Lower-income districts are likely to face bigger budget reductions, along with districts who spent relief aid on teacher salaries and new faculty hires.
Some rural school districts—particularly those with greater poverty levels—are set to face steep budget reductions when COVID-19 emergency funding closes this September.
To offset the effects of COVID-19 on public education, the federal government issued historic amounts of pandemic relief aid through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) to states and districts across the country beginning in March 2020.
Over the past several years, the public school system has had access to nearly $190 billion, which states and districts have spent on a variety of needs including technology, transportation, school infrastructure, mental health support, after-school programing, tutoring, faculty training and increased staffing.
Route Fifty
By Lane Wendell Fischer,
The Daily Yonder
FEBRUARY 29, 2024