House Education Committee approves additional education, learning recovery support

This week, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the Education and Labor Committee’s portion of the FY21 budget reconciliation bill, which enacts President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. After a mark-up that began the afternoon of February 9 and lasted 13.5 hours, the House Education and Labor Committee passed its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, S. Con. Res. 5, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2021, by a final vote of 27-21 along party lines. The bill recognizes the important role afterschool and summer learning programs, as well as child care and nutrition programs can play in supporting youth and families in our nation’s recovery from the COVID pandemic.

The education portion relating to K-12 funding was based in part on the Learning Recovery Act of 2021 which was introduced in late January, however reflects several changes. The language as it passed the Committee does the following:

• Provides $128.6 billion for grants to State Education Agency (SEA) with 90 percent allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs), following same terms and conditions for funds provided in fiscal year 2021 for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) II Fund, including afterschool and summer learning as allowable uses.
• Requires state education agencies to reserve at least 5 percent (estimated to be about $6.4 billion nationally) of new ESSER allocations for grants and contracts to carry out activities to promote learning recovery including comprehensive afterschool programs and summer learning programs. Extended school day, extended school year, and other strategies and interventions are also allowable.
• Requires school districts to reserve at least 20 percent of their newly allocated ESSER sub-grants to promote learning recovery including comprehensive afterschool programs and summer learning programs. Extended school day, extended school year, and other strategies and interventions are also allowable.
• For both the state level 5 percent set aside and the local level 20 percent set aside, evidence-based interventions should be used that “respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs” and address the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on low-income students.

These changes should ensure that all afterschool and summer learning providers, including community based organizations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, local government (park and recreation departments and libraries), day and overnight camps, and other youth development organizations) have access to much needed funding and support at the state level and great opportunities at the local level for partnerships with schools The research is clear that afterschool and summer learning programs have a solid evidence base to effectively support students and help them catch up and thrive. In 2019 the Wallace Foundation released reports on afterschool programs and summer learning programs that identified programs meeting the most rigorous evidence standards of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Throughout the pandemic, out of school time programs have been at the forefront of supporting students and families through community learning hubs, in-person and virtual programming, providing meals, and more.

The education portion of the budget reconciliation package also provides support for the child care system and helps makes child care more affordable for families. The bill stabilizes the child care system by investing $39 billion in child care providers through the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program (CCBDG). Providers serving school-age children are eligible for these funds as well. Child care providers receiving funds must provide financial relief for families, to the extent possible.

Also included is $1 billion in new funds for the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Service trust to support an increase in AmeriCorps volunteers to respond to communities impacted by COVID-19 such as helping schools safely reopen and tackling the growing hunger crisis. Grants will be prioritized based on grantees located in and recruiting from communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and taking into account the diversity of communities and participants served by such entities, including racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, or geographic diversity.

The bill also addresses the tragic surge in child hunger by preserving and expanding critical food assistance for children and families. The bill:

• Maintains and expands the Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) program by investing more than $5 billion in P-EBT so that low-income families have access to food assistance during both the school year and summer months.
• Includes more than $800 million for the WIC program, which supports low-income women and infants, and boosts the value of WIC Cash Value Vouchers (CVV) for vulnerable mothers and children.
• Temporarily expands the age of eligibility for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) at emergency homeless shelters, to ensure more young adults can access needed nutrition support.

The Education and Labor Committee’s portion of the FY21 budget reconciliation package will now move to the House floor where a vote is expected during the week of February 22. The Senate is then expected to take up the House passed version and pass the entire package by mid-March. Stay tuned to our blog for more information as this package progresses.  To read the section by section summary of the bill as introduced, click here.