The 2021-22 Budget: Extended Learning and Academic Support

analysis full gutter The 2021-22 Budget: Extended Learning and Academic Support JANUARY 2021 In his January budget, the Governor grades. (The findings are based on an analysis proposes to allocate $4.6 billion to schools of data from 50,000 students in 18 California in spring 2021 to address student learning school districts.) They also found that students loss caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 in earlier grades are experiencing the highest (COVID-19) pandemic. In this post, we provide level of learning loss. Low-income students background on school closures and recent funding and English learners have relatively higher to address learning loss, describe the Governor’s levels of learning loss across all grades. proposal, assess the proposal, and describe our • Reduced Enrollment. Several school districts recommendations to the Legislature. have reported unexpected decreases in enrollment for the 2020-21 school year, Background particularly in kindergarten. Private schools School Closures Are Affecting Student also have reported enrollment declines. These Learning and Well-Being. The school closures declines suggests that some students who that have occurred since March 2020 due to the would typically be enrolled in school are COVID-19 pandemic have affected student learning currently receiving no formal instruction. and well-being. Although the state does not yet 2020-21 Budget Package Included $6.8 Billion have comprehensive data to measure the overall in State and Federal Funding to Address effect on students, several studies and recent data Learning Loss and Effects of COVID-19. The suggest concerns in several areas: 2020-21 budget included $5.3 billion from a • Access to Distance Learning. Multiple variety of sources to address learning loss issues, surveys of parents and teachers find that some as well as $1.5 billion from the Elementary and students lack access to the devices and/ Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. or high-speed internet necessary to access Figure 1 on the next page, describes the allowable distance learning. This is particularly the case uses, spending deadlines, and allocation formulas for low-income, Black, and Latino students. for these sources of funding. A survey by the RAND Corporation in spring Recent Federal Action Includes $6 Billion 2020 found that only 30 percent of teachers Additional One-Time Funding for California in high-poverty schools thought all or nearly Schools. On December 27, 2020, the President all of their students had access to the internet signed H.R. 133, which provides additional funding at home. This is compared with 83 percent of to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably teachers at low-poverty schools. for schools, H.R. 133 includes additional ESSER • Learning Loss. A few early studies suggest funding, to be distributed to schools proportional a large number of students are performing to their federal Title I, Part A allocations. California below grade level, particularly in math. Recent schools will directly receive $6 billion from this findings published by Policy Analysis for allocation. As with the first round of ESSER, funding California Education show that students in can be used for a broad array of activities, including grades 4 through 10 experienced learning loss those related to COVID-19, and must be spent by in both math and English language arts relative September 30, 2022. to the prior three years of learning in the same 2021-22 LAO Budget Series 1 analysis full gutter Figure 1 One-Time Funding for COVID-19 and Learning Loss in 2020-21 Budget (In Millions) Program Description Spending Deadline Amount Allocation Method Learning loss Funds activities to address student May 31, 2021a $5,335 $2.9 billion based on LCFF mitigation learning loss due to COVID-19 school supplemental and concentration closures, including expanded learning funding. supports, increased instructional time, $1.5 billion based on number of additional academic services, and special education students. other barriers to learning. $980 million based on LCFF funding. ESSER Provides funding for broad array September 30, 2022 1,483 Based on Title I, Part A formula, of activities, including COVID-19 which is based on the number of response, distance learning, staff low-income and disadvantaged training, and activities to address the children. needs of disadvantaged students. Total $6,818 a Of total amount, $4.4 billion was originally required to be spent by December 30, 2020. The Governor’s budget proposes to extend the deadline to May 31, 2021 to align with changes in federal law. Of the total, $540 million must be spent by June 30, 2021. Remaining $355 million must be spent by September 30, 2022. COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; LCFF = Local Control Funding Formula; and ESSER = Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. Governor’s Proposal • Increasing the amount of instructional time for students. Provides $4.6 Billion One-Time Proposition 98 • Providing academic services for pupils, such Funding to Address