    [House Hearing, 117 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                           LESSONS LEARNED: CHARTING
                         THE PATH TO EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                                SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                          EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY,
                            AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

                                     of the

                        COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
                         U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                 HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 25, 2021

                                   __________

                                Serial No. 117-5

                                   __________

          Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

              Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                                  ______

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    43-873 PDF        WASHINGTON : 2022

                        COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

                 ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman

    RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
    JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut              Ranking Member
    GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
      Northern Mariana Islands           GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
    FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         TIM WALBERG, Michigan
    SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
    MARK TAKANO, California              ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
    ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
    MARK De SAULNIER, California         JIM BANKS, Indiana
    DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          JAMES COMER, Kentucky
    PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
    JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
    LUCY Mc BATH, Georgia                MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
    JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
    ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 BOB GOOD, Virginia
    ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                LISA C. Mc CLAIN, Michigan
    HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
    TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
    MONDAIRE JONES, New York             VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
    KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
    FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
    JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair  MICHELLE STEEL, California
    MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                Vacancy
    JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                Vacancy
    MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
    JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
    ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
    KWEISI MFUME, Maryland

                       Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
                      Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
                                     ------

      SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

       GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, Northern Mariana Islands, Chairman

    JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
    RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona              Ranking Member
    JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky            GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
    FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
    MARK De SAULNIER, California         FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
    JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
    LUCY Mc BATH, Georgia                MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
    ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 MICHELLE STEEL, California
    KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     Vacancy
    JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York              Vacancy
    ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia  VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina
                                           (ex officio)

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

    Hearing held on March 25, 2021...................................     1

    Statement of Members:
        Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, Chairman, Subcommittee
          on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education....     1
            Prepared statement of....................................     5
        Owens, Hon. Burgess, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early
          Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.............     6
            Prepared statement of....................................     9

    Statement of Witnesses:
        Almazan, Selene A., Esq., Legal Director, Council of Parent
          Attorneys and Advocates, Inc...............................    23
            Prepared statement of....................................    26
        Carvalho, Alberto M., Superintendent of Schools, Miami-Dade
          County Public Schools......................................    43
            Prepared statement of....................................    46
        Dale, Jennifer, Parent.......................................    18
            Prepared statement of....................................    21
        Morial, Marc H., JD, President and CEO, National Urban League    12
            Prepared statement of....................................    14

    Additional Submissions:
        Scott, Hon. Robert C. ``Bobby'', a Representative in Congress
          from the State of Virginia:
            Article: ``CDC report on Smithfield COVID-19 outbreak in
              Sioux Falls was redone with 'watered down'
              recommendations''......................................    78
            Article: ``The CDC softened a report on meatpacking
              safety during the pandemic. Democrats say they want to
              know why.''............................................    85
            Article: ``Democrats demand answers from Labor Department
              on CDC recommendations for meatpacking plant''.........    89
            CDC guidelines on Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools
              through Phased Prevention..............................    91
            NEA News: Six Ways ESSA Will Improve Assessments.........   109
            NWEA technical brief: Comparability analysis of remote
              and in-person MAP Growth testing in fall 2020..........   118
            Future Ed: A Smart Role for State Standardized Testing in
              2021...................................................   137
            GAO WatchBlog: The Challenges of Going Back to School....   140
            GAO WatchBlog: Racial Disparities in Education and the
              Role of Government.....................................   144
            Statement from the National Council on Disability........   147
            Letter from the National Association of School
              Psychologists..........................................   150
            Report from Common Sense and Hopelab--Coping with COVID-
              19: How young people use digital media to manage their
              mental health..........................................   153
        Questions submitted for the record by:
            Wilson, Hon. Federica, a Representative in Congress from
              the State of Florida...................................   228
            Morelle, Hon. Joseph, a Representative in Congress from
              the State of New York..................................   228
        Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
            Mr. Morial...............................................   229

                           LESSONS LEARNED: CHARTING

                         THE PATH TO EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
                                  ----------

