Nearly 20 states earned a “red light” warning for a lack of clarity on how their COVID-relief spending plans will help the highest need students and schools, according to a new analysis.
A majority of states “are essentially abdicating their role” by failing to set benchmarks for equity in the distribution of ESSER funds to districts, says “Driving Toward Equity,” a new report from Education Reform Now, a nonprofit advocacy organization.
In a dozen states—Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming—officials have made no plans to track district equity spending or whether the funds are supporting the students most impacted by the pandemic, the report says.
“It’s likely that large swaths of federal relief dollars will go to status quo spending on additional staff … or lackluster professional development, rather than toward new, potentially transformational investments,” the says the report, which warns against additional hiring as ESSER funds are set to expire in two to three years.
Only seven states—Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Utah—earned the report’s top “green light” rating. States were judged on their performance in five categories:
- Is student need driving the allocation of resources?
- Level of community input in plans
- Use evidence-based interventions and target funding
- Commitment to data, even without widespread state testing
- Is the state leading development of a strategic K-12 recovery plan
Because only a few states require districts to detail plans based on student needs, there will be no way to determine the level of funding of going to highly impacted groups, such as low-income students, students of color, English Learners and students with disabilities. Bright spots, however, include Nebraska and Virginia, which are providing guidance to districts on how to target funds equitably.
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Just over half the states require districts to explain how they will target academic of other interventions—such as tutoring and assessments—to counter the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on student subgroups.
States were also faulted for heavy reliance on professional development as a way to rebound from COVID’s disruptions. While PD is a key part of the response, the report faulted states for not devoting more funds to extended-learning time, social-emotional learning and other novel approaches.
State ESSER spending plans have already been approved by the Department of Education. But they can also be viewed as “living documents” that can now be updated and revised. The analysis recommends that educators, community advocates and families work with state officials to refocus plans on equity and also help districts shape their spending decisions.
“Given that at least 90% of spending decisions will be made at the district level, advocates who effectively engage and mobilize community members and organizations in support of evidence-based interventions for students could have an outsized influence on which policies and programs ultimately get enacted and provide services for students,” the report says.
