Judge Demands Access to Report on Racism at Newark School, Currently Withheld From Public
January 25, 2024
Double-Header Tonight in Newark and Asbury Park
January 25, 2024New Jersey Has Spent Just 62% of Its Emergency COVID Money
Back in 2021 the Biden Administration announced the American Rescue Plan, intended to fund educational learning loss, courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole package was about $189 billion and New Jersey’s share was close to $3 billion, what Andrew Rotherham called a “massive spending package” and President Biden called “a big f-cking deal.” There were few conditions attached to the money—not enough, if you ask me—and a few deadlines: all the funding has to be allocated by November 2024 and all of it has to be spent by January 2025 (save some minimal extensions).
This week FutureED calculated how much each state has spent so far as November draws nearer. Note that funds that have already been allocated are not reflected in these numbers. According to the federal database, spending is “uneven.” Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Nevada, and Washington have spent more than 80% of their allotments and nine states have spent less than 60%.
How about New Jersey?
We are just above the lowest-spending states, having spent 61.9% of our federal allotment, also known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. No doubt much of our remaining money will be accounted for, either through facilities renovations and high-dosage tutoring plans we’re still paying for.
Here is the state-by-state data:
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New Jersey was given almost 3 BILLON dollars from the American Rescue Plan in early spring of 2021, to rescue our schools. This is a sizable amount of money and considered a very big deal. The money was to tackle the enormous learning loss resulting from school closures due to the pandemic.
Guiding principles and essential strategies were given the the State Board of Education as a detailed roadmap. The hard work was already done.
One of the immediate strategies was aggressive tutoring. A longer strategy was training and certifying teachers in the science of reading. New Jersey called for an “all hands on deck” approach using volunteer tutors, which failed miserably. And to date, 46 other states have already implemented programs in the science of reading.
Nearly 3 years have passed and bill S4061 is pending in the Senate and this years State of the State address, given by Governor Murphy, introduced these strategies.
To the casual listener, it gives pause that it has taken 3 years for any meaningful action. But, for the student that has struggled for the last 3 years, it is unconscionable. Unlike money that gains interest, time is lost. And if it is your child, you are appalled and angry.
We have heard for many years, that New Jersey is the envy of the nation, when it comes to education. Instead of “First in the Nation” we may be considered the “Slowpoke” of the nation, if we don’t start moving with a greater sense of urgency. It is a bit questionable that New Jersey has only spent shy of 62% of it’s nearly 3 BILLION dollars. That ranks us #40 not #1.
Amen!!!