Learning Loss. The vast as tutoring and diagnostic assessments of majority of funds would be distributed to school students’ needs. districts, charter schools, and county offices of • Providing supportive services to students, education (COEs) based on their share of total such as health and mental health services, Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) allotments. counseling, and before and after school The proposal also provides school districts, charter programs. schools, and COEs with $1,000 for every homeless student enrolled and provides the State Special • Training school staff to address students’ Schools with $725 per student. (The California learning and well-being. Department of Education operates three special Requires a Public Plan for How Funds Will schools—two for deaf and hard of hearing students Be Spent. The Governor’s proposal requires each and one for blind and visually impaired students.) local governing board to adopt an addendum as Funds are to be prioritized for serving low-income part of its 2021-22 local control and accountability students, English learners, foster youth, homeless plan, describing how it plans on using the additional youth, and students with disabilities. funding to meet the needs of its students. The Requests Early Action to Distribute Funds plan must be adopted in a public meeting by This Spring. To give schools time to plan for use June 1, 2021. The proposal also requires the of these funds, the Governor requests that this Superintentent of Public Instruction and the State allocation be enacted by the Legislature this spring, Board of Education to develop a template for this with funding distributed in March and July. Funding addendum. The template must include (1) a plan must be spent by June 30, 2022. for assessing the needs of students and informing Allows Funding to Be Used for a Variety of the parents of the students they identify in need Activities. The Governor outlines several broad of academic support, and (2) an expenditure plan, categories of allowable uses of the funds, including: which must indicate how much of the awarded funds will be allocated for each of the allowable 2021-22 LAO Budget Series 2 analysis full gutter uses. Addendums must be updated when actual Funding could provide greater benefits to expenditure data is available. students if it was spent on academic support activities over multiple years. Assessment Providing State Funding Has Benefits. Early Action to Address Student Needs Is Although schools will have substantial flexible Warranted. Given the effect of school closures federal funding they can use for learning loss issues on student learning and well-being, we think early in 2021-22, the state may want to provide additional action on this issue is warranted. To the extent the funding for a couple of reasons. Legislature wants schools to offer instruction and other support services to students in the summer, • Encourage Certain Activities. Additional state early funding is necessary to give schools sufficient funding could be used to encourage schools time to begin planning. Early action also gives to conduct activities that would have the time for students and their familes to plan for the greatest benefits for students and are tied to availability of summer programs. legislative priorities. In particular, we think the Given Recent Federal Action, Schools Will Legislature may want to encourage schools Already Have Large Amounts of One-Time to offer academic and enrichment programs Funding to Spend in 2021-22. Combined with this summer that would bring students back the additional federal ESSER funding schools will to a school setting and allow them to interact receive, the Governor’s proposal would provide with school staff and their peers. Summer schools with $10.6 billion in flexible one-time programming allows schools to provide funding to spend in 2021-22. Figure 2 shows how additional services to students without funding would vary by district depending on the competing with the instruction and support proportion of their students who are English learners services students typically receive during the or low income (EL/LI). This amount of one-time school year. Providing these services in person funding is more than the state spends on all other would help avoid the challenges students have K-12 programs outside of LCFF. We find that faced learning from home. providing such a large amount of one-time funding • Complement the Federal Distribution to schools in one year raises several concerns: Formula. Providing state funding also allows the state to distribute funding differently than • Given the uncertainty regarding school required by federal law. As shown in Figure 2, reopening, districts may have difficulty the ESSER funding formula provides districts planning and spending such a large amount of with higher shares of EL/LI students almost six funding over one year. This is particularly the case for activities that require hiring new staff or conducting Figure 2 entirely new activities. One-Time ESSER and Governor’s Proposed Academic • To the extent districts have Support Funding difficulty planning such a large Median Per-Pupil Funding for School Districts, amount of new activities, they by Share of English Learners and Low-Income Students may use the additional funds District EL/LI ESSER Governor’s to cover costs of activities Share Round 2 Proposal Total they had already planned to 0% -37.9% $253 $615 $819 conduct. This would result in 38% - 54.9% 524 646 1,140 no net benefit to students. 