President Biden proposes American Rescue Plan including education funding

On Thursday, January 15, President-elect Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package called the American Rescue Plan which is described as “…the first step of an aggressive, two-step plan” to “change the course of the pandemic, build a bridge towards economic recovery, and invest in racial justice.” In an evening speech Biden described a comprehensive plan which includes: a new round of stimulus checks for individuals and families; more than $400 billion to accelerate vaccine production and distribution and safely reopen schools; augmented unemployment benefits; $350 billion to bolster beleaguered city and state government budgets; and expanded childcare subsidies.

With regard to its education goal in particular, the plan aims to provide enough funding for a robust vaccination plan for school personnel, COVID testing for schools, and other supports including ventilation upgrades and cleaning supplies to safely reopen a majority of K-8 schools within 100 days. The education-related funding includes $170 billion for K-12 and higher education. Since last March, Congress has enacted almost $113 billion for Department of Education relief programs but the needs at the local level continue to grow. The new Biden plan proposes the following:

• $130 billion for elementary and secondary education. This is about twice what Congress has already enacted in K-12 relief funding. The funding can be used for a range of costs to make in-person education safe, including technology to close the homework gap, offer counseling and address social and emotional learning needs in addition to academic needs, create smaller classes, provide personal protective equipment, cover extra transportation and cleaning costs, and other new costs. There will be some requirements that states use the funds in low-income and areas hit hardest by COVID-19. Past COVID-19 education support has also helped provide afterschool and summer learning opportunities as well.
• $35 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. Funds will support public colleges and both public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions to provide online learning and to provide emergency grants to students.
• $5 billion for Governors to support education that has been hardest hit by COVID-19. These funds can be used for Pre K-higher education, and other uses including afterschool and summer learning.

• $40 billion for child care funding plus tax credits – Congress has previously enacted $13.5 billion in relief funding. This provision includes the following:
  • $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to help millions of parents return to work.
  • $25 billion for an emergency stabilization fund for child care providers.
  • Expands child care tax credits for one year – the provision also expands the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit for one year.
• $350 billion in state and local fiscal relief – States use almost half their funding for education. There was heated debate about whether to include state and local relief funding in the bill enacted in December, which ultimately did not include any direct funds for state and local government.
• There is also support for COVID testing and vaccination with a focus on schools and education.

Congress is expected to start work on a new COVID-19 relief bill this month which will be informed in part by the Biden plan. Now is the time to weigh in with your members of Congress. Share the impact of virtual and in-person programs on students and families and the power of afterschool and summer learning to help address learning loss and provide social and emotional supports. Share the successes and the challenges around sanitation and safety, local funding shortages, the needs of working families, and the uncertainties ahead. Your elected officials at all levels – federal, state, and local – want to know how your students and families are doing, how the program is faring, and what they can do to ensure students are supported by afterschool and summer in the fall. Check out our action alert tool here for a template and be sure to add your own experiences!