In late October, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the country’s so-called “report card” for 2022. The bottom line: The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly held back educational success. of schoolchildren in the country.
Math scores have now fallen to their lowest levels since tests were first introduced in 1990, with fourth-graders dropping out five problems and 8 problems for eighth-graders. Reading scores also dropped, across 3 problems in total. From about 10 topics it is a year of learning.
Many complaints can be filed left and right about the mismanagement of public schools during the pandemic and the resulting negative effect has an effect on student success. But instead of playing the blame game, it’s time for elected officials to step in combination and find answers that will help academics get back on track before it’s too late.
That means giving parents and their children the opportunity to attend math and English remedial categories this summer to help students catch up on their studies. Unlike the classic summer school, attendance will not be required and categories will be free. The summer would be introduced to assistance families who need to travel during part of the break.
Offering loose summer schools might not possibly be cheap, but fortunately, the federal government has already provided states and localities with resources they can use to implement the policy. The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, a U. S. component, is a component of the U. S. It has provided $350 billion to state, local, and tribal governments across the country for their reaction and recovery from the Covid-19 public fitness emergency.
According to the White House, the SLFRF can “fund a number of facilities for children who are responding directly to the pandemic affecting children’s learning and well-being,” adding the effect of lost learning time for K-12 students. That means state and local governments can use the money to offer summer and remedial classes to help young people catch up on basic subjects like math, reading and writing.
To date, about a portion of the SLFRF budget has been allocated through state, local, and tribal governments. That leaves $100 billion to $125 billion unspent. While estimates vary, fees for summer enrichment courses range from $100 to $1,000 per course. Average charge of $500 consistent with the course, we can provide each and every public school student in America (just under $50 million) with math instruction this summer for $25 billion.
While the pandemic has created hardship for countless Americans, no other organization has been more affected, and benefited less from the many stimulus spending enacted under Republican and Democratic administrations, than our schoolchildren. committing what’s left of its SLFRF budget to keep schools open this summer for any students who need to get out to close the educational hole created by the pandemic.