COVID Resources: Education

The Department of Education and the White House are pressuring schools to open in the fall but are providing little to no guidance for doing so safely, threatening to withhold funding for states or districts who do not comply. While the pressure to reopen schools in the fall grows, so does the number of coronavirus cases, leaving school districts and states scrambling to keep up with a quickly changing situation. States will have to consider how to keep all students, teachers, faculty and support staff safe—not just those in wealthy communities—through budget considerations, remote learning options, financial aid, school meals, testing and tracing, and more.

General Resources

The Education Commission of the States has information, policy considerations, and examples from states in the following education topic areas:
- Assessments and Accountability
- Broadband and Technology Access
- Continued and Future Learning
- Early Learning
- Finance
- Instructional Time and Grade Promotion
- Postsecondary
- Remote/Virtual/E-Learning
- Special Education
- Student Health and Wellness
- Teachers
- Workforce

Resources: K-12

Guidance for Reopening K-12
- National Education Association’s guidance for reopening has recommendations for school administrators and teachers (as opposed to state legislators) but will help legislators understand the challenges, risks and opportunities for intervention.
- American Federation of Teachers has a guide to reopening. PDF pages 12-14 has recommendations and information for legislators.
- CDC guiding principles for evaluating risk in school setting options.
- See a guide on school buildings and repurposing large common areas and calculating social distance spaces in classrooms: School Buildings and Social Distancing: A Downloadable Guide

Broadband and Technology Access
- National Digital Inclusion Alliance has a list of state government initiatives to address access to the internet during Covid-19.
- Most states plan to use Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds to expand or continue meeting student needs to access reliable, high speed internet and devices. Legislators can see how other states have used their funds and other opportunities to expand broadband.
- Urge the Federal Communications Commission to take measures to secure broadband access for those impacted by COVID-19 like New Jersey did.
- Invest in broadband activity to significantly increase rural broadband capacity for distance learning, remote working, telehealth and other critical services like Vermont did.
- Invest in existing rural cooperatives in order to support the expansion of broadband to rural communities. This is what Mississippi did.
- Establish a grant program for broadband expansion like was done in Minnesota and Mississippi.

Food Security for Students K-12
- USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services response to Covid-19 includes lists of child nutrition programs, waivers, parent/guardian meal pick-ups, and other nationwide waivers for students (including students who receive free and reduced lunches).

Funding for K-12
- For background, see What Congressional Covid Funding Means for K-12 Schools
- The CARES Act provides $13.5 billion in emergency aid for K-12 schools that may be directly impacted by how individual states cut their own education spending.
- An interactive tool that can be adjusted to look at any budgeting scenario: School Funding; what to expect and what states can do.
- Covid-19 Legislative responses: Interactive map to track education bills by state. Includes tracking for all education-related state action regarding the outbreak.

Teacher Resources
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) state policy tracking map that is useful for highlighting present changes to policies for initial licensure, clinical experiences, hiring and induction, and state standards to support EPPs and teacher candidates during Covid-19.
- A guide to community conversations on reopening schools safely. Also includes information on bringing the community together around the conversation.

Resources: Institutions of Higher Education (IHE)

Guidance for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education (IHE)
- CDC guidance: IHE general setting recommendations and on-campus housing settings including for lowest risk, more risk, and highest risk options.
- The CARES Act provides almost $14 Billion directly to IHE. ACE simulated distribution of funds that would be allocated by The Department of Education.
- Higher Education policy considerations from NCSL includes in-person vs. remote learning options, financial considerations, admissions and enrollment, and more, and can be found here.

Floridians Want State Lawmakers to Act on Threats Created by COVID Crisis

Strong support for progressive solutions to help working families and ensure the elections are accessible and safe

A recent poll commissioned by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) shows Florida voters hold deep concerns over the risk that COVID-19 poses to their health and the impact on the economy and the election. Two in three Floridians believe the worst of the pandemic is yet to come (65%).

