Senate Education Chair M. Teresa Ruiz issued the following statement welcoming the Biden Administration’s move to begin collecting data on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on education around the country:

“I am grateful the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers included a directive for the Secretary of Education to begin collecting data on the impact of COVID-19 on our students and the current status of in-person learning around the country. The data points they are looking for largely fall in line with the data I have been calling to see at the statewide level to assess the learning loss that has occurred over the course of this past year.

“The order as a whole is a welcome step in the right direction. If we are genuinely committed to closing the achievement gap we must acknowledge there was a divide pre-COVID, assess how it has grown throughout the pandemic, and invest post-COVID to ensure that it does not continue to grow. It is a welcome relief to have a federal administration that shares in these goals and understands the value of a quality, equitable education for all of our children.”