present at the roundtable were PMSD board members, principals, administrators and some local politicians, including: Mount Pocono Borough Mayor Michael Penn, State Representative Rosemary Brown (R-189), State Rep. Maureen Madden (D-115) and State Sen. Mario Scavello (R-40).  

Cartwright expressed his biggest concern was getting children back to school and in the classrooms, “especially the little kids that are home with their parents watching them, because that is what is keeping (the parents) out of the workforce.”    

Cartwright, who voted to pass the American Rescue Plan, referenced how difficult learning and teaching have been for area students since the onset of the pandemic. 

“We knew this needed to be a core pillar of the American Rescue Plan because school leaders have told us that. Those who were able to shift to remote learning did so as best they could." He said. "But it wasn’t an easy solution, as there were many broadband internet hurdles in some of those rural areas.

"We wanted to get kids back to class so parents can get back to work.”    

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