State Actions
State Actions
State Regulations and Actions
SREB staff are tracking developments in our states. Please contact us if we maybe of service with additional information on state responses related to education and the workforce.
Policies from each state related to school response to disease outbreak. Includes links to state public health office guidance in each state, from ChildTrends
From the National Conference of State Legislatures
- State fiscal responses to coronavirus
- Suspension or postponement of state legislative sessions
- COVID-19 and elections
2020-2021 school closure map from Education Week
Stress testing to help plan for budgetary effects, from Pew Trusts
Education-Related Funding in the December 2020 Federal COVID Relief Bill
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 includes a stimulus and pandemic relief package of almost $900 billion. SREB State Strategies staff offer this analysis of GEER (Governors Emergency Education Relief fund), HEER (Higher Education Emergency Relief fund) and ESSER (Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief fund).
Updated on January 6, 2021 to include state HEER projections and funding for broadband expansion programs.
CARES Act Education Funding Allocations
in SREB States
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was approved by Congress and signed into law on March 27, 2020. Below is information on the types of education-related funding provided to states in the CARES Act and tables showing funding allocated toward education in SREB states.
Types of Funding Provided
The legislation provides two large funds that can be used for education-related expenses:
State Decisions on School Reopenings
All SREB states issued state-level guidance concerning the reopening of schools for the 2020-21 academic year.
In most cases, the state can only provide guidance, advice and assistance, while actual determinations for reopening — both the when and how — are entirely the purview of local districts. In a few cases state guidance or mandates take precedence over local control.
K-12 Education Recovery Task Force to Serve 16 States
Leaders from 16 states will serve on a new regional Education Recovery Task Force to help states determine the best strategies for reopening K-12 public schools, providing each student with the support they need, and planning for a possible COVID-19 resurgence and future emergencies, the Southern Regional Education Board announced today.
Better Together
After weeks of struggling with the
fallout of COVID-19 — working remotely, social distancing,
helping neighbors when we can — I’m quite sure no one needs to be
told that we’re living in “unprecedented times.” That seems clear
enough.
Our teachers are coping with a digital environment that most were not trained for, trying to maintain their focus on equity to be sure every child has a chance at a quality education, meanwhile managing houses and budgets and families and concerns about their health, as we all are. It’s more than anyone was prepared for.