April 2021 Advisor

BUDGETING

4 CEA ADVISOR APRIL 2021

CONNECTICUT SCHOOLS TO RECEIVE $1.1 BILLION IN FEDERAL COVID RELIEF Funding will help learning recovery, mental health, technology, building safety

The American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, provides $1.9 trillion in COVID relief that will help fund public schools and lift countless children and families out of poverty. For Connecticut, this means K-12 schools will receive more than $1.1 billion, largely allocated to districts in proportion to the amount of Title I funding they receive. It is important, however, that this money is used for the purposes it was intended—to supplement state education funding, not take the place of it. To ensure that this happens, CEA leaders, staff, and members have been active in legislative hearings (see article at right) and in rallies and other events (see facing page) to call for full funding of schools and a fair budget for all. “The hardships created by this pandemic aren’t over,” said CEA President Jeff Leake. “Teachers are very thankful that President Biden and Congress have listened to educators and aim to address not only the learning loss children have experienced during this pandemic but also the trauma so many have faced and continue to face.” About 25 percent of the funding for states and districts must be set aside for summer school, summer enrichment, and extended-day programs to help with learning recovery. Remaining funds are to focus primarily on the needs of low- income students, children with disabilities, English learners, and children who are members of racial and ethnic minorities. Funding can be used for measures including mental health services and supports, educational technology, and facility repairs and improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission, such as HVAC system upgrades. “The impacts of the American Rescue Plan will be felt immediately,” said Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. Provisions from her Save Education Jobs Act included in the plan will protect funding for low- income school districts and ensure education funding is spent responsibly. “There’s pretty substantial flexibility to states for how to use this money,” said Senator Chris Murphy. “A small percent must be used for summer programming, for camps— not just school. A small percent must be spent on students with IEPs, but

broadly, schools will be able to fit these dollars to their needs.” “The funding Connecticut schools receive must be used to support our must vulnerable students and keep our schools safe,” said Leake. “These additional dollars provide an opportunity to address inequities that have systemically impacted students and communities of color. They provide an opportunity to hire more educators, including counselors to support students’ mental health needs, as well as improve air quality in our schools and take other measures to keep students and teachers healthy and safe.” The bill requires schools to be transparent about reopening plans and dedicates $800 million to wraparound services for students experiencing homelessness. “The good news is that the education dollars can be spent over a number of school years,” said Murphy. “And so, there are some cases in which the education dollars can be spent into the 2024 school year and beyond. We recognize that you can’t make up for learning loss in a year or deal with the emotional trauma of not being able to be with your peers or being at home in an unsafe environment in a year.” Murphy spearheaded the effort to ensure that funding for summer programs could be allocated to recreation and enrichment, not merely academic remediation. Other measures in the federal bill include $7 billion for Internet connectivity and devices, $39 billion for early childhood programs, and a child tax credit aimed at reducing childhood poverty. “I think we are going to see the immediate benefits of lifting half the kids who are currently living in poverty out of poverty,” Murphy said, anticipating benefits in health and educational achievement as well. “We applaud the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer, and the representatives and senators for getting the job done,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to create the public schools all students—Black and white, Native and newcomer, Hispanic and Asian alike—need and deserve. Our work is not over.”

Hamden’s Westwoods Elementary School third-grader Pablo Martinez-HoSang attends a speak-out calling for equity for all. (Story, next page.)

CEA to Legislators: Federal Dollars Should Supplement— Not Supplant—State Education Funding With education needs greater than ever, now is not the time to freeze the state’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) commitment, CEA President Jeff Leake told the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, testifying about Governor Lamont’s proposed budget. “Freezing ECS would derail the progress made to maintain a predictable and dependable state funding formula,” Leake explained, “and create a large shortfall in the state’s commitment to education in the next biennium, when the one-time federal dollars used to supplant state funding are no more. CEA believes the state should keep the promise it made when it enacted the new ECS formula in 2017, with the necessary increases in education funding each year.” Replacing the state’s commitment to ECS with one-time federal funds is a mistake, he said, because those funds are intended to help with the consequences of the pandemic. “Supplemental federal funds can help Connecticut address the needs of English learners, students living in poverty, students who have experienced trauma, those harmed by asthma and poor air quality, and students with special needs who are facing unique challenges in these times.” Federal resources could go a long way toward addressing students’ social and emotional well-being by ensuring that schools have adequate numbers of trained, certified school social workers, counselors, and psychologists and that students have more opportunities to engage in enrichment activities. Torrington teacher Carrie Cassady told legislators that Governor Lamont’s budget proposal does not meet the needs of her students. “We need more social workers and counselors to help students process the last year of their lives,” Cassady said. “We need more teachers so that we can have smaller class sizes.” Indeed, Cassady and other CEA members and leaders brought their concerns before the legislature’s Finance Committee, asking lawmakers to look at tax restructuring that would help students, families, and communities experiencing the greatest need. While her colleagues and students benefit from a well-funded school district, Darien Education Association President and fifth-grade teacher Joslyn DeLancey testified that circumstances in many Connecticut schools are starkly different. “We need to have a state where everybody gets a fair and equitable education that is strongly supported. If we ignore these costs now, that just brings problems later on.” “This past year has laid bare the extreme disparities in Connecticut’s communities,” Manchester Education Association President Kate Dias told Finance Committee members. “COVID has shown us the consequences of years of systemic racism and inequities, and it is time for bold action. Connecticut is a very wealthy state, rich with resources and opportunities, and we must look at how those resources are distributed and who is benefitting.” “We know that Connecticut has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the country,” said CEA President Jeff Leake. “We need a revenue system that provides the resources necessary for all of our students to succeed and become productive citizens in a state with a well-educated workforce.” CREC teacher and local president Lisa Cordova told the Finance Committee that teaching kindergarten remotely has given her a window into students’ homes and the challenges their families face. “This year has highlighted the glaring inequities between students,” she shared. “Some have adequate space, materials, and support, which has led to a successful year of learning.” On the other hand, she explained, many children have struggled without the parental support necessary to make virtual kindergarten a success, with parents having to work two or three jobs just to put food on the table and pay bills. “Living in Connecticut, which is the wealthiest state, and living in the U.S., which is the wealthiest country in the world, it is unconscionable to me that we do not take care of our own citizens,” said CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas. CEA-Retired member Bob Brown, chair and founder of the CEA Poverty Task Force, told legislators, “If we spend the money now to reduce poverty and its many impacts, we will gain back literally millions of dollars in tax revenue and productivity in the long run. And morally, we will not have to ignore the embarrassing truth that our fellow human beings are struggling daily just to survive in this, the richest country on earth. Lifting people out of poverty does not take away from anyone; it adds to the quality of life for everyone.”

“Educators are pivotal figures in our lives, and none of us would be here without our teachers,” says Danbury High School senior Rebecca D’Ostilio (right), shown here with math coach Mary Jo Bohrman at an event calling for fair school funding. (See story, next page.)