Pop Quiz: Are School COVID Relief Funds Working?

Educators and analysts still don’t understand whether the billions the federal government sent to schools is achieving its goals.

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Last September, McAllen, a mid-sized city in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, was considering how best to spend some of the nearly $140 million it received in federal COVID-relief funds. In addition to hiring counselors and educational staff, the McAllen Independent School District (ISD) Board of Trustees had another idea: What if it expanded a “historic Spanish Revival adobe hacienda surrounded by lush tropical landscaping & native woodland?”

The Quinta Mazatlan, which the board unanimously voted to spend $4 million to expand, is an old estate and lush bird sanctuary owned by the city of McAllen. The money will fund construction of a school science center on the grounds, with the aim of teaching students about ecology.

“We’re using this money to address achievement gaps, which do exist as a result of COVID, and this will not only address those achievement gaps, but it’s going to connect kids to higher education, and it’s going to bolster their education in the scientific realm for decades to come,” McAllen ISD spokesperson Mark May told local news station KRGV.

One of the funds’ major purposes is to address learning loss, which remains a problem after COVID. One national analysis showed that in spring 2021, K-12 students were an average of five months behind in math and four months behind in reading.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    The funds should mainly be used for two things (assuming repairing school facilities is not required). 1. Give teachers who put up with a lot and worked hard during the pandemic a raise. 2. More importantly, the money is temporary, but so is the learning loss problem. Immediately hire enough tutors to cover all of the kids who have fallen behind and start giving them free remedial education in reading, math, etc. (No woke nonsense - this is to address learning loss, not “white privilege.”)

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    Michael Darwin

    As a school teacher I can tell you our administration (which has now changed, at least at the very top) was throwing money at whatever they could, and little of it seemed aimed at repairing what our students lost for 18 months. They just knew they had money and had to use it or lose it.

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    Jeff Younger

    One problem that jumps out is the time constraints attached to the funds. Reminds me of my experience in the Navy as the end of the fiscal year approached. Rather than reward officers and NCOs who ended the year with a surplus of disposable/discretionary funds, we were ordered to ensure every last penny was spent prior to fiscal year end. A surplus was viewed negatively, in that it might reduce future budgets. While that was just my little corner of the federal leviathan, I doubt it was a unique scenario.

    Perhaps school boards might make better use of the funds if they had assurances that productive, cost-effective utilization, even an initial proposal requiring some fleshing out, would allow the deadlines to be extended. Or better yet, incentivize those districts that improve results without burning through unnecessary funding.

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  4. Emma

    No.

    Lol. Sorry. But this was always an easy free money giveaway disguised as "covid relief" just like every other bill to "save the children" or "clean the air" we've seen in congress. Also a great test run in control, obedience, and easy path to more government dependence and permission. Predictable as usual.

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  5. LucyTrice

    Thanks very much for this.

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  6. linda

    Last year my granddaughter's public school completed an update of the playfield. Good news. It only cost a million and a half and they used top of the line fake turf. It is an elementary school with 300 or so students in grades K-5.
    The last school year they offered free breakfast and lunch for every student in an effort to spend down the fed covid dollars. This is an upscale school district north of Seattle with very very few families who qualify for reduced or free lunches. Many of the families are employed by different tech companies and spent the covid months working from home with zero interruption in finances. When my daughter called up to complain their answer was "BUT IT'S FREE!". Apparently the "no free lunch" idea has not caught on.
    Now they are panicked because a ton of kids never came back to school post covid. Offed to private they went. In a small city there are 5 private schools of different sizes and the Catholic school is spending the summer adding onto their school buildings. The district is spending their time trying to poach students from neighboring districts. No doubt they will use the super duper fake turf for elementary schools as bait.

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      Matt A

      It all kinda reminds me of when I was in elementary school in SD, the state legislature made a law that schools could only have so much cash in the bank. So now literally every school has a gym dating to circa 2000.
      Then eight years later, literally every district had to vote to opt-out of the property tax limit to fund the schools because they were virtually insolvent.

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  7. Token Liberal

    Let's recall that everything was shut down and that massive federal spending was needed quickly to keep the economy and people afloat. Extended and enlarged unemployment money, PPP loans and grants, money to state and local governments, including schools, cash to most of us. It was a blunt instrument, and as our current inflation shows, overdone. But imagine the country without any of this. So while I appreciate this article and the pointing out that these schools have lots of one time money they really don't know how to spend, let's also remember the rest of the story.

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      Charlie Hall

      Not clear that it was overdone. The inflation is caused as much by supply chain constraints as by demand.

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      Kmregan7

      If they asked teachers and paras and librarians and counselors, they'd figure out ways to spend it.

