{"id":1981875,"date":"2023-07-25T03:23:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T07:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/most-of-the-190-billion-in-covid-aid-to-schools-was-wasted-at-kids-expense\/"},"modified":"2023-07-25T03:26:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T07:26:53","slug":"most-of-the-190-billion-in-covid-aid-to-schools-was-wasted-at-kids-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/most-of-the-190-billion-in-covid-aid-to-schools-was-wasted-at-kids-expense\/","title":{"rendered":"$190B in Covid &#8216;aid&#8217; to schools mostly wasted, hurting kids."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmost-of-the-190-billion-in-covid-aid-to-schools-was-wasted-at-kids-expense%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1981875&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>A series of government reports have \u2062documented how much\u2063 of the trillions of dollars purportedly spent on \u201cCovid relief\u201d went to waste \u2014 ranging\u2062 from the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/15\/investigation-finds-400-billion-was-stolen-or-wasted-in-covid-fraudsters-great-grift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hundreds of billions in fraud<\/a> (i.e., \u200dthe \u2062\u201cGreat Grift\u201d) to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/04\/heres-some-of-the-garbage-democrats-funded-as-covid-relief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">extravagant local\u200b government expenditures<\/a> (e.g., renovating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-some-of-the-garbage-democrats-funded-as-covid-relief\/\" title=\"Here\u2019s Some Of The Garbage Democrats Funded As \u2018Covid Relief\u2019\">minor league baseball stadium<\/a> and replacing irrigation systems at golf courses).<\/p>\n<p>But out of all that waste,\u2064 most Americans would consider money spent on countering pandemic\u2062 learning loss a legitimate use of government resources. \u2062(Mind\u2063 you, many Americans, \u2063including this one,\u2064 would question why public school unions <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/01\/teachers-union-collaborated-with-cdc-on-school-reopening-emails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">insisted on keeping\u200b schools closed<\/a> for endless periods of time, but that\u2019s a separate story.) <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2046320065\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ed78672a1e7a54ffa4af8f6ac81631ca fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ed78672a1e7a54ffa4af8f6ac81631ca\"><\/div>\n<p>Now several \u200cnew data points suggest that much\u2063 of \u2063this money has likewise been frittered away, leaving a generation of American students <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/28\/evidence-continues-to-pile-up-of-catastrophic-learning-loss-from-school-lockdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">far worse off<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wasteful \u2063School Spending<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/190b-later-reason-to-worry-relief-funds-wont-curb-covids-academic-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in-depth investigation<\/a> by the education organization The 74 demonstrated that much of the $190 billion in federal funds has gone to projects that often will not directly help students learn. A series of public records requests discovered just some\u2062 of the ways districts\u200c spent their federal relief dollars.<\/p>\n<p>To begin, in Colorado, a charter school network \u201cspent\u2062 about $70,000 for an\u2062 exterior fence at its Aurora campus so \u2063students and staff could eat outside despite \u200bconcerns about proximity\u2064 to the community\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com\/article\/news\/local\/aurora-city-council-homeless-campus\/73-ed3ebd08-fcf4-49bb-ac7a-c7fa891ff16c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rising homeless population<\/a>.\u201d While this expenditure says \u200cmuch\u200b about social policy in Colorado, it has practically\u2064 nothing to do with reversing learning losses.<\/p>\n<p>In California, Oakland\u2019s\u2063 school \u2062district used\u2063 $1.6 million for a\u2062 payment on a $100 million\u200d loan the district took out from the state of California in 2003 \u2014 well before the coronavirus hit. What\u2019s more, the district\u200b in Stockton, California, \u201cspent over $2 million on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/most-of-the-190-billion-in-covid-aid-to-schools-was-wasted-at-kids-expense\/\" title=\"0B in Covid 'aid' to schools mostly wasted, hurting kids.\">high-level central office positions<\/a>, like a facilities director.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b676897d66b13676386db08514735d46 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b676897d66b13676386db08514735d46\"><\/div>\n<p>Youngstown, Ohio, frittered away\u200d $5 million on equipment and supplies to provide free WiFi from utility poles \u2014 a project the district \u200ccould never implement\u2062 because the city didn\u2019t own all of the utility poles in question.<\/p>\n<p>And in Utah, the Granite Public Schools spent $86,000 on \u201caccommodations\u201d for a conference held at \u2014 wait for it \u2014 Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>Call me crazy, but\u2063 when\u200c the federal government gave out money to help public schools, I don\u2019t think that sending a \u200cbunch of administrators to meet\u2064 Donny Osmond was \u2063at the front of most taxpayers\u2019 minds.\u2062 What\u2019s more, the school district publicly \u200dadvertised and bragged about this extravagant\u2064 expenditure of\u2064 government funds, which \u2063demonstrates that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/teachers-union-sues-parent-over-public-records-release\/\" title=\"Teachers\u2019 union sues parent over public records release\">public school employees<\/a> need some \u2062lessons\u2064 in political science\u2063 \u2014 either that or they just don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"41l4X6fhuceG9zJD6Wr3PviyKFrHh1LjTLopkeqzUxsawQNbNy2mTD0gZKWAnR93tmOOIUgYiJf8CAB\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yep! That\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/donnyosmond?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@donnyosmond<\/a> hanging \u2063with our very own West Lake Teachers last night. So \u200dcool! Our teachers are\u2063 participating\u2062 in the powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SolutionTree?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SolutionTree<\/a> PLC \u200dconference in \u200dLas Vegas this week, and\u2063 this will surely be a part they won\u2019t forget. