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How The Biden Administration Can Focus On Education In The First 100 Days

This article is more than 3 years old.

On January 20, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take their oaths of office and become the 46th president and vice president of the United States. Although the approval of a Covid-19 vaccine provides some hope for an end to the current global pandemic, it will take years to address the damage to society, the economy, and America’s public education system. The incoming Biden Administration has no time to lose. In its first 100 days, the administration should take clear steps to dramatically increase federal K-12 education funding and expand college and career pathways for all students. Facing an economic recession and the risk of long-term damage to students’ futures, investing in public education is essential to short-term recovery and the country’s long-term economic prosperity.  

According to the Biden-Harris transition team, the top priorities are Covid-19, economic recovery, racial inequality, and climate change, and immediate action in K-12 education can play a key role in each of these areas. Covid-19 has meant that school districts are experiencing funding shortages as a result of new expenses, such as personal protective equipment for staff; devices, internet, and online learning platforms for students; and cleaning and ventilation upgrades. Students and educators are attempting to navigate a new digital learning environment that is ripe with inequities.  

Even before the pandemic, public education endured serious funding shortages. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, states were forced to make significant cuts to their education spending, and nearly half of states had not recovered to their 2008 spending levels when the pandemic hit. Now, the economic crisis means states are facing similar cuts that will be devasting to students’ outcomes and are likely to result in widespread educator layoffs. New York, for example, has already cut $1 billion from public education for 2020 and 2021. Budget cuts and teacher layoffs will disproportionately impact students of color and students from families with low incomes, and the Biden Administration will need to take immediate steps to avoid these outcomes. 

Increasing investment in education will not only benefit student outcomes, but also it will create jobs and drive economic growth. During the campaign, President-elect Biden proposed tripling Title I funding that goes to low-income school districts, but the Biden Administration should go even further to create a new Public Education Opportunity Grants program. This program would roughly double per-pupil funding for students living in poverty, provide an additional $63 billion annually to K-12 education, and push states to invest more resources and make their own funding more equitable. The president-elect should announce this proposal in his first joint address to Congress and include it in his administration’s first budget proposal.  

In addition to an overall increase in federal education funding, the president-elect should also invest in helping students and communities recover and rebuild from the pandemic through creating an Opportunity and Counseling Corps. A program like this would create new jobs for young adults entering the workforce to serve as tutors, mentors, and classroom aides to help students recover from the instructional loss from distance learning. At the same time, it would increase the number of school counselors and social workers to support the broader needs of students. Creating these jobs will help local economies recover and jump-start the careers of recent graduates who are struggling with unemployment in a shrinking job market. Through this summer’s Biden-Sanders Unity Taskforce, President-elect Biden called for expanding national service opportunities, a promising sign that the administration recognizes the economic and academic value of expanding national service opportunities. 

Furthermore, the incoming Biden Administration should fulfill its campaign promise to prioritize updating school infrastructure, not only to improve student learning environments, but also to create thousands of construction jobs to aid economic recovery. Before the pandemic, one-third of America’s schools were in need of repairs or upgrades to major systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Covid-19 has increased the urgency of these repairs, especially of ventilation systems, so students and staff can be safe in school buildings. The president-elect should work with Congress to immediately reintroduce and pass the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which will provide $100 billion for school infrastructure, as well as propose a permanent federal school infrastructure funding stream in his first budget request. These investments will create and sustain thousands of jobs, aiding in the nation’s economic recovery and helping to lessen the unemployment crisis. At the same time, these investments can help schools reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability.  

Investing in students’ long-term outcomes will also ensure a strong economic future. The Biden Administration should work to provide every student with access to learning experiences that are relevant to their future, including integrating career, college, and civic readiness. During the campaign, President-elect Biden committed to providing every middle and high school student with a path to a successful career and expanding college and career pathways. To achieve this goal, the Biden Administration should immediately establish a federal interagency commission focused on aligning K-12 education, higher education, and workforce funding and policies. This commission could bring together representatives from relevant agencies and offices to recommend concrete steps to expand and strengthen high-quality pathways.  

While the Covid-19 pandemic has hit America’s schools especially hard, it has also provided an opportunity to recognize not only the necessity of investing in public education, but also the benefits of doing so. It is critical that the Biden Administration lives up to its campaign promise of prioritizing education over the next four years, but it is especially important that they take immediate action to help students and educators as they navigate through the pandemic and the recovery efforts. By recognizing the economic benefits of major investments in education funding and the expansion of college and career pathways, the Biden Administration can help spur the country’s economic recovery and ensure a prosperous future.

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