Wisconsin Schools On Track to Exhaust ESSER Funds by September of 2024

Friday, July 14th, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

(By Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio)Wisconsin school districts were initially slow to spend pandemic stimulus aid, but are now on track to exhaust the money by the September 2024 deadline, according to a new report.

According to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin’s public schools received nearly $2.4 billion in three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER funds, meant to help students make up for learning loss during the pandemic.

But a new report shows the federal aid has done little to close the learning gap caused by the pandemic. Quinton Klabon, senior research director for the conservative Institute for Reforming Government, or IRG, found Wisconsin school districts are on track to spend the third round of ESSER funds, about $1.5 billion, by the September 2024 deadline.

But Klabon found that $492 million remains unallocated, and 63 school districts have spent less than 33 percent of the funds they received including Green Bay, Beloit, Oshkosh, Manitowoc and Superior.

Klabon said 13 districts have not spent any of the money. IRG has also raised questions about how districts are spending the money. Construction projects make up the bulk of the spending, $270 million, or about 27 percent, according to IRG’s research.

Districts that fail to spend the money by the September 2024 deadline could be required to return the funds, but would first have the opportunity to work with federal authorities on plans to use the remaining balance. The money can be spent on anything that could help students catch up on learning, but the definition on what meets that requirement is broad.

Despite billions of federal dollars being spent to help schools recover from the pandemic, progress in reading and math has stalled over the last year in elementary and middle schools, according to a study released Thursday by NWEA.

The organization examined MAP test scores from 6.7 million third to eighth grade students in approximately 20,000 public schools. About 25 percent of Wisconsin students take the MAP test, according to NWEA.

Overall, achievement gains in 2022-23 lagged pre-pandemic trends in all students except the youngest cohort, falling short by 1 to19 percent in reading and by 6 to 15 percent in math, according to the study.

On average, students need the equivalent of an additional four and a half months of instruction in math, and an extra four months in reading to catch up to the typical pre-pandemic student. That's on top of regular classroom time, the study found. 

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