MEDIA ADVISORY
May 14, 2021
Contact: Isabel Alegria, ialegria@publicadvocates.org, (510) 541-5428; Sara Fung, SFung@ChildrenNow.org, (916) 281-5631; Patty Guinto, pguinto@youthlaw.org, (626) 512-4974; Ashley Aguirre, ashley@californianstogether.org, (562) 832-0718
Review of Pandemic School Spending Plans Prompts Education Advocates to Call for Strict Accountability & Transparency in the Face of Current Education Funding Surge
What: Four education advocacy organizations will release their findings from a review of 48 Learning Continuity & Attendance Plans (LCPs) adopted at the height of the pandemic by school districts, county offices of education and charter schools (Local Education Agencies, LEAs). The state-mandated plans reported on how billions in relief funds were spent on services targeting students learning from home, many of them low-income students, English learners, foster youth, and homeless, incarcerated or students with disabilities. The report urges robust accountability and transparency mechanisms for districts now creating spending plans as many students return to in-person learning and contains twenty recommendations for how districts can reimagine and reinvigorate schools as they recover from the pandemic.
When: Tuesday, May 18th at 9:30 am PT the report will be available electronically.
Who: Children Now, Public Advocates, National Center for Youth Law and Californians Together.
Why: California’s students and public schools are receiving an unprecedented, historic influx of billions in federal and state dollars to help address the complex and numerous needs students, schools and their communities have as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its health, economic and educational impacts. How schools and other local education agencies plan for the spending of those funds is critically important, and must involve parent/student/teacher engagement, the effective targeting of services to high-need students, and robust transparency and accountability mechanisms. Lessons learned from the review of spending plans during the pandemic can help districts identify best practices and underscores the need for increased transparency in budget planning and expenditure reporting.
Media Visuals: Image of Report Cover
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