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    3. Emma

      Sorry. But expecting the working poor to subsidize the "work from home class" by continuing to pack your grocceries, attend your gas station, etc. was never about public health. The entire policy was based on who we deemed to be essential to society. Meanwhile, parents complained they had to...wait for it...educate their own kids and white collar workers took full advantage of uber eats and home delivery while the rest took on multiple jobs to get around the lockdown and survive. Covid was never the serious issue government made it, and sadly way too many were quick to bend over and surrender their liberty in the name of safety. The whole thing was as predictable as sunshine.

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      1. Token Liberal

        I'm not defending the many errors made. I am defending quick action in the face of a stark situation. Many of the expenditures were targeted to help the working poor, such as expanded unemployment benefits and expanded child tax credits.

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        1. Emma

          NOT shutting things down to begin with would have been the best solution. The entire thing has been a disaster.

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          1. Avatar photo
            Charlie Hall

            Not shutting things down would have cost hundreds of thousands of lives in New York City alone. The two week delay in shutting down almost destroyed our healthcare system. I don't think people realize how bad things were at the begininng of the pandemic.

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          2. Token Liberal

            I get that this was controversial, and where schools were concerned, too much. But once that was done, money had to come from somewhere. And here I am defending legislation signed into law by Trump. A small wonder, I assure you!

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  8. Avatar photo
    Dexember

    I’ve seen the inner bowels of some school districts and this article tracks with what I’ve seen. The idea of extending the school year is an innovative way around hiring no new people while still focusing on kids learning.

    But this works because most of those kids are staying home. This shrinks the teacher to student ratio and that is a great metric for boosting outcomes. Having to teach 36 students to read is just not going to be as effective as teaching 12.

    A real shift would be to pay teachers more if they are teaching English or Math. Pay more for teaching harder cases. Put incentives to have better teachers working with smaller groups. And stop paying the Art Teacher the same as the Science Teacher. Just doesn’t make sense. There is a reason Art Teachers work till they die in one position. Cushy gig, little to no homework to grade or state paperwork or standardized test pressure, but the same salary.

    Local school boards have parents who don’t want any change because they know how to game or play the system for their kid to get into college. So local school boards are just not going to be reforming in positive ways. All the changes will come “within” the schools by administrators who are still changing things and experimenting with kids using “new” old ideas like open schools and such.

    The biggest push has been for technology to save learning. For one-to-one laptop to kid. So for the pandemic to show this tactic is actually bad for kids when applied fully? No, a lot of district administration won’t actually see the lesson being taught. There is no substitute for repeated practice and there is no bigger motivation for kids to practice than a good relationship with a teacher they trust. All the tools are fine, just not replacement for human connection.

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    1. LucyTrice

      I agree with much of what you say. However, your comments about art teachers do not reflect what I have seen in our county.

      I live in a penny-pinching red county. Art teachers know their jobs depend on providing value. Consequently, the elementary school art curriculum was designed to support math, language arts and social studies. They learned about perspective and color as well as being introduced to a variety of classic artists, and they get to learn with their hands as well as with their brains.

      Teacher pay is a tough one. Our state school board has just proposed changes to licensure which reflect some of your concerns. We'll see how it goes.

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        Kmregan7

        Everyone hates the art teachers, the art colleges, the artists......until they want to watch tv, listen to music, enjoy art museums, etc. And art as been proven to bolster math and science, history, and creativity.

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          Dexember

          I’m not anti-art in schools. I’m against paying the Art teacher the same as the English teacher.

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        Dexember

        I worked in red county schools too. And I’m not disparaging any Art Teacher or the value they can add.

        As a side note, the individual variance between great and mediocre art teachers is the same as other subjects. I’ve known both inspired art teachers and dull burn outs.

        But the value and mandatory work that is placed on getting good grades in art is simply not the same as an English Teacher. Mandatory tutoring, state paperwork, standardized test prep, disability and 504 requirements, teaching a 14 year old with dyslexia to read! It’s just not the same job as an Art Teacher, and the incentives should reflect that.

        The only way to make more money in the traditional pay scale is to leave the classroom for Administration. No thank you.

        And Licensure is it’s own potential pitfall. My state preferred Education Departments over independent licensing preparation. A difference in thousands of dollars that is meant to limit competition from non-education degrees. And adding more step pay for a masters degree is not connected to better teaching.

        What is your state going to try and change in licensure?

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          Kmregan7

          You denigrated art teachers as people who are in it for a cushy job that has little work (grading, etc.) which isn't true. And art teachers, btw, have to abide by standards of curriculum just like other teachers: here's the link to our state's curriculum standards that kids have to learn in visual arts https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Division-of-Learning-Services/Career-Standards-and-Assessment-Services/Content-Area-F-L/Fine-Arts-Dance-Media-Arts-Music-Theatre-Visual-Arts/Visual-Arts/Visual-Arts-Standards

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          1. Avatar photo
            Dexember

            I have little regard for state standards for ALL subjects. They are a terrible mix of extremely interpretive, broad guidelines and painfully precise pin points of data. The curriculum is 70% school district and 30% teacher discretion. No teacher really hits all state standards at a level that would be recognized as having be taught. Some standards are given a day, others a month.

