Introduction

  • The COVID-19 pandemic drastically disrupted school life. After the national emergency was declared, urban schools quickly transformed operations to protect students and staff, despite uncertainty about federal aid. Great City school systems delivered millions of meals, provided electronic devices, expanded broadband, and implemented virus mitigation efforts. When schools closed, districts made a massive shift to home-based learning, adapting lesson plans, distributing materials, and training teachers for remote instruction.
     
    Adapting to Crisis: Urban Schools' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

    In response to the extraordinary needs created by the global pandemic, Congress passed a series of emergency relief bills that infused approximately $190 billion into K-12 public schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.

    Great City Schools, serving 7.8 million students nationwide, were among the largest recipients of ESSER funds due to the number and concentration of low-income students they serve. Public scrutiny on the use of these funds has therefore been intense, as it should be.

    Optimizing Federal Relief: The Task Force on ARP Fund Allocation in Urban Schools

    To help urban school systems manage and allocate American Rescue Plan funding effectively, the Council established a Task Force on Federal Funds Optimization in March 2021. Composed of superintendents, board members, and senior administrators from Great City School systems, the task force aimed to encourage districts to purposefully invest ARP funds to safely reopen schools, address unfinished learning, and build lasting, equitable systems of teaching and learning.

    Strategic Guidance for Investing ARP Funds in Education

    The task force created a toolkit titled Investing American Rescue Plan Funds Strategically and Effectively: Guidance for School Districts. This guidance outlined goals for fund use, articulated investment strategies, defined principles for effective allocation, and posed questions for leaders and stakeholders during planning and evaluation. It drew on lessons from past federal funding and summarized key provisions of the legislation and agency guidance. Additionally, it outlined the role of school boards in monitoring progress and identified key performance indicators.