Ideas for States and School Districts
The unprecedented federal funding authorized across three legislative packages to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to drive student-centered reforms that addresses the pandemic’s education and other impacts on our nation’s students and drives systemic education reform. In fact, a majority of parents view these resources as an opportunity to make “bold changes” in education policy and three-fourths believe these resources will provide direct benefits to their families, according to a recent Walton Family Foundation poll. While these federal funds far exceed demonstrated emergency education needs, the efforts of education policy and advocacy leaders to empower students, families, and teachers are more important than ever as states and school districts plan to expend these incredible federal resources.
Contents:
- Overview: The opportunity and allocations of the American Rescue Plan Act
- General recommendations
- Menu of education ideas
- Timeline and next steps for states and school districts
Overview: The Opportunity and American Rescue Plan Allocations
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act enacted in March 2021 included $122 billion for the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund.
- This is more than thirty times the size of President Obama’s $4 billion Race To The Top Fund.
- ARP ESSER is also nearly double ESSER I and II combined, as respectively authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response, Recovery, and Economic Security (CRRSA) Act.
- While ARP ESSER has additional requirements compared to ESSER I and II, the fund is still uniquely flexible.
Allocation of ARP ESSER and Funds
School districts: Ninety percent of ARP ESSER ($110 billion total) will be granted to school districts.
- 20 percent of school district subgrants must be used to provide evidence-based learning loss interventions addressing the impact of the pandemic on student groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
- The remaining 80 percent of school district subgrants may be used on an expansive range of activities, including any allowable activities under ESEA, IDEA AEFLA, or Perkins. (See Appendix B for the relevant statutory excerpt.)
States: Ten percent of ARP ESSER ($12 billion total) will be directly administered by state departments of education for the implementation of evidence-based:
- Learning loss interventions (minimum of 5 percent of the total State allocation),
- Summer enrichment programs (minimum of 1 percent), and
- Comprehensive afterschool programs (minimum of 1 percent).
Governors: Unlike the CARES and CRRSA Acts, ARP includes no Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. However, ARP creates a new Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund providing states $195 billion to address the fiscal effects of COVID-19 and address the diverse needs of their communities. This fund is more than one-third larger and considerably more flexible than ARP ESSER.
It could be leveraged by governors to expand education opportunity, especially given the GEER II prohibition on supporting private school choice options* except for “students who receive or received such assistance with [GEER I] for the 2020-2021 school year and only for the same assistance provided such students under [GEER I].”
*Specifically, GEER II restricts providing “direct or indirect financial assistance to scholarship granting organizations or related entities” or supporting “vouchers, tuition tax credit programs, education savings accounts, scholarships, scholarship programs, or tuition-assistance programs.”
Our Challenge
We have a dual responsibility:
- To leverage these extraordinary resources in ways that drive student-centered reform, and
- To ensure transparency for uses of funds.
Student-centered reforms can include:
- Short-term offerings that respond to student needs induced or exacerbated by the pandemic (e.g. one or two-year supplemental Education Scholarship Account to support learning loss recovery), and
- Long-term reforms that tee up systems change (e.g. student-centered funding formula).
The following menu of ideas is organized in key issue areas—school choice, student-centered funding, teacher empowerment, career and technical education, early childhood education, assessments, and transparency—and covers short and long-term reforms at the State and school district level.
General Recommendations
What to Avoid
- Recurring expenses that cannot be sustained (e.g. new hires, increased teacher compensation or expanded benefits).
- Expenses that do not directly impact student learning (e.g. large-scale construction projects).
What to Pursue
Multi-Year Spending Plan: Create a multi-year spending plan, which begins to leverage state and local funds to sustain benefits and reforms when federal funds run out. For example, programming could be:
- 100 percent federally funded in year one (FY 2021 ending September 2021).
- 75 percent federally funded in year two (FY 2022).
- 50 percent federally funded in year three (FY 2023).
- 25 percent federally funded in year four (FY 2024 the last year ARP ESSER funds are available for obligation).
- 100 percent state, local, or privately funded in year five (FY 2025 when ARP ESSER funds are no longer available for obligation).
States: Use state-level set-asides to influence school districts, as they implement 90 percent of ARP ESSER funds.
- This may be achieved through creating new competitive grants to incentivize desired reforms.
- Such competitive grants may include requirements or incentives for applicants to match awarded funds (e.g. 100 percent matching requirement; or 50 percent matching requirement with competitive preference points for higher matches, such as one point for 60 percent, two points for 70 percent, three points for 80 percent, etc.).
School Districts: Instead of administering all funds at the school direct level as many school districts have with ESSER I, provide all or a portion of funds to schools within a district so that school leaders can best meet the needs of their unique students. Note: Although ARP ESSER and ESSER II have a separate fund, Emergency Assistance to Non-public Schools (EANS), to support to non-public school teachers and students, recall that, under ESSER I, school districts are still required to provide equitable services to non-public school teachers and students.
Menu of Education Ideas
Timeline and Next Steps for States and School Districts
Opportunities to Engage
School District Plans
Before publishing both the reopening and use of funds plans, school districts must seek and take into account public comment. Both plans must also be published and made publicly available.
In the use of funds plan, school districts are required to engage in meaningful stakeholder consultation in developing its plan, specifically including teacher unions.*
*The US Department of Education requires meaningful stakeholder consultation to include “students; families; school and district administrators (including special education administrators); and teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their unions;” and “Tribes (if applicable); civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations); stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities, English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are incarcerated, and other underserved students.”
State Plans
Similarly, states are required to engage in meaningful stakeholder consultation in developing their state plans to receive the remaining one-third of ARP ESSER. State plans will be published on the US Department of Education’s website with their review/approval status.
Governors and State Legislatures
Although state and district superintendents have direct decision-making authority over these funds, many state legislatures and governors have significant influence either officially (e.g. some state legislatures must vote to accept ARP ESSER funds and may add additional requirements by which the state department of education must abide) or unofficially (e.g. many state superintendents and commissioners are appointed by governors).
