Districts are fast approaching deadlines for using the remainder of federal stimulus funds, but schools have not recovered from the pandemic. Many schools are grappling with tight labor markets and staffing challenges, with students and staff reporting particularly high rates of mental health stress and burnout. The school still faces safety concerns and lacks funding, leaving an outdated ventilation system in place.

Federal stimulus packages were initially allocated to school districts to address the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress called on school districts to allocate some funding to address academic “learning losses,” but policymakers at the time didn’t know how long the pandemic’s impact would last.

As public schools continue to grapple with pandemic-related challenges, the U.S. Department of Education and Congress must take three key steps to support the nation’s public schools.

1. Giving School Districts Flexibility and AccountabilityWhile most federal stimulus or “ESSER” funds were subject to relatively few conditions, districts could gain additional autonomy over how and when the funds were spent. Under current policy, all funds must be due by September 30, 2024. This could be a difficult timeline for the district, who initially struggled to deplete his ESSER funds amid labor issues and broader global supply chain issues. Providing the district with additional time, allowing them to submit spending plans instead of using up all funds, or simply extending his September 2024 deadline would be very helpful for the district leader. .

In addition, the Department of Education (ED) is mandating data reporting requirements for all local educational institutions and charter schools to include basic, standardized accounting for stimulus funds beyond the 2022-2023 school year. need to strengthen. District and state educational institutions must also have the necessary systems in place to monitor performance related to their investment in ESSER. Data collection mechanisms and variables are not standardized across states, but many states and districts already collect this data. The ED can hold districts accountable for collecting this data and reporting it in a standardized format. Better knowledge of how ESSER funds have been spent and how student performance has changed can help districts make future decisions.

2. Invest in infrastructure. Despite some reports of school districts using ESSER funds to improve their physical infrastructure, reports say much of the money is spent on personal protective equipment, student tutoring, and summer programs. and educational investments such as after-school programs and teacher professional development. However, many students attend schools with outdated heating and ventilation systems.

The problem of poor physical infrastructure is partly due to the unfair financial system of public schools. The state has made great strides in closing the funding gap between rich and poor districts over the past 50 years, but most of those efforts have focused on operating costs rather than capital expenditures. . In many states, construction of new school buildings and improvements to buildings are financed entirely by municipal bonds or special taxes with limited state funds. Disparities in local property values ​​between districts are themselves a product of racial pledges and redlining, meaning some districts receive much higher property tax revenues. Schools were mostly left out of the climate bill, which may have provided extra funding for building renovations. Congress should approve additional federal funding to support her 21st century infrastructure for K-12 public schools.

Districts also need continued federal support for technology. Many school districts are using federal stimulus funds to invest in technology such as computer labs and his one-to-one device program (where each student is assigned a laptop or tablet), and these products are coming soon. The replacement cycle is reached.

3. Support teachers. While many schools face severe staffing problems, some have been dealing with chronic teacher shortages for decades. The labor market for teachers is localized and specialized. That is, a shortage in one school district or subject area may not exist in another school district. That said, the Department of Education could play a key role in addressing staffing challenges by expanding apprenticeship opportunities and better targeting incentive programs such as loan forgiveness.

Without these investments, the district will face a fiscal cliff as it runs out of federal stimulus funds. The U.S. Relief Plan Act, passed in March 2021, provided historic levels of federal funding to schools, bringing the total to her $130 billion. Combined with his two previous bills, the CARES Act and the CRRSA Act, this funding tripled his typical federal annual budget of about $60 billion annually. Investments from the first two stimulus packages, ESSER I and II, may have contributed to the slightly improved academic performance this year.

One of the misleading myths that permeates education policy debates is that adding more resources doesn’t improve student performance. Some school districts claim high per-student spending even with low test scores, so providing enough funding should not be the answer. Another version of this argument argues that spending has increased over the last 30 years at a faster pace than educational outcomes. While these anecdotal or correlative arguments are interesting, they do not inform broader policy debates about whether additional resources would improve outcomes. and student achievement still surface as valid analysis, even among informed individuals.

The federal government must act to support our public education system at this critical time. Providing school districts with additional financial autonomy, infrastructure investments, and teacher support will help stabilize the school system and set new students on the best path.

David S. Knight is Associate Professor of Educational Finance and Policy at the University of Washington. David DeMathews is an Associate Professor in the School of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin.