{"id":2284249,"date":"2024-06-26T19:14:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T23:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nearly-200-billion-in-emergency-school-funding-saw-slight-academic-recovery-studies-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-06-26T19:19:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T23:19:36","slug":"nearly-200-billion-in-emergency-school-funding-saw-slight-academic-recovery-studies-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nearly-200-billion-in-emergency-school-funding-saw-slight-academic-recovery-studies-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly $200 billion in emergency school funding saw slight academic recovery: Studies &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"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\">30<\/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%2Fnearly-200-billion-in-emergency-school-funding-saw-slight-academic-recovery-studies-washington-examiner%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=2284249&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--><p>The summary discusses the\u2063 ineffectiveness of \u200cthe \u2062$190 billion in federal aid provided to U.S. schools during the\u200c COVID-19 pandemic. This massive funding was intended to support \u2063academic\u200b recovery, but research indicates \u200cthat it had minimal \u2063impact on improving student achievement. The funds were used in diverse\u2063 ways, some of which included the advancement of political ideologies \u200cand non-academic upgrades like updating sports facilities. Notable misuses of\u200b the \u2064funds included a school district buying an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/phillys-soros-backed-da-wins-primary-in-a-landslide\/\" title=\"Philly\u2019s Soros-Backed DA Wins Primary In A Landslide\">ice cream truck<\/a> and another financing a lavish visit to Las Vegas. \u200bStudies \u200bfrom top academic institutions showed only modest academic improvements\u200b relative\u200c to the financial input, and minimal or no correlation between additional expenditure and better academic outcomes. The funding \u200cis set to expire soon, necessitating decisions\u200c on remaining allocations. Critics\u200b argue that effective use of funds, rather\u2062 than the quantity, is crucial in \u2062enhancing educational outcomes.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The roughly $190 billion the federal government pumped into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>schools<\/a> in response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>COVID-19 <\/a>ultimately did little to aid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>academic recovery<\/a>, according to two new studies.<\/p>\n<p>The billions of dollars represent the single largest injection of money into the U.S. education system, but two separate studies released Wednesday concluded that students experienced only a modest amount of academic recovery as a result.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the money was used to <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/release\/top-house-republicans-investigate-covid-relief-dollars-funding-critical-race-theory-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>advance<\/a> left-wing ideologies such as critical race theory and gender theory in the classroom. Other schools spent their pandemic funds on non-academic expenses such as refreshing <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/congress-blog\/education\/580477-school-districts-are-wasting-covid-relief-funds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>sports fields<\/a> to synthetic turf and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cagw.org\/thewastewatcher\/report-exposes-misspent-covid-relief-funds-tennessee-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>updating<\/a> sound systems in school gymnasiums and theaters. In two of the more bizarre cases, one school district <a href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/education\/2022\/06\/covid-relief-spending-california-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>purchased<\/a> an ice cream truck with its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-jersey-man-sentenced-to-prison-for-fraudulently-receiving-millions-in-covid-small-business-relief-funds\/\" title=\"New Jersey Man Sentenced To Prison For Fraudulently Receiving Millions In Covid Small Business Relief Funds\">pandemic relief funds<\/a>, while another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/190b-later-reason-to-worry-relief-funds-wont-curb-covids-academic-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>financed<\/a> accommodations at Las Vegas\u2019s ritzy Caesars Palace.<\/p>\n<p>The studies come as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds are set to expire in September, meaning schools will either need to find ways to spend what remains of their allotment or return the leftover cash to the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>ESSER funds were often wasted, as Congress put very few restrictions on the biggest round of funding, a $122 billion boon that only required 20% be spent on academic recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Goldhaber, a co-author of one of the studies, said, \u201cHad there been more pressure around academic achievement, and using the money for that purpose and more guide rails, I think it\u2019s possible the money could have made a much bigger difference,\u201d according to the <em>New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>There was also generally very little oversight of how districts were spending their emergency funds.