School districts face tough choices as last of pandemic-era federal aid runs out

As September comes to a close, public schools across the country are finding themselves at the edge of a funding cliff as pandemic-era federal dollars run out. Principals in Georgia and Ohio describe how they are affected, and Ali Rogin speaks with Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab, for more about what schools have planned.

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John Yang :  As September comes to a close. Public schools across the country are finding themselves at the edge of a federal funding cliff. Ali Rogin explains. Ali Rogin :  In the throes of the pandemic, Congress passed three acts totaling nearly $190 billion in aid for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER Fund. The money was meant to tackle education problems brought on by the pandemic, including learning loss, chronic absenteeism and worsening mental health. The last of the funds will run out in just a few days, and some districts will need to slash jobs, increase class sizes and cut programs. We spoke with principals in Georgia and Ohio. Suzan Harris, Principal, Henderson Middle School :  I hate to see the funds go, because one of the things that we use the funds for, that I think nobody really pushes anymore, is enrichment. We were able to kind of give back to our community, in a sense, by having those offering those camps. We had photography, robotics. John Gies, Principal, Shelby High School :  We were able to hire some tutors to come in and be here during the school day. So we would we would pull kids to meet with them, to get them caught up. Suzan Harris :  It was a breath of fresh air for education, for educators to have access to funds to do some of the things that we can’t really do without funding. John Gies :  Unfortunately, what it comes down to is that you have to figure out what has to go and so, you prioritize things, and you and you go from there. Ali Rogin :  For more on what schools have planned we’re joined by Marguerite Roza, the director of Georgetown University’s Edgeomics Lab, a research center that studies education, finance, policy. Marguerite, thank you so much for being here. We heard from a few principals about how their schools spent the money. But give us a sense of what schools around the country have been using these funds for. Marguerite Roza, Georgetown University :  Well, the money came in the form of a blank check. Lot of districts put some money into facilities. Some hired new people. Often we saw more counselors and nurses social workers. Some gave out pay raises. Some stood up tutoring programs, summer school programs, some used it to prevent budget cuts that might have otherwise been happening. We really saw the whole range of decisions out there. Ali Rogin :  And do you have a sense of who was helped the most by these funds? Marguerite Roza :  Well, the money did have a stabilizing effect on school districts. So when the pandemic hit, we saw a lot of enrollment gaps, so a lot of enrollment declines. And normally districts would have to right size their districts cut some programs and schools, and the money helped prevent that. Then we saw inflation, and many districts could use the money to hold on to their staff and get do pay raises. I think that was a benefit. Overall across the country, we saw some modest improvement in math and reading, which was welcome improvement, given that math and reading really took a hit during the pandemic. We have not fully recovered from that. Some improvements in attendance again, still, attendance is not where it was before the pandemic, so it’s a lot of lot of different effects out there. Ali Rogin :  And how is the sun setting of this fund going to be affecting these schools? Marguerite Roza :  Well, districts right now have to decide what they’re going to cut and what they’re going to keep, so they don’t have to go back to the way things were before. But most districts did put, on average, maybe a half or more of that money into labor expenses. So that means cutting people or trying to stall salaries, things like that. And then a lot of districts also paid for vendors, whether those were for apps or safety or security, landscaping, facilities, HVAC, you name it. And many of those will likely be ending, so parents should expect that maybe they’ll see fewer staff in their schools in this coming year than they did in previous years. But I think different districts, again, will make different choices. Ali Rogin :  And of course, these funds were meant to address some of the impacts of the pandemic, which, as we mentioned, included learning loss, absenteeism, things that don’t seem to have gone away. So what is the extent of the problems as they exist now versus at the beginning of the pandemic, when these funds were initially allocated? Marguerite Roza :  In some districts, the progress has been pretty impressive. In others, students have continued their scores have continued to decline. Attendance has continued to fall. Some entire states, we’ve seen a lot more progress than in others. So it’s really uneven right now, and that is one of the more difficult things, is families have to check in with their district to see what happens next. The money goes away. Are we still going to see more improvement in reading and math, because otherwise these students will be affected for the rest of their lives. Ali Rogin :  And this brings up another wider issue. This was always meant to be a temporary infusion. Would you say that some schools have overextended themselves in using these funds for things that they were always going to have additional expenses for, but now the source of the funding has gone away? Marguerite Roza :  It depends on the district. I mean, there are districts that are in pretty good shape right now, and some that are really not high poverty, urban districts, large districts, got a lot more money per student than some more affluent districts, so they just have a bigger part of their budget now disappearing, and they made different choices. Some were very careful not to bring on too many more staff or commit to recurring raises, and other ones did. Some districts have simultaneously lost a lot of students, and that’s a compounding financial effect. Ali Rogin :  Congress is unlikely to approve any extension of this aid, even though the White House has been pushing for at least some extension, and the White House is saying that it’s now time for state and local officials to carry this baton and work to fill up the gaps that are going to be left by this fund ceasing to exist. How do you anticipate state and local administrators to respond to that call? Marguerite Roza :  School District leaders don’t usually see one time money. Normally the money that comes it becomes permanent money, and so many of them acted accordingly. And now we’re hearing this message that states ought to pick up the tab going forward, which kind of sends that, that message again, the worry somebody’s going to fill in the holes, but states don’t have the money, so that’s the issue. The federal government, of course, can operate on a deficit, you know, with debt, but states generally cannot. And so unless taxpayers are willing to increase taxes substantially in states, they don’t have 190 billion to fill in here, and that’s what’s creating the financial pressure for school districts. Ali Rogin :  A distressing reality for people across this country. Marguerite Roza with Georgetown University. Thank you so much for breaking this down for us. Marguerite Roza :  Happy to be here.