COVID-19 Education Coalition Supports the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act and Increases in Federal FY21 Education Appropriations
The undersigned members of the COVID-19 Education Coalition offer the following statement on the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act (CCCERA) and FY21 federal education appropriations:
As states and districts continue preparing for the upcoming school year, national data reveal the critical need to support educators’ capacity to deliver effective and equitable online learning experiences. For example, a recent survey revealed discrepancies in the quality of instruction available to students from higher-income versus low-income families. Although the CARES Act provided some federal dollars to support educator professional development, experts agree that the current education stabilization funds are inadequate to fully support schools, students, educators, and families through the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Therefore, members of the COVID-19 Education Coalition are grateful to see that the CCCERA bill proposes $175 billion in additional K-12 education stabilization funds, 20% of which must be set aside by school districts to address students’ learning loss, including “providing professional development to educators and other staff on how to effectively implement distance learning.”
The CCCERA bill also supports other critical equity challenges faced by students and families by providing $4 billion for the E-Rate program and additional funding for Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and provisions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
We sincerely thank Senators Patty Murray and Chuck Schumer for introducing the CCCERA bill and strongly urge federal policymakers to pass this bill into law, which would provide funds critical to providing effective and equitable instruction for all students. To that end, the COVID-19 Education Coalition also urges Congress to pass the Supporting Children with Disabilities During COVID-19 Act, which would support students with disabilities impacted by the pandemic, and fully fund Titles II-A and IV-A of ESSA in the final FY21 appropriations bill, which would build on the existing emergency funds and further help schools manage the fallout from COVID-19.
The COVID-19 Education Coalition is a community of nonprofit organizations convened by ISTE and EdSurge to support the education field as learning moves online. The coalition is creating resources focused on these areas: policy & advocacy; centering equity; connectivity; international engagement; personalized learning; social emotional learning; safety, privacy and digital citizenship; and higher education.
Members of the COVID-19 Education Coalition
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
American Federation of Teachers American Student Assistance Arizona Technology in Education Association ASCD
Association for Educational Communications and Technology Association for Middle Level Education Association of Teacher Educators Butler County Educational Service Center
CAST
Center for Black Educator Development
CK-12 Foundation
Common Sense Media Consortium for School Networking Digital Promise
Edcamp Foundation
Education Commission of the States
ETS
Future of Privacy Forum
Grantmakers for Education
iCivics
Illinois Digital Educators Alliance
InnovateEDU I
International Society for Technology in Education
Jefferson Education Exchange
LEAP Innovations
Learning Ally
Learning Forward
LearnLaunch
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Center for Learning Disabilities National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements
National Rural Education Association
National Science Teaching Association
National Summer Learning Association National Technology Leadership Summit New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education
Next Generation Learning Challenges
New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education
Phi Delta Kappan
Project Tomorrow
Quality Matters
Relay SchoolHouse Connection
State Educational Technology Directors Association
Small Business Innovation Research Program
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
Student Data Privacy Consortium
Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
Team4Tech
The Learning Accelerator Turnaround For Children
Virginia Society for Technology in Education
Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association
Tags: early childhood education, elementary education, equity, federal issues, inclusion, secondary education, special education
