September 10, 2020

NCSS Signs Statement Expressing Concerns about the Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act

Silver Spring, MD -- National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) recently joined other members of the COVID-19 Education Coalition in signing a statement expressing deep concerns with the Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act.

Concerns regarding the Act came from its low education funding levels, its fixation on physical reopening of school buildings, and its failure to provide direct support for professional development in online learning. The bill would provide just $70 billion in additional K-12 education stabilization funds, a figure that is far short of the $200 billion that many educational groups feel is required to meet their needs. Additionally, the Coalition is concerned that the bill would condition receipt of two-thirds of this funding to the physical reopening of school buildings. This requirement ignores recent reports showing that 95 percent of districts plan to offer remote instruction to some degree, with about a third planning on remote instruction exclusively. This restriction will only adversely impact marginalized communities, including students of color, homeless students, students in foster care, and students with disabilities. 

This bill also fails to provide separate funding for a key priority: professional development for online learning. Recently released studies point to the urgent need to support educators to deliver effective and equitable learning experiences. For example, more than one-fifth of educators have not received any training as it relates to technology-based remote instruction. A separate survey shows that a majority of novice educators do not feel well-prepared to provide online learning experiences for their students, as their preparation programs had not trained them on research-based technology integration frameworks. 

Therefore, members of the COVID-19 Education Coalition are urging members of Congress to quickly work towards a final education relief bill that reflects the following priorities: 

• Provide at least $200 billion in additional education stabilization funds, an amount estimated by national experts to be necessary to fully support schools, students, educators, and families through the COVID-19 global pandemic. 
• Ensure that additional education stabilization funds are not tied to the physical reopening of school buildings. 
• Provide dedicated funding aimed towards helping states and districts support the capacity of the educators to lead effective and equitable online learning experiences for all students. 

To see the full statement from the COVID-19 Education Coalition, click here.

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About the COVID-19 Education Coalition 

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.