Many public schools never recovered from the Great Recession. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis.
Insufficient education funding and low teacher pay sparked the 2018 Red for Ed movement, in which teachers, first in Republican-led states, went out on strike to demand more resources for their schools and higher salaries. Some states settled the strikes with promises to pay teachers more money, but now, some of those raises are in jeopardy.
With the economy reeling from the closure of most public life in America due to the coronavirus pandemic, Congress just passed a $2 trillion assistance package that includes about $13.5 billion for public schools.
But it was far from the minimum of $75 billion that the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s two major teachers unions, had asked for in a recent letter to Congress. And educators say schools will need far more help from Congress in the coming months.
This post looks at the lessons that emerged from the efforts to recover from the recession more than a decade ago and how they could be applied today. It was written by Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and author of the 2016 book “Ending Zero Tolerance: The Crisis of Absolute School Discipline.” He also writes the Education Law Prof Blog.
By Derek W. Black
By Derek W. Black
During the Great Recession of the late 2000s, Congress hoped that most of a $54 billion set-aside in stimulus funds would be enough to save public school budgets, which had been savaged by state and local governments. It wasn’t enough. CONTINUE READING: Many public schools never recovered from Great Recession of 2007-09. The coronavirus could spark a new education crisis. - The Washington Post
