Schools have spent only a small fraction of the money earmarked to combat learning loss from the pandemic despite growing evidence that students are struggling to catch up, according to a new analysis.
President Biden released $120 billion through his 2021 virus-relief package to reopen classrooms and help students who fell behind academically. Two-thirds of the money was released within two weeks of the president signing the law.
Yet only 15% of the funding known as ESSER III was spent during the 2021-2022 school year, according to an analysis from The Washington Post, Georgetown University and Edunomics, an education finance group.
Spending varied greatly by state and from district to district within states, the group said, and about half of the 211 analyzed districts that are furthest behind in English and math spent 5% or less of their money.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited a Maryland school on Monday to promote the smart use of education dollars, hours after the “nation’s report card” found reading and math scores among fourth- and eighth-graders plummeted after the pandemic.
Schools cited a number of reasons to The Post for holding back on spending, including a nationwide teacher shortage that made it hard to fill positions or an attempt to make the money last.
SEE ALSO: National report card saw U.S. reading, math scores are down after pandemic
The ESSER III installment expires in September 2024 and educators want to stretch it out over that period.
In other cases, schools are still using dollars that were allocated during the prior administration at the start of the pandemic.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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