The promise of more than $7 billion in federal COVID relief funding for New York City schools inspired some families and educators to imagine big changes in this year’s classrooms.
And while hundreds of millions of dollars have been distributed directly to schools to create extra tutoring, professional development, and more arts programming, some schools have struggled to spend the money.
There are varied reasons why some of this funding remains unused. Tutoring and enrichment programs require finding staff to work extra hours in a moment when educators feel overworked. Some parents and students have been slow to sign up for programs held after school or on weekends. In other cases, schools that already receive grants for arts programming are finding it difficult to spend even more money on the arts.
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