Federal COVID relief funds have proven themselves instrumental in ensuring the sustainability of K12 school districts across the country. But the question remains: Is every dollar being used?
FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, recently published an analysis breaking down COVID relief spending in each state. According to their data, spending has only slowed down over time.
Overall, more than 99% of the ESSER I funding allocated through the CARES Act has been spent. Seventy-eight percent of ESSER II has been spent. And as for the third round of funding, which expires in September 2024, only 39% has been spent.
The data also suggest that spending is quite uneven. Eight states in particular—Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington—have spent more than three-fifths of their allotment. States like Wisconsin, however, have only spent just over one-third of their total allotment.
On average, states have spent just 54.5% of their federal aid. But some states have far exceeded the national average.
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According to FutureEd’s analysis, this is the latest snapshot representing each state’s progress in spending their K12 Covid aid across three rounds of ESSER funds (Note: the data do not reflect committed spending; for instance, long-term projects):
Spending progress in each state
- Iowa (73.8%)
- Arkansas (71.6%)
- Oklahoma (68%)
- Washington (66.7%)
- Georgia (62.9%)
- North Carolina (61.1%)
- Hawaii (60.6%)
- Texas (60.4%)
- Kentucky (59.6%)
- Delaware (59.2%)
- Illinois (59%)
- Idaho (58.8%)
- Ohio (58.1%)
- Kansas (58.1%)
- California (58%)
- Alaska (57.9%)
- Pennsylvania (57.7%)
- Florida (57.5%)
- North Dakota (57.4%)
- Nevada (57.2%)
- Missouri (56.1%)
- Michigan (55.8%)
- Utah (55.4%)
- South Carolina (55.2%)
- Colorado (54.8%)
- Tennessee (53.1%)
- Arizona (53.1%)
- Minnesota (52.7%)
- Connecticut (51.8%)
- Virginia (51.2%)
- Indiana (51.1%)
- Montana (49.9%)
- West Virginia (49.5%)
- South Dakota (48.3%)
- New Jersey (47.8%)
- Massachusetts (46.5%)
- Oregon (46.4%)
- New York (46.1%)
- Louisiana (45.7%)
- Maryland (45.6%)
- Maine (45%)
- Wyoming (44.8%)
- New Hampshire (44.7%)
- Mississippi (44.5%)
- Alabama (42.7%)
- Rhode Island (41.5%)
- Nebraska (40.7%)
- New Mexico (40.5%)
- Vermont (40.1%)
- Wisconsin (34.2%)
- DC (21.9%)