The Role of Government in Issues Facing Florida

When asked if the state government should play a role in some of the issues facing working families, voters overwhelmingly supported government engagement in:

Safely and fairly administering elections (92%);
Stopping the spread of the coronavirus (90%);
Ensuring equal access to high-quality K-12 education (89%);
Ensuring struggling families and children have access to food (84%); and
Equal pay for equal work (81%).

Voters Support Steps to Ensure Safe and Accessible Elections

Florida voters overwhelmingly believe that the state government has a role to play in safely and fairly administering elections (92%). The majority of Floridians report that they will vote by mail (52%). However, 47% still plan to vote in person, with 27% planning to vote on Election Day and 20% planning to early vote.

Whether or not they are choosing to vote in person or by-mail, voters supported policies to ensure the election is safe and accessible for all eligible voters:

Open additional polling locations to reduce crowds and lines (84%);
Lengthen the window for early voting and allow voters to cast ballots in person up through the day before Election Day (82%);
Allow any registered Florida voter to cast a ballot at any polling location in their county (71%); and
Mail all registered voters applications to vote-by-mail (61%).

Voters Concerned about COVID Impact and Strongly Support Progressive Economic Policies

By a four to one margin voters believe Florida state government should invest more in its residents to ensure they are safe, healthy, and economically secure (64%) rather than state government keeping taxes low and cutting funds to key services like education, infrastructure and unemployment insurance (16%).

Florida has been hard hit by the pandemic with one in three of Floridians responding that they have been laid off or had their hours cut (34%). Two out of three Floridians support extending and expanding unemployment for those workers who have been laid off (65%). Support for this policy cuts across partisan lines with Democrats (78%), Republicans (52%) Independents (65%) in favor.

The pandemic is a top of mind concern for Floridians who report they are concerned about the people losing work and income due to the virus (84%), small businesses and restaurants closing down permanently (84%), Floridians contracting the virus and dying (79%), people of Florida unable to afford their rent or mortgage (79%) and people in Florida being forced to choose between their health and their job (71%).

Given the current crisis, Floridians support policies that will address the hardships being faced by many and make life easier for working families:

Providing low-interest loans to small businesses to help them make it through the crisis (94%);
Extending the grace period for people to pay health insurance bills before their coverage can be canceled (88%);
Limiting what drug companies can charge for prescription drugs (87%);
Offering people in Florida the option to buy into the same public health insurance plans that are available to state employees if they want to (86%); and
Banning the practice of surprise medical billing (85%).

Click here for more results.

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Mainers Concerned About Economy and Health Care, Support the Recent Actions Taken in the 2019 Legislative Session

A recent poll commissioned by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) shows Mainers are concerned about pocketbook economic issues, the affordability of health care, and education. Mainers also support recent state legislative actions to address these issues and the direction Maine is going after the 2019 legislative session.

Legislators took significant steps in the 2019 session to address the concerns of Mainers and this polling demonstrates ongoing support for progressive policy solutions to the problems facing the state.

Mainers Support Action on Economic Concerns

On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:

Establish more protections for workers including fairness in overtime pay and scheduling, and preventing wage theft: 7.53
Require paid sick days: 7.42
Expand broadband to rural communities: 7.27
Fund housing bonds for the construction of new affordable housing units for low income seniors: 7.19
Create a state insurance fund to ensure that all employees can take medical or family leave: 6.92
Reduce the gender wage gap: 6.89

Voters Support Action on Health Care

Maine voters prioritize action on health care with a focus on affordability and addressing the opioid epidemic. On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:

Make prescription drugs more affordable: 8.2
Hold pharma companies accountable for the opioid crisis: 7.75
Create a board to set price limits on drugs: 7.35

Mainers Support Action on Education

Maine voters are concerned about the affordability of higher education and support action to increase access to early childhood education. On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:

Provide student debt forgiveness for any Mainer who lives and works in Maine for at least five years after they graduate from college: 6.99
Make community college free for all Maine residents who maintain a C average or better while they attend school: 6.88
Ensure every school district offers public preschool: 6.82

Click here to see the poll memo and here for a presentation on full results.

