Facing dual crises, schools need fed relief
To call this past year and the current one unprecedented does not accurately capture the ups and downs we have experienced. COVID-19 has disrupted our lives for about a year, and now many Texans are also in recovery from the devastating winter storms.
These same issues continue to strain and stress public schools and students. Schools are juggling both in-person and virtual learners, as well as making repairs to facilities damaged by consecutive days of freezing temperatures.
State lawmakers face the additional financial, regulatory and policy challenges posed by the statewide power outages and accompanying health and humanitarian concerns of a storm that impacted all 254 Texas counties. They also face an educational crisis that must be addressed to ensure the long-term prosperity of the state.
Texas lawmakers must preserve the promise and funding of House Bill 3, a landmark public education and school finance reform bill passed in 2019 to better address the needs of teachers, students and public schools. However, simply reaffirming the commitment to House Bill 3 is not sufficient in light of COVID-19. House Bill 3 provides a normal budget for a normal school year, and we are far from normalcy.
The federal government is providing billions in COVID-19 relief funding to public schools, but here in North East ISD and all across Texas, our schools haven’t been able to access those funds to mitigate the pandemic-related burdens.
Texas initially received $1.3 billion in federal stimulus funding for public schools last spring. However, our district and schools across the state did not see any additional new money because Texas instead used those federal relief dollars to sustain its funding obligation to public education. It was a dollar-for-dollar trade-off of federal funds for state funds (known as supplanting).
In December, leaders in Washington approved $5.5 billion in federal funds for educational needs in Texas, but this money also promised to our schools hasn’t materialized yet either.
In our community alone, we are missing opportunities to help students and families address challenges created by the pandemic. Our children need additional time and resources to close learning gaps brought on by the disruption. Our families need support with mental wellness, which has become more critical with rising stress and isolation.
Higher numbers of students are off-track to graduate, and we estimate our summer school costs will significantly increase as more students will require intervention. For example, we plan to expand our elementary summer school sites from four in 2020 to 21 sites this summer.
Our community has seen a significant increase in domestic violence calls — almost 14 percent — since the pandemic started, which means school staff are spending more time on wellness checks, behavior interventions and counseling without more resources. These needs are not unique to North East ISD. School districts across Texas need additional funding to improve broadband access, address learning loss, extend instructional time for students and support teachers with professional development.
We cannot afford to continue depriving our educators of what they need to effectively respond to this crisis and reach and serve all students. As the crisis mounts and the pandemic persists, we must ensure our state leaders invest in the youngest Texans and future workforce by providing resources now for their educational recovery.
Education Commissioner Mike Morath has publicly stated a three-month teacher strike in Argentina resulted in across-theboard declines in educational outcomes that reduced the country’s GDP for 20 years. Failure to act now will have long-term ramifications for our state’s prosperity.
It is abundantly clear to me our state cannot fully recover from the dual crises of COVID-19 and the winter storms without ensuring public schools, students, faculty and facilities fully recover, too. Let’s stand together, Texas, and make sure our state leaders heed the call: Federal dollars intended for public schools should go to public schools. Invest in our future while addressing the immediate crisis we face today.