            And none of that has to do with workload. An art teacher isn’t having to teach math for standardized tests, history for grade completion, or doing extra English work for disabled students who still count against you if they aren’t “on-level”.

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        2. LucyTrice

          I could not find the original article- interestingly all the articles on this site have had their titles changed to make clear the NCAE is not happy with the proposals.

          I do not know enough about the proposal to judge. My observations of pay for performance as previously implemented do not make me a fan.

          https://www.wral.com/facing-pushback-nc-education-leaders-defend-teacher-licensure-revision/20403739/

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        3. LucyTrice

          I see your point about the additional work required by state regulation. I'm wondering if our state gets around that by having supporting positions to handle the tutoring, etc.
          I seem to recall certain teachers going from school to school working with certain groups of students.

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  9. LucyTrice

    8th graders that can not do fractions??? If COVID is to blame, that means prior to COVID we had 5th or 6th graders who could not do fractions. Who do we blame that on? Fractions, in my experience, are 3rd or 4th grade, but learning to use a ruler comes earlier.

    This is heartbreaking.

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  10. Mathew A

    First good article.

    Second, 3rd graders that don't know how to read??? Both my kids were reading by 5. My daughter is 7 and reading through books like Charlies and the Chocolate factory on their own. Yes I blame our poor public schools but also the parents. If you spend 10-15 minutes a day with a kid you can teach them to read within 6 months. You shouldn't be sending your kid to school to learn to read, they should already know how. Parents do your damn job.


    Regarding all the money. First you don't have to spend the money if you don't have good projects to spend it on. It's ok not to waste it.

    But I would bet money that most/all schools could use a much improved HVAC system. You want very fresh rotating air.

    Also, to get kids back up to speed, maybe don't take half the year off. Instead of only doing 180ish days of school shoot for 250 or so. Pay the teachers a big bonus if you need to but get those kids in school, and don't take long breaks Long breaks DESTROY learning. It also makes it really hard to get kids back on task.




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    1. Avatar photo
      Kmregan7

      I have a ten year old who has trouble reading. Severe dyslexia. So no, it's not so easy to teach all kids to read. And kids shouldn't be learning how to read until age 7 anyway - they CAN learn, but developmentally they aren't necessarily ready. Same with writing - the muscles in their hands and forearms and fingers aren't developed by learning how to write early: that takes practice and development. And nobody takes a half a year off - they get, maybe three months. There are longer school days and longer school years and especially for earlier grades, sitting in a classroom isn't necessarily great (they need movement and play - that's how kids learn).

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    2. LucyTrice

      There are a lot of caveats that need to be put in place before committing to the idea of extending the school year as a good one.

      1. 250 days of teaching the same things that they are spending 180 days on right now? First answer the question as to why we need 250 days to do what 180 days used to do - this is a serious question, not an expression of curmudgeonliness.

      2. School is not the only place to learn, but extending the school year to such a degree would reinforce the idea that that, in fact, is the case. If education is to teach us about the world, then spending time in that world opens new perspectives on the material presented. That time can be precious.

      As well, learning to pursue interests outside the close adult supervision that seems ubiquitous is particularly important to becoming a productive human.

      3. Again, a serious question: For those school districts that don't live up to their responsibilities with the time they do have, why give them more? School is torture for some students and performance suffers. It can be particularly painful for those who feel teachers are shortchanging them (Required to read only one (1) entire book in Honors English 3 - yes, it really happened.) 180 days or 250 days, that needs to be addressed.

      4. The practice of reducing hands on activities that require supplemental materials (other than paper and rubber bands) in order to meet budget constraints needs to be addressed. These would include substantial science labs, including "real" chemicals and heat, art classes that include pottery and sculpture, shop classes that include wood and metal working. My perception is that these classes are perceived as being too expensive, unrelated to actual "education", and generate higher insurance premiums. We are swamped with information on different "learning styles" while watching schools eliminate or fail to provide substantial alternatives. (To be clear: reading and writing are about communicating ideas and so of primary importance, but they communicate information on things, systems, relationships that exist independent of words. Both benefit from knowledge of each other.)

      5. In our area, high schools (9-12 grade) operate on block schedules, with four classes each day. Some school systems offer 8 year-long classes which meet on alternating days. In our county, high school students (the ones we are taught still have developing brains and poor decision making abilities) cram a year's learning into a single semester. A student can go 9 months between math classes. I would very much like to see the concerns over learning loss applied to this situation. (I have been told it is set up this way in order to allow struggling students who fail a class or two the chance to graduate on time.)

