Districts are fast approaching a deadline to spend what remains of their federal stimulus funds, but schools have not rebounded from the pandemic. Many schools are wrestling with a tight labor market and dealing with staffing challenges, and students and staff are reporting especially high rates of mental health stress and burnout. Schools are still facing safety concerns, and outdated ventilation systems remain in place as funds run out.
Federal stimulus was initially allocated to school districts to address the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress required districts to allocate a portion of funds to address academic “learning loss,” but policymakers did not know at that time how long the effects of the pandemic would linger.
As public schools continue to deal with pandemic-related challenges, the U.S. Department of Education and Congress need to take three critical steps to support the nation’s public schools.
1. Provide school districts with flexibility and accountability. While most federal stimulus or “ESSER” funds had relatively few strings attached, districts would benefit from additional autonomy over how and when funds are spent. Under the current policy, all funds need to be obligated by Sept. 30, 2024. This may be a difficult timeline for districts that initially struggled to spend down ESSER funds amid labor challenges and broader global supply chain issues. Providing districts with additional time or allowing them to submit spending plans instead of expending all funds, or simply extending the September 2024 deadline would assist district leaders immensely.
In addition, the Department of Education (ED) should ramp up data reporting requirements for all local education agencies and charter schools to include basic standardized accounting of stimulus funds from the 2022-23 school year forward. District and state education agencies should also have the necessary systems in place to monitor outcomes associated with ESSER investments. Many states and districts are already collecting this data, though data collection mechanisms and variables are not standardized across states. ED could hold districts accountable for collecting this data and reporting it through standardized forms. Better knowledge of how ESSER funds were directed over time, and how student outcomes changed, may help inform district decision-making moving forward.
2. Invest in infrastructure. Despite some accounts of districts using ESSER funds to improve physical infrastructure, reports show much of the money has been spent on personal protective equipment and instructional investments such as student tutoring, summer and after school programs, and teacher professional development. But many students attend schools with aging heating and air ventilation systems.
The problem of poor physical infrastructure stems in part from inequitable state school finance systems. While states have made substantial progress over the past 50 years to close funding gaps between rich and poor districts, most of those efforts have focused on operating expenditures, rather than capital spending. In many states, new school building construction and building improvement are financed completely through local bonds or special levies, with limited state funds. Disparities in local property values across districts – themselves a product of racial covenants and redlining – mean that some districts generate far more in property tax revenue. Schools were largely left out of the climate bill, which might have provided special funds for building renovation. Congress should authorize additional federal funds to support 21st century infrastructure for K-12 public schools.
Districts also need ongoing federal support for technology. Many districts used federal stimulus funds to invest in technology, such as computer labs or one-to-one device programs (where each student is assigned a…
Read More: US public education systems facing a crisis point