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The State Innovation Exchange commissioned Lincoln Park Strategies to complete the research. The survey was conducted June 14 to June 20 with 600 respondents and has a margin of error ± 4 percent at the 95% confidence interval.

Progressives Fight for Sunrise Agenda in Stormy Legislative Session

By James Chan, Florida State Director

Progressive legislators and partners kicked off the 2019 legislative session with a bold Sunrise Agenda focused on the economy, affordable health care, education, the environment and a welcoming Florida.

But during the legislative session, conservatives, who control both chambers, refused to debate the priorities that Floridians identify as critical—like affordable healthcare and housing—and instead fought for priorities that rig the rules for the wealthy and big businesses and protect their own power. The legislative session showed how out of step conservatives are with the will of the people. The contrast between conservatives and progressives couldn’t be more clear.

Our Economy

Instead of focusing on helping Floridians make ends meet, conservatives passed legislation to ban Florida cities from requiring big developers to build any affordable housing as part of new construction. This just further lines the pockets of big businesses and the wealthy, while exacerbating the challenge in creating affordable housing in our cities and surrounding areas.

Progressive Representatives Jacquet and Joseph with Senators Rodriguez, Cruz and Stewart advanced legislation that would help improve the lives of all Floridians. The legislation which would address equal pay, paid family leave and an increase to the minimum wage was introduced but never heard in committee, debated or voted upon.

Our Health Care

Floridians are deeply concerned about the cost and accessibility of health care and prescription drugs. Instead of addressing these issues, conservatives sought to limit women’s access to health care and the right to choose by sponsoring a six-week abortion ban, a 20-week abortion ban and a parental consent law, which was voted out of the House.

Progressive Representative Cindy Polo and Senator Taddeo proposed expanding Medicaid to Floridians under 65 who are at or below 138% of the federal poverty line. This would provide health coverage to an estimated 850,000 hard-working Floridians currently lacking coverage—like single-moms working hard to support their families and adults working multiple jobs but still not making enough money to make ends meet. Conservatives shut down the proposal, refusing to even hear it in committee.

Our Students

Strengthening the public education system that supports 90% of Florida students is a priority for all progressive legislators. Instead of taking steps to improve public education, address the root cause of gun violence in schools and ensure Florida is able to stay competitive and keep great teachers, conservatives prioritized arming teachers and funding vouchers and charter schools in an effort to privatize our public education.

Progressive Representative Margaret Good filed a bill that would address the critical teacher shortage. Her legislation, which had bipartisan support in the Senate, would have allowed retired educators to immediately fill substitute teacher positions helping to fill some of the 2,000 teacher vacancies across the 67 counties. The conservatives shut down this legislation and it was never heard in committee.

Our Environment

The red tide and the other impacts of climate change have taken a toll on our health, our communities and our economy. The short- and long-term economic and health impacts have Floridians along the Gulf Coast struggling. The conservative-controlled legislature took no significant action to help address these challenges.

Progressive Representatives Diamond, Eskamani and Good with Senator Rodriguez filed legislation to help us understand and address these critical issues that will shape our economy and health into the future. Progressives advanced legislation to create a climate change research program, develop a renewable energy plan and address water quality and a decrease in the use of herbicides that created the red tide. All these bills were introduced, but never heard in committee.

Our People

After the 2018 election, Florida again received national attention for our difficulty in making sure that every eligible voter’s ballot was counted. Instead of taking steps to modernize and secure the process for all eligible voters, conservatives made unnecessary changes to the rules for vote-by-mail—which is used by many Florida voters to avoid long lines at the polls. They also took steps to obstruct the will of the people by placing exorbitant fees and other requirements on those formerly incarcerated before they are allowed to vote. This after the progressive community worked to bring the Constitutional amendment restoring these rights to a vote—which was supported by 65% of the people in November 2018.

Finally, conservatives changed the process by which signatures are gathered by everyday Floridians to amend the state constitution. Over the last decade this process has been used by the voters to address some of Florida’s most pressing issues—from pocketbook issues to who has the right to vote—because conservative lawmakers refuse to enact the policies that reflect the will of the majority of Floridians.