                            Thursday, March 25, 2021

                      House of Representatives,
                       Subcommittee on Early Childhood,
                   Elementary, and Secondary Education,
                              Committee on Education and Labor,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:01 p.m., via
    Zoom, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Chairman of the
    subcommittee) presiding.
        Present: Representatives Sablan, Hayes, Grijalva, Yarmuth,
    Wilson, DeSaulnier, Morelle, McBath, Levin, Manning, Bowman,
    Scott (Ex Officio), Owens, Grothman, Allen, Keller, Miller,
    Cawthorn, Steel and Foxx (Ex Officio).
        Staff present: Phoebe Ball, Disability Counsel; Ilana
    Brunner, General Counsel; David Dailey, Counsel to the
    Chairman; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information Technology;
    Eli Hovland, Policy Associate; Ariel Jones, Policy Associate;
    Andre Lindsay, Policy Associate; Max Moore, Staff Assistant;
    Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special Assistant to the Staff Director;
    Kayla Pennebacker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff
    Director; Benjamin Sinoff, Director of Education Oversight;
    Lakeisha Steel, Senior Education Policy Advisor; Claire Viall,
    Professional Staff; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; Kelsey
    Avino, Minority Professional Staff Member; Courtney Butcher,
    Minority Director of Member Services and Coalitions; Amy Raaf
    Jones, Minority Director of Education and Human Resources
    Policy; Dean Johnson, Minority Legislative Assistant; Hannah
    Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Audra McGeorge,
    Minority Communications Director; Carlton Norwood, Minority
    Press Secretary; Chance Russell, Minority Legislative
    Assistant; Mandy Schaumberg, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy
    Director of Education Policy; and Brad Thomas, Minority Senior
    Education Policy Advisor.
        Chairman Sablan. The Subcommittee of Early Childhood
    Elementary and Secondary Education will come to order. Welcome
    everyone. I note that a quorum is present. The subcommittee is
    meeting today to hear testimony on Charting the Path to
    Education Equity Post-COVID-19. And this is an entirely remote
    hearing.
        All microphones will be kept muted as a general rule to
    avoid unnecessary background noise. Members and witnesses will
    be responsible for unmuting themselves when they are recognized
    to speak, or when they wish to seek recognition. I also ask the
    Members please identify themselves before they speak.
        Members should keep their cameras on while in the
    proceeding. Members shall be considered present in the
    proceeding when they are visible on camera, and they shall be
    considered not present when they are not visible on camera. The
    only exception to this is if they are experiencing technical
    difficulty and inform committee staff of such difficulty.
        If any Member experiences technical difficulties during the
    hearing you should stay connected on the platform, make sure
    you are muted and use your phone to immediately call the
    committee's IT director whose number was provided in advance.
        Should the Chair experience technical difficulty or need to
    step away, Chairman Scott as a Member of this subcommittee, or
    another Majority Member of the subcommittee if Chairman Scott
    is not available, is hereby authorized to assume the gavel in
    the Chair's absence.
        This is an entirely remote meeting. And as such the
    Committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who
    choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room
    must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes and distortion
    resulting from more than one person on the software platform
    sitting in the same room.
        Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing,
    and safe healthcare guidelines including the use of masks, hand
    sanitizers and wiping down their areas, both before and after
    their presence in the hearing room. In order to ensure that the
    Committee's five-minute rule is adhered to, staff will be
    keeping track of time using the Committee's field timer.
        The field timer will appear in its own thumbnail picture
    and will be named 001_timer. There will be no one minute
    remaining warning. The field timer will sound its audio alarm
    when time is up, and it goes really loud--``bzzzzzz.'' Members
    and witnesses are asked to wrap up promptly when their time has
    expired.
        While a roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum in
    official proceedings conducted remotely or with remote
    participation, the committee has made it a practice whenever
    there is an official proceeding with remote participation for
    the Clerk to call the roll to help make clear who is present at
    the start of the proceeding.
        Members should say their name before announcing they are
    present. This helps the clerk, and also helps those watching
    the platform and the livestream who may experience a few
    seconds delay.
        So, at this time I ask the Clerk to call the roll.
        The Clerk. Chairman Sablan?
        Chairman Sablan. Sablan is present.
        The Clerk. Mrs. Hayes.
        Mrs. Hayes. Hayes is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Grijalva?
        Mr. Grijalva. Present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Yarmuth?
        Mr. Yarmuth. Present.
        The Clerk. Ms. Wilson?
        Ms. Wilson. Miss Wilson is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. DeSaulnier?
        [No response.]
        The Clerk. Mr. Morelle?
        Mr. Morelle. Mr. Morelle is present.
        The Clerk. Mrs. McBath?
        Mrs. McBath. Mrs. McBath is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Levin?
        Mr. Levin. Levin is present.
        The Clerk. Ms. Manning?
        Ms. Manning. Manning is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Bowman?
        [No response.]
        The Clerk. Mr. Scott?
        Mr. Scott. Scott is present.
        The Clerk. Ranking Member Owens.
        Mr. Owens. Owens is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Grothman?
        [No response.]
        The Clerk. Mr. Allen?
        [No response.]
        The Clerk. Mr. Keller?
        Mr. Keller. Keller is present.
        The Clerk. Mrs. Miller?
        Mrs. Miller. Miller is present.
        The Clerk. Mr. Cawthorn?
        [No response.]
        The Clerk. Mrs. Steel?
        Mrs. Steel. Steel present.
        The Clerk. Mrs. Foxx?
        Mrs. Foxx. Foxx is present.
        The Clerk. Chairman Sablan this concludes the roll call.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you very much. And
    pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c), opening statements are limited