      Now, if those additional days included fun but rigorous classes that were primarily hands on and allowed students to acquire skills using sharp objects and electricity, I am all ears.

      In my state alone there are more than 100 school systems. Needless to say, some are better than others, and lack of local funding can be a significant contributor to that. The elementary school my children attended had at that time 10 or more kindergarten classes (full day). Extrapolating those numbers points to the large number of teachers involved across the county and state, and so the large range of experience and perspective within each school building. In my experience there is a great deal of integrity, some very good teachers, and lots of people working to do the best they can with what they have. There are also some crazy rules, many connected to the strings governments attach to the money they give.

      I do understand that students come from a wide variety of family situations. For some, a much longer school year would reduce worries over providing safe activities when school is out and would boost acquisition of fundamental skills in math, reading and writing. Others desperately need a break from the BS. This far from a complete list of issues to be addressed.

      Lastly, it will be interesting to see how/if your take on these issues changes as your children get older. Our elementary school experience was excellent up to my son's 4th grade year. His sister's middle school experience started out well but deteriorated by the end of 8th grade. Four years of home schooling for both followed (would have done private school if it was affordable and closer), followed by a return to public high school for my son. There are lots of factors that contributed to our experience, including the curmudgeonliness of our children's mother. I am an absolute supporter of public school in principle (excellent public education being the only foundation for a solid democratic republic), but the reality left me with no desire to give them any more of my family's time than absolutely necessary.

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      1. Mathew A

        You’ve made a lot of really good points here.

        A note about our personal situation. While we used to be very involved in the public schools (I served on the local charter school board, and my wife used to be a teacher). By the time our kids were ready to go to a public school we decided to home school (probably 2019 or so). That decision just being reinforced by all the COVID education problems. Basically we wanted our kids education to be focused on the 3 R’s and not whatever woke nonsense becomes cool.

        Of course with home schooling we have extra flexibility with our curriculum. We do 5 days a week basically week in and week out. You get the day of the major holiday off that’s it (usually take Christmas eve off 2). Then Saturdays do something different like a book report. So a couple of hours of work books, plus plenty of time for arts and crafts and music etc (learning piano, guitar plus music production because that’s one of Dad’s hobbies).


        Getting back to your points,

        1. I was just addressing what they could do with the COVID money and how they might close that learning gap they have. I would hope an extra year or two of longer school years could close that gap. Though I admit I think they should be doing that all the time. I think you fill that time with one more practice so you REALLY learn the material. And even when you move on, make sure you are getting regular practice in so you don’t forget what you have mastered.

        2. True, but I think you have to master that school stuff first. If you are a third grader that can’t read, then DROP FRIGGEN EVERYTHING AND TEACH THAT KID TO READ. IMHO, literally nothing else is important. Learning to read is the foundation of everything else.

        3. I think we should have full school choice. So parents should be able to move their kids out of schools that aren’t performing. If those schools shut down, then too bad.

        4. Agreed but not really relevant to the COVID money IMHO. I think you want to address that with long term funding.

        5. Yeah, block schedules are horrible. Kids need every day practice especially with math. Practice, practice, then practice some more.

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        1. LucyTrice

          I absolutely agree with you on the importance of practice! Why do we understand the importance of building physical muscle through practice but not the fact that brain connections are strengthened through practice?

          I do disagree on the need to master school stuff first. Yes, absolutely, learning to read must be the first thing on the agenda for a child who is behind. But a kid can only handle so much in one day. Keeping things interesting with activities that challenge physical thinking allows a constructive break and the opportunity to sneak in reading practice in different contexts.

          School choice is important: I know what it is like to have no choice and can only imagine what that feels like for a single parent stuck in an underperforming school or with a school staff that does not listen. But we should be practicing doing more than one thing at a time - allow school choice while addressing deficiencies in the assigned school.

          Best of luck with the home schooling! I would much rather teach other peoples' children.

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          1. Mathew A

            "But a kid can only handle so much in one day"

            agreed. But it doesn't take much time each day to do this. WTF are they doing in these classrooms, and what are the parents doing?

            I think my kids are smart (I'm sure we all do :) ) but I refuse to believe they are that much smarter than the rest. And that's we can't teach all kids (except maybe some special needs kids) to read by 3rd grade, shoot I would say by the end of 1st grade at the VERY latest.

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        Dexember

        See my point above: extended school year is really about reduced class size as teachers focused more on those kids that need it, the kids have less distractions, and the teachers are freed up from the school year drive to relentlessly teach the mandatory curriculum by end of year. A lot there I would like to change but the facts are what they are for right now. Reforming the rest of school is going to be very hard and long.

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        1. LucyTrice

          Sorry, I'm not following how the extended school year reduces class sizes or why some students stay home leading to lower student to teacher ratios.

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