Eyes and minds are turned toward the economic landscape in our country. In our K-12 schools, there is another burgeoning demand for attention: the evaporation of ESSER funds that have carried schools for the past three years as a result of increased funding during the pandemic.
But what does that all really mean? It means in a time when our country is facing a recession and budgets are cut, education is included in that mix. Our schools will face budget cuts, and at best flat budgets, for the next several years. This combined with the ending of ESSER funds which have allowed additional personnel and programs for remediation, tutoring, and Tiers 2 & 3 interventions, will mean significant learning supports will vanish. Add in a third component of a teacher shortage, and our education system is on the verge of collapse. Learning and learning outcomes will inevitably be impacted--and not for the positive.
Our schools are facing unprecedented pressures as the recession looms, teachers leave the profession (and with very few entering it), and additional funding dries up. Schools are not the victims in this. It's the kids. We have set our system up for failure and it has done just that. We have failed the kids.
And so here we are closing out another school year. Teachers, staff, parents, school boards, and communities will close the year standing on the edge waving goodbye to the students not knowing what the fall will bring. School should not be a cliffhanger.
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