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ihBw0cQzD1\">pic.twitter.com\/ihBw0cQzD1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 West Lake \u2064STEM (@westlakestem) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/westlakestem\/status\/1535303769742880769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 10, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In \u2062some respects, it\u2019s\u200b a miracle that The 74 could even \u200bcompile these examples of wasteful public school spending. In many states and districts, citizens can\u2019t even \u200btrack where\u2064 districts\u2019 share of the $190 billion in federal funding went \u2014 let alone how (if at all) it \u2064is countering the effects of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nationwide-school-closures-continue-to-impact-kids\/\" title=\"Nationwide School Closures Continue To Impact Kids\">pandemic learning loss<\/a>. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ae123b7b2134f02a01163a792a9fcad fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ae123b7b2134f02a01163a792a9fcad\"><\/div>\n<p>As one \u2063Fairfax \u2062County, Virginia, parent noted, districts\u2019 reports on their spending are\u200c often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/190b-later-reason-to-worry-relief-funds-wont-curb-covids-academic-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cfull of jargon and gobbledygook.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Poor Quality Teaching<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>An even more troubling sign came in the form of another <a href=\"https:\/\/crpe.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ASDP_Wave4_final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent report<\/a>, this one by the Center for Reinventing Public Education. Its study focused on in-depth interviews with leaders at five \u2064public \u200cschool districts and\u2062 found that even \u200cin districts that have dedicated resources toward stemming Covid-related learning \u2064loss, teachers and administrators faced an uphill battle \u200bto regain lost ground.<\/p>\n<p>Broadly speaking, the report\u200d indicated\u200b that districts cannot keep up with the current \u2062curriculum,\u2063 let alone try to undo\u200d the effects of\u200c Covid closures. \u2062Many teachers have left, substitutes and replacements remain scarce, skills have atrophied,\u2063 and administrators lacked the time or ability to supervise teachers\u2019 instructional methods until very recently.<\/p>\n<p>Consider \u200bthe following quotes from the report:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c$500,000\u200b for tutoring, basically. Are you kidding me? That\u2019s a lot of\u200b money. And nothing to show for it\u200c [in terms of impact on student learning].\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe spent a lot of money \u2062on retention bonuses and \u2018please stay\u2019 payments. \u2026 You might \u2062as \u200bwell burn that money because it didn\u2019t\u200c bear out. People left anyway.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAll these [tutoring] companies \u2026 accelerated their\u200b hiring and probably didn\u2019t have time \u2062to appropriately\u2064 train people up or go in and coach people \u2063on the\u200c job. They\u2019re just placing people. And so \u200dwe\u2019re probably \u200cgetting some \u2064B Team members.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI do think the first and foremost issue is \u2018Do we \u2064have enough high quality teachers in \u200dour schools to do \u200bthis \u2062work?\u2019 And the answer is no right now for us.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of protectivist [attitudes among district staff], \u200clike \u2062we can\u2019t ask teachers to do anything else.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201c[We have teachers who lack] expectations for kids; that kids can be excellent.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A demoralized workforce that cannot keep pace, and\u200d in\u200b many cases lacks the initiative\u2064 to demand high \u2063standards of either its\u2062 students or itself \u2014 that\u2019s what $190 billion in federal funds has bought \u2063the American people.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, teachers unions have no one but themselves to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/11\/04\/teachers-unions-want-to-absolve-themselves-for-the-effects-of-their-draconian-lockdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blame for \u2062the problems<\/a> in public education post-Covid, having <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/01\/teachers-union-collaborated-with-cdc-on-school-reopening-emails\/\">lobbied \u2063 <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/01\/teachers-union-collaborated-with-cdc-on-school-reopening-emails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">extensively<\/a> \u2062to keep schools\u2064 closed for most (if not all) of the pandemic. But the next generation of Americans deserves far better from their educational system. <\/p>\n<p>Some are getting it, even if they have to go \u2064outside\u200d the traditional \u200bpublic school system to do so. Here\u2019s hoping that states will \u2064continue to expand school choice \u2014 a\u200b far <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/28\/evidence-continues-to-pile-up-of-catastrophic-learning-loss-from-school-lockdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">better<\/a> investment of taxpayer resources \u2014 to give people more options other than a sclerotic, wasteful, and ineffective public school bureaucracy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-dd7ffaec60c9597cb99731b3a7bbd081 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-dd7ffaec60c9597cb99731b3a7bbd081\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government reports reveal trillions of dollars allocated for &#8220;Covid relief&#8221; were squandered. Fraud accounted for hundreds of billions, while local governments indulged in lavish expenses like renovating a minor league baseball stadium and upgrading golf course irrigation systems. The extent of wasteful spending is alarming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":1981876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1981875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1981875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1981876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1981875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1981875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1981875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}