Cara Candal, Ed.D., is the Vice President of Policy for ExcelinEd.
With trillions in federal COVID emergency funds flowing to states, state education agencies and districts, there should be no shortage of innovative, tailored support for students and families during the 2021-22 school year. Some states have a head start by utilizing federal funds to create microgrant programs that provide direct payments to families to spend on a range of approved educational services.
Stakeholders at all levels can consider creating microgrant programs. Districts and State Education Agencies could use their share of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund, much of which they have not yet committed. Governors in Oklahoma and Texas used the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) to create their microgrant programs. And under the American Rescue Plan, which also topped off ESSER funds, there is yet another option: States and local communities could use State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund to provide microgrants to families.
States could provide families with microgrants to spend on a range of academic and enrichment activities and programs. Funding could be structured to provide a smaller but still impactful amount for every public school student or greater amounts for families who live at or below a certain income threshold.
Families could access funds through a secure website and spend their microgrants on pre-approved services, such as:
Microgrants are popular with parents because they allow them to tailor services to the needs of individual children. In recent months, two separate polls—one from the Walton Family Foundation and the other from the American Federation for Children—found that most respondents believe federal stimulus funds should address immediate student needs.
States could allocate microgrants to all or most students using ARP funds and still have money left to support other education services. For example, if Tennessee granted every economically disadvantaged public school student in the state $1,000 (a total of roughly $300 million) and every other public school student in the state $500 (a total of roughly $340 million), the state would spend about $640 million on microgrants, less than 20 percent of its $3.7 billion dollar State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund allocation. States could distribute these monies to families without even touching other buckets of federal funding allocated specifically for education agencies, districts and schools.
$1,000 can go a long way for families, especially those most effected by economic downturn and a lack of access to educational options. At an average cost of $50 an hour for a private tutor, students could receive 20 hours of intensive, personalized instruction. In many states, $1,000 could also pay for up to a month of summer camp or other supplemental services. It will take states years to obligate and spend the funds the federal government has allocated for pandemic relief, but students and families need services now. Providing those services with microgrants is one important way to ensure that funds are getting directly to families and going directly to much-needed education and enrichment services.
