Money Matters: Guiding Principles for ESSER Funding
Having just completed my Ed.D. Resource Allocation and Deployment class, I can still hear Dr. Chris Candelaria’s oft used quote circling in my head, “When it comes to issues of school finance, the evidence is clear. Money matters.” Dr. Candelaria’s words could not prove to be more prescient as education leaders head into an unprecedented time for our nation around how a massive influx of federal dollars can positively influence public education.
K-12 education leaders have an enormous opportunity, and simultaneously daunting challenge, ahead of them: they need to spend down close to $200 billion in three years time AND execute a well run communications strategy to ensure that all stakeholders feel confident and inspired about how public funds are being spent.
In order to thoughtfully meet this monumental challenge, I recommend the following five guidelines for state, district, and local leaders to plan and lead with confidence for the next three years:
- Be targeted and transparent
- Prioritize evidence based strategies
- Rely on community context and local wisdom
- Be strategic and purposeful with budget forecasting
- Be open to transformative innovation
ESSER spending needs to be targeted and transparent. Education leaders need to thoughtfully communicate around the following three elements: the what, the how, and the why behind how they will spend this historic amount of federal funds. Because money matters, and because the American public has consistently heard how much money is being spent on “propping up schools”, leaders are called on to be compelling and clear story tellers that can confidently explain why the public dollars are being allocated for certain priorities with transparency.
And with transparency, education leaders are required to be incredibly targeted around the use of evidence based strategies. There are a wealth of resources, oftentimes overwhelming, around what strategies are proven to be effective for students. If you are an education leader, rely on the likes of established compilations like What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), or dial into the work of Education Resource Strategies (ERS), or take a few minutes to read and follow the informative work produced by Future Ed. These resources are purposeful and provide an important, and informed, baseline for how and where the money should be invested.
Experts are helpful with providing guidance; however, at the end of the day, local context and community matters. It is incredibly important that we respect and listen to the professional capacity and local knowledge of educators from the community, and be open to the recommendations they propose. The role of states and districts is to provide structured thoughtful guidance, with clear recommendations on how and what to implement in a clear blueprint fashion. Striking the right balance, between informed state and district guidance, and local implementation, will provide our country with informative proof points to elevate local leaders’ professional wisdom.
Education leaders, primarily at the state and district level, will need to ensure they balance timely interventions and support with strategic budget forecasting to avoid the 2024 fiscal cliff. Before investing in anything, education leaders at the local level need an informed perspective on how they will sustain spending priorities once the federal dollars dry up. This is a perfect initiative for state and district leaders to support local school leaders; likely the instructional leaders at the community level do not have the time or capacity to forecast budgets. If your state or district has not yet provided guidance, head over to ERS and dive into their resources and recommendations.
My final guidance is to be innovative and open to transformative ideas with how this money might be used to holistically support schools and students. In a similar call to action from last month’s post, now is the time to accelerate and seed interesting concepts for how we pursue and create an equitable public education system within the United States. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the often ignored cracks in our public education’s foundation, laying bare the realities around how public schools work for some, but probably not the majority of, families within the United States. I applaud the states highlighted in the The 74 article who are pursuing innovative strategies and are partnering with nonprofits and other organizations to meet the holistic needs of every student.
The reality and challenge of this moment is that a variety of playbooks, pending location and context, could work to guide education leaders in their spending priorities. By sticking and aligning to a set of guidelines and values, I believe that education leaders put themselves in a position to be informed and value driven in preparation for unforeseen obstacles ahead. This approach ensures they are thoughtfully prepared to defend, and at the very least, substantiate the budget choices they pursued with consistent clarity and rationale for each stakeholder.