While the 2019 legislative session saw little progress on issues to help everyday Floridians, progressive partners and legislators will continue to work with constituents and colleagues to build on the groundwork laid in 2019 to advance the priorities in the Sunrise Agenda.

Fighting for Families Through an Allegiance to Public Schools in Tennessee and Nationwide

As part of SiX's 2018 #FightingForFamilies Week of Action, Lyn Hoyt, State Alliance Coordinator for the Tennessee Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, wrote a guest blog on the importance of investing and supporting K-12 public schools and advancing local efforts supporting community schools in Tennessee and nationwide.

By Lyn Hoyt

Public schools are the vehicle through which we guarantee all children a free education from kindergarten through 12th grade. In our collective interest, we promise that poor children and rich children, students with disabilities, students of color, immigrant and non-immigrant, will have access to an equitable, quality public education, paid for by taxpayers and controlled by local communities. Public schools ensure that our students have the skills they will need for good jobs and productive futures. They also teach young people how to participate in our democracy.

Yet across the country, we continue to invest more in schools serving white children than in schools serving African American and Latino children. And as the number of students living in poverty has risen in the U.S., state and local funding for public education has decreased in the past decade. Public schools are one more American institution caught up in the rising inequality that faces our nation.

The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS), a national labor and community collaboration, believes that public schools play a critical role, not just in strengthening our economy, but also in supporting the success of local communities. As we participate in the State Innovation Exchange’s “Fighting for Families” week of action, we know this: We have to get education right.

As the State Alliance Coordinator for AROS in Tennessee, we are building a statewide AROS coalition that includes organized parents, educators, students and community members. Tennessee AROS includes the Tennessee Parent Teacher Association, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) and other local community-based groups. We came together a year ago to advocate for a new approach to the complex challenge of improving our public schools. Our mission is to support the creation of public schools where families, communities, students and educators take ownership of their schools to insure the success of every child.

This year, we are working with a unique bipartisan group of state legislators to promote “transformational” community schools across Tennessee to create a locally led, district level approach to school improvement. The most effective community schools combine six components: a rich, culturally relevant curriculum; an emphasis on high-quality teaching, not high stakes testing; wrap-around supports for students and their families; positive discipline practices such as restorative justice; authentic parent and community engagement and inclusive school leadership. Studies by the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Learning Policy Institute, along with the National Education Policy Center suggest that these components, working together, can have dramatic effects, not just on student academic outcomes, but on school culture and climate, teacher retention, chronic absenteeism and more.

Our community schools bill HB2472 and SB2393, filed by sponsors Senator Steve Dickerson (R) and Representative Harold Love (D), creates a fund where the state may allocate resources from various sources to support staffing community schools site coordinators through a Local Education Agency and district-led application process. Any school in the state whose performance has placed them on the priority or focus list would have the opportunity to apply. The commitment to a needs assessment and site coordinator are the major part of the fund application plan. AROS will advocate for a deeper engagement with educators and families to be a part of school-level implementation. It is an exciting time to be organizing parents and teachers to become a critical part of creating the schools our children deserve as we fight for families.

Our approach has been one of bi-partisanship. The community partnership piece is something that appeals to conservatives. And the community voice in the process is one that appeals to progressives. All agree that we must do more to make sure children can be successful in school. Everyone also agrees we must approach this sustainably with multiple funding sources, not just state or federal grants. So, long term commitment from the community and school districts are critical.

The long-range strategy is to develop a culture of shared decision-making that includes educators and families, ultimately strengthening participation in democracy, supporting great teaching and stabilizing communities as well as improving student academic outcomes. In public education, that’s how we make sure that our democracy is working for all of us. AROS is proud that Tennessee is working collaboratively to strengthen community schools across the state. We are modeling the democratic process and organizing the community around those agreed-upon goals and identifying the community resources to achieve those goals to help make our schools great.

 Lyn Hoyt is a Nashville resident, public school parent and the State Alliance Coordinator for TennAROS.org