The Covid-19 Economic Fallout Is Going to Hurt Education Budgets, Here’s What States Can Do to Protect Vulnerable Students

Summary: Prolonged shutdowns of large parts of the economy, nationwide and across the world, are having major impacts already—with 17 million Americans filing for unemployment in the previous three weeks. There are likely to be ongoing and harsh effects on every aspect of American life, even when circumstances return to something resembling normal, particularly on government budgets. And since K-12 education is usually the single largest function of state and local governments, policymakers need to closely consider how students will be affected in the coming years.

State and local leaders should learn from past mistakes and make school finance reforms to ensure that low-income and disadvantaged students aren’t disproportionately harmed, both now and in future recessions.

During the next recession, policymakers need to prioritize retaining and bolstering programs that advance funding equity.

School finance reforms should be made to ensure any revenue losses, tax burdens, and future economic shocks can be spread fairly across school districts and students. It’s up to policymakers to make certain that the COVID-19 pandemic and seemingly-impending recession don’t disproportionately hurt disadvantaged students.

Link: The Covid-19 Economic Fallout Is Going to Hurt Education Budgets, Here’s What States Can Do to Protect Vulnerable Students

Submitted April 15, 2020 at 08:43AM by punkthesystem https://ift.tt/2yh4nSh