    to the Chair and the Ranking Member, and this allows us to hear
    from our witnesses sooner, and provides all Members with
    adequate time to ask questions.
        I recognize myself now for the purpose of making an opening
    statement.
        Today we meet for charting the impact of the COVID-19
    pandemic on school communities and discuss strategies for
    safely reopening classrooms and addressing educational
    disparities. It has been just over a year since the pandemic
    forced schools to abruptly switch to online platforms,
    disrupting the education of more than 55 million students, and
    upending our communities.
        Unfortunately, the consequences of this transition have
    extended beyond lost in person instructions. School closures
    have restricted student's access to nutritious school meals,
    and social and emotional learning opportunities.
        And schools are less likely to identify cases of child
    abuse and neglect while classrooms are closed. In my district
    COVID-19 has had the greatest impact on students with
    disabilities, Title I qualified students, English learners and
    other vulnerable students that already face significant
    challenges.
        Going into the pandemic, schools that are predominantly
    just serving students of color faced a 23-billion-dollar
    funding gap compared to schools predominantly serving white
    students. And because of this disparity many students entered
    the pandemic without access to high-speed internet, dedicated
    devices, and other things that are critical to remote learning.
        They will also return to older classrooms and campuses with
    much needed repairs, from iPhones, some even to find school
    libraries losing their entire book collection, books meant for
    student literacy. Dilapidated school facilities, including
    dangerously outdated ventilation systems if they are there at
    all.
        The perfect storm of disparities has worsened inequities in
    unfinished learning and often measurable widening of
    achievement gaps. Research indicates black and Latino students
    were three to 5 months behind in learning at the beginning of
    this school year. By the end of the school year, they could be
    6 to 12 months behind, compared to 4 to 8 months for white
    students.
        GAO reporting found that school districts struggled to
    provide education and services for students with disabilities
    and English learners. Further, a new survey by the National
    Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, found that more than
    half of all black, Latino and Asian fourth graders learned in a
    fully remote environment.
        Another survey showed that only about a quarter of Pacific
    Islanders received full-time, in-person instruction. In
    comparison, 25 percent of white students learned fully
    remotely, and nearly half of white students received full-time
    in-person instructions.
        Students with disabilities have also disproportionally
    suffered from this pandemic in the wake of the Trump
    administration's failed COVID-19 response. Without adequate
    guidance from the Department, schools struggled to maintain the
    special education services that students with disabilities
    needed to access quality education in a remote learning
    environment.
        Today, schools also face challenges to reopening classrooms
    for students with disabilities, who may be more vulnerable to
    the virus. For example, the NAEP 2021 survey showed that 40
    percent of schools prioritized students with disabilities for
    full-time in-person instruction in the 4th and 8th grades.
        Yet, students with disabilities have not received in-person
    instructions at rates noticeably higher than other subgroups of
    students. These continued disparities make clear that to ensure
    that all schools and students recover from this pandemic, we
    must target relief and resources to underserved students who
    need them most.
        Over the past year, Congress has taken historic steps
    toward that goal through three major relief packages: The
    Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the
    CARES Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
    Appropriations Act, and the most recently American Rescue Plan
    Act.
        Combined together, these packages secured nearly 200
    billion dollars in urgent relief for schools. The funding has
    been critical for covering the increased costs of the pandemic
    and preparing for the 300 billion dollars shortfall in State
    and local budgets. To date, a reduced State revenue has already
    cost more than a million education jobs.
        The American Rescue Plan specifically makes the most
    significant one-time investment in K through 12 education in
    our Nation's history. Under President Biden, Congress swiftly
    passed this legislation after school communities spent months
    calling for additional funding to reopen schools safely and
    support students.
        The nearly 130 billion dollars of flexible funding in this
    package will help schools take the necessary steps to safely
    reopen and stay open. And it will help students overcome lost
    time in the classrooms as well as severe trauma, hunger, and
    homelessness.
        The American Rescue Plan funding will also help Congress to
    fulfill its long-standing commitment to meeting the needs of
    students with disabilities. Specifically, the package dedicates
    3 billion dollars to ensure that K through 12 students with
    disabilities can access the free and appropriate public
    education they have a right to, and toddlers with disabilities
    can access the services they need to be ready to enter the
    school system.
        The lessons from our pandemic response so far have provided
    a valuable foundation for Congress to take the next steps
    toward educational equity. For example, we need accurate data
    from statewide assessments to understand the full scope of this
    pandemic.
        Without this data, we cannot accurately target relief
    funding to support school communities where racial achievement
    gaps are greatest. We must also make systemic reforms to our K
    through 12 education system to fully address educational
    disparities. And this includes repairing crumbling school
    infrastructure, confronting the growing resegregation of public
    schools, and making other long-term investments to address
    educational disparities.
        Today, we will discuss the work we still have ahead to
    close persistent achievement gaps and ensure a recovery from
    this pandemic where every student succeeds. I want to thank our
    witnesses again for being with us and I now go to the Ranking
    Member of the Full Committee Ranking Member Dr. Foxx for her
    opening statement.
        [The statement of Chairman Sablan follows:]

