Beyond COVID Recovery
Vermont school districts are receiving a combined $285 Million as part of the American Rescue Plan to be spent over three years. The question remains as to whether schools will use this money to push for transformation or to return to the status quo.
Vermont schools received historic one time investments in public education from the Federal Government as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This money came through three separate legislative acts and was distributed in three pots of money: ESSER I, ESSER II, ESSER III. This report is looking solely at ESSER III, which was the largest one time invest in public education in our nation’s history. We partnered with the VT-NEA to create this report: Full Funding for Public Schools in a Post COVID Recovery Funds Era. The report is a look at how schools have allocated the largest round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, ESSER III, to date (Jan. 2024). The information is broken down by school district.
What’s happening with the large influx of funds that Vermont schools received for COVID Recovery? Are COVID Recovery funds supporting equity – or not? We’ve done the research and have the answers for you! We partnered with the VT-NEA and Rights & Democracy to create A Report of Emergency School Relief Spending in Vermont Schools to analyze school COVID relief spending plans for how well they support equity. We’ve even broken it out by school district, so you can see which equity investments your school is making.
We created a Beyond COVID Recovery Organizing Toolkit that includes funding recommendations that push for education justice and offers strategies to organize in your local community to impact your school district’s spending plan. We’ve also included a timeline as well as some additional resources links. This toolkit was developed through collective wisdom from our first event in this series with work, love, and input from the Coalition Education Organizing Committee and Coalition Core Members.