55% - 77.2% 917 721 1,633 • The effects of the pandemic 77.3% - 100% 1,455 782 2,210 on student learning and Statewide $840 $718 $1,472 well-being are not likely ESSER = Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief and EL/LI = Engish learner or low income. to subside after one year. 2021-22 LAO Budget Series 3 analysis full gutter times more funding per student than districts would prefer to offer distance learning summer with the lowest shares of EL/LI students. programs could use their federal funding The Governor’s approach would distribute to cover those costs.) Funds also could be funding more evenly across districts, albeit still used to serve incoming kindergartners and providing more funding for districts with the children who were eligible but did not enroll in highest need. We think this is a reasonable kindergarten in 2020-21. approach given students in all schools have • $500 Million for In-Person Support Activites been affected by school closures and could During the School Year. Districts could use benefit from additional support. funding for increasing instructional time or providing additional academic or supportive Ongoing, Sustained Programs Are Most services, but would be required to provide Important in Helping Students Succeed. Although them in an in-person setting. The Legislature one-time funding can be helpful to address urgent could allow funds to be spent over a two-year needs, many of the issues students face during the period to allow districts to spread out these pandemic are more acute versions of the challenges services for students over a longer period of they faced before the pandemic. Although an time. infusion of temporary support can be helpful, these types of issues are best addressed by schools As with the Governor’s proposal, we recommend through sustained programs that operate over requiring funding to be prioritized for high-need multiple years. By requiring all funding to be spent students. To the extent that districts do not spend during the coming school year, the Governor’s their awarded amounts for the above activities, proposal would create an even greater “cliff effect,” funding would ultimately return to the state. with a significant amount of support being provided Use Freed-Up Funding to Improve School in 2021-22, and much lower service levels in Budget Resiliency. As we discuss in The 2021-22 2022-23. Budget: Overview of Proposition 98 Budget Proposals, we recommend the Legislature allocate Recommendations more Proposition 98 funding to pay down the state’s Fund a Smaller, More Targeted Program. outstanding deferrals and address school district We recommend the Legislature provide a smaller pension cost increases. Accordingly, we recommend amount of one-time funding to address learning the Legislature direct the remaining funding from loss, using the same allocation methodology as this proposal for these purposes. Paying off more proposed by the Governor. We also recommend of the state’s outstanding deferrals ($3.7 billion in the Legislature direct the bulk of this one-time the Governor’s budget) would realign program costs funding to encourage schools to offer programs with the ongoing funding to pay for these programs. this summer. Given the amount of flexible funding The Legislature also could use one-time funding to already available, we think $1.5 billion is a address districts’ rising pension costs. For example, reasonable amount of funding for these purposes. it could provide $800 million to cover about half of The Legislature could consider providing the funds the projected increase in pension costs in 2022-23. in two categories: In addition, the Legislature could pay a lump sum toward districts’ share of the unfunded pension • $1 Billion for Summer Academic and liabilities above what districts already owe in a given Enrichment Activities. Districts could use year. This action would reduce school districts’ the funding for a broad range of activities, but unfunded liabilities and provide annual savings to would be required to expend the funds by school districts over the next few decades. Any of September 2021. Activities would be required these actions would create more fiscal stability for to take place using an in-person or hybrid school districts and help them better sustain their model, to the extent allowable under state programs over time. and public health orders. (School districts that 2021-22 LAO Budget Series 4 analysis full gutter LAO Publications This report was prepared by Michael Alferes, and reviewed by Edgar Cabral and Anthony Simbol. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) is a nonpartisan office that provides fiscal and policy information and advice to the Legislature. 2021-22 LAO Budget Series 5