<\/p>\n<p>Many students are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3051134\/fauci-unmasked-consequences-school-closures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>still not on track<\/a> to catch up to pre-pandemic academic achievement metrics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney itself doesn\u2019t improve student achievement. It matters much more what we do with it,\u201d Jonathan Butcher, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Center for Education Policy, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cA certain amount of money does not automatically translate to a certain level of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-stossel-school-choice-winning\/\" title=\"John Stossel: School Choice Winning\">test score gains<\/a>. There are other reports that schools hired more staff and improved facilities \u2014 neither of which have to do with classroom instruction or more class time, in general.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the studies found a certain level of bounce-back from the pandemic, they also acknowledge that some of that recovery was not related to schools being flush with federal dollars.<\/p>\n<p>One <a href=\"https:\/\/educationrecoveryscorecard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June2024ERS-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>study<\/a> came from researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth universities, and <a href=\"https:\/\/caldercenter.org\/sites\/default\/files\/CALDER%20WP%20301-0624.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>the other<\/a> came from the University of Washington. Both looked at third- through eighth-grade test results from the 2022-2023 school year in 30 states.<\/p>\n<p>Generally, for every $1,000 spent per pupil, school districts saw small increases in math and reading scores, according to both studies. However, as many critics have noted, more money did not lead to more success, and changes such as <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.3102\/0162373708327524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>smaller class sizes<\/a> and improved schools have been shown to improve academic progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe increases in spending didn\u2019t prevent drastic increases in student absenteeism, for example,\u201d Butcher said. \u201cThe school choice programs adopted during the last three years will result in far more positive outcomes for students than the sudden influx of federal money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the Harvard study, school districts that received the most money, which were the poorest schools, recovered at a faster rate than their richer counterparts that got less money. Districts that spent more per pupil recovered up to 50% of learning loss in math, compared to districts that received less money and saw only a 15% recovery.<\/p>\n<p>However, those numbers were calculated using comparisons to the districts\u2019 pre-pandemic test scores, which were generally already higher in wealthier school districts. While school districts in impoverished areas are still behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-dakota-lowers-unemployment-to-pre-pandemic-levels-after-state-rejected-lockdowns\/\" title=\"South Dakota Lowers Unemployment to Pre-Pandemic Levels After State Rejected Lockdowns\">pre-pandemic levels<\/a>, researchers believe the ESSER funding helped some of the recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the federal relief dollars were disproportionately targeted at low-income districts, they are contributing to narrowing the gaps which widened during the pandemic,\u201d the Harvard study stated.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration touted the studies, with Neera Tanden, domestic policy adviser, saying, \u201cThis new data makes clear that the president\u2019s investment in education helped millions of students regain ground faster,\u201d according to the <em>New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>However, both studies tee up a fresh conversation about school funding. Some advocates, particularly teachers unions, may demand a continuation of pandemic-era funding instead of returning to funding levels seen prior to COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal aid was like the first stage of a rocket. It got us going, but had a broad focus and was ultimately insufficient to get us all the way,\u201d Dr. Thomas Kane, a Harvard professor and one of the study\u2019s co-authors, said in a press release. \u201cTo complete the recovery, states will need to step up, focusing on academic catch-up efforts, such as tutoring and summer learning, and lowering absenteeism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Butcher said he anticipated hearing this argument more as the end of ESSER approaches this fall, saying that interested parties such as teachers unions will begin to use these kinds of data points to make the argument that returning to pre-pandemic funding levels means schools are now dramatically underfunded.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two new studies suggest that the approximately $190 billion the federal government allocated to schools during COVID-19 had minimal impact on academic recovery. Despite being the largest-ever financial boost to U.S. education, the studies, released Wednesday, indicate only modest improvements in student outcomes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2284250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/School-Reopen-Illinois.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[32949,32948,32947,4039,32076],"class_list":["post-2284249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-200-billion","tag-academic-recovery","tag-emergency-school-funding","tag-studies","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/School-Reopen-Illinois.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284249","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\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2284250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}