California schools allocate $2 billion for pandemic learning loss. How could funds be used?

California schools must use $2 billion of the federal and state money they received for COVID-19 relief to help students who experienced learning setbacks due to the pandemic.

As part of a $2 billion lawsuit settlement reached in Alameda County Superior Court, California schools will be required to use the remaining funds of the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, a $7.9 billion program, to help students rebound from learning loss post-pandemic.

The agreement depends on the state passing legislation, which is expected later this year, to adjust the requirements of the grant, according to court documents.

“These are not new funds. There’s a total of $2 billion remaining that will be spent across districts and counties in California,” Elizabeth Sanders, director of communications for the California Department of Education, said in a phone interview with The Sacramento Bee on Thursday.

This settlement resulted in the missing wording, including how California schools use the funds, that got included in the governor’s Trailer Bill for the state budget, she said.

“If passed by the legislature, it will strengthen the monitoring and reporting requirements of this $2 billion that is left,” she said.

To ensure local education agencies are properly using the funds and assisting the students that need the most help, Sanders said the new legislature will now require schools to conduct a needs assessment.

Here are the changes California parents can expect and why:

California parents file lawsuit over pandemic learning

In Cayla J. et al. vs State of California, a group of families in Oakland and Los Angeles filed suit against the state of California and its co-defendants, the State Board of Education, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and the California Department of Education.

The plaintiffs claimed that their children fell behind during remote learning that began in March 2020.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, schools in California switched to online learning.

The parents who filed the lawsuit claim that the online approach made learning difficult for students who were already not getting enough support.

“Due to the state’s insufficient attention to the actual circumstances of remote learning, Black and Latinx students from low-income families are being deprived of their fundamental right to a free and equal education guaranteed by the California Constitution,” court documents state.

According to the documents, many students of color and low-income status did not have access to the digital tools necessary for online learning.

“Without these basic inputs, they cannot learn to read or write properly, perform basic math functions or comprehend state-mandated curricular content,” the court documents state.

According to court documents, the state is continuously neglecting its constitutional duty to provide basic educational equality post-pandemic.

“It is incumbent on the state and its officers to get underserved students through the pandemic with an education that does not widen the gap between them and their more privileged counterparts — a gap that they will struggle to overcome for the rest of their lives,” the documents state.

How did COVID-19 affect student learning?

In a nationwide post-pandemic education recovery analysis released by Stanford and Harvard universities in January, researchers found that the average student ranging from third to eighth grade lost an average of half a grade level in mathematics and a third of a grade level in reading during the pandemic.

While California students have returned to in-person learning, the Harvard and Stanford education analysis shows, progress for low-income students has been slow nationwide.

According to California test scores from the 2020-21 school year, only about 20% of students considered socioeconomically disadvantaged met or exceeded the standard for mathematics — and only about 36% met or exceeded the standard for English Language Arts.

In comparison,more than 50% of California students who are not considered socioeconomically disadvantaged met or exceeded the standard for mathematics; and about 65% met or exceeded the standard for English Language Arts during the same school year.

Who will get learning recovery funds?

“That is determined at a local level,” Sanders said.

While most California students will be eligible to receive additional learning services with the remaining $2 billion up until the 2027 to 2028 school year, Sanders said local education agencies will conduct a needs assessment to see which students need the most help.

Eligible local education agencies for the grant include school districts, county offices of education and charter schools.

“We see this as a doubling down on our commitment to make sure that the grant is supporting our most vulnerable students and what their needs are post-pandemic,” Sanders said.

“Who those students are and what their needs are is different from community to community,” she said. “This will really support school districts to make sure that they’re really finding who their most vulnerable students are and what their needs are.”

How can schools use the funds?

According to the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant’s FAQ page, funds can be used to implement, expand, or enhance learning supports, including:

• Tutoring.

• Small group learning supports.

• Learning recovery programs and materials.

• Providing early literacy programs for students in preschool to third grade.

• Expanding learning opportunity programs.

• Providing instruction and services consistent with the California Community Schools Partnership Program.

• Enhancing student support programs to address other barriers to learning, including counseling, mental health services and access to school meal programs.

• Additional instruction for those with credit-deficiencies to complete graduation or grade promotion requirements.

• Additional academic services, including progress monitoring and benchmark assessments.

These would not change were the state to pass legislation, Sanders said.

The possible legislation would simply require schools to conduct a needs assessment to determine which students will get these additional learning services.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.