          Statement of Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Chairman,
      Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education

        Today, we meet to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
    school communities and discuss strategies for safely reopening
    classrooms and addressing educational disparities.
        It has been just over a year since the pandemic forced schools to
    abruptly switch to online platforms, disrupting the education of more
    than 55 million students and upending our communities.
        Unfortunately, the consequences of this transition have extended
    beyond lost in-person instruction. School closures have restricted
    students' access to nutritious school meals and social and emotional
    learning opportunities. And schools are less likely to identify cases
    of child abuse and neglect while classrooms are closed.
        In my district, COVID-19 has had the greatest impact on students
    with disabilities, Title I qualified students, English learners, and
    other vulnerable students that already faced significant challenges.
        Going into the pandemic, schools predominantly serving students of
    color faced a $23 billion funding gap compared to schools predominantly
    serving white students.
        Because of this disparity, many students entered the pandemic
    without access to high-speed internet, dedicated devices, and other
    tools that are critical to remote learning. They will also return to
    older classrooms and campuses with much-needed repairs, from iPhones-
    some even to find school libraries losing their entire book collection-
    books meant for student literacy-and dilapidated school facilities,
    including dangerously outdated ventilation systems, if they are there
    at all.
        The perfect storm of disparities has worsened inequities in
    unfinished learning and caused a measurable widening of achievement
    gaps.
        Research indicates Black and Latino students were 3-5 months behind
    in learning at the beginning of this school year. By the end of the
    school year, they could be 6-12 months behind, compared to 4-8 months
    for white students.
        GAO reporting found that school districts struggled to provide
    education and services for students with disabilities and English
    learners. Further, a new survey by the National Assessment of
    Educational Progress, or NAEP, found that more than half of all Black,
    Latino, and Asian fourth graders learned in a fully remote environment.
    Another survey showed that only a quarter of Pacific Islanders received
    full-time, in-person instruction. In comparison, 25 percent of white
    students learned fully remotely, and nearly half of white students
    received full-time in-person instruction.
        Students with disabilities have also disproportionally suffered
    from this pandemic in the wake of the Trump Administration's failed
    COVID-19 response. Without adequate guidance from the Department,
    schools struggled to maintain the special education services that
    students with disabilities needed to access quality education in a
    remote learning environment. Today, schools also face challenges to
    reopening classrooms for students with disabilities, who may be more
    vulnerable to the virus. For example, the NAEP 2021 Survey shows that
    40 percent of schools prioritized students with disabilities for full-
    time in-person instruction in the 4th and 8th grades. Yet, students
    with disabilities have not received in-person instruction at rates
    noticeably higher than other subgroups of students.
        These continued disparities make clear that, to ensure that all
    schools and students recover from this pandemic, we must target relief
    and resources to underserved students who need them most.
        Over the past year, Congress has taken historic steps toward that
    goal through three major relief packages:

       the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or
            CARES Act,

       the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
            Appropriations Act, and most recently,

       the American Rescue Plan Act.

        Combined, these packages secured nearly $200 billion in urgent
    relief for schools. The funding has been critical for covering the
    increased costs of the pandemic and preparing for the $300 billion
    shortfall in State and local budgets. To date, reduced State revenue
    has already cost more than a million education jobs.
        The American Rescue Plan, specifically, makes the most significant
    one-time investment in K-12 education in our Nation's history. Under
    President Biden, Congress swiftly passed this legislation after school
    communities spent months calling for additional funding to reopen
    schools safely and support students.
        The nearly $130 billion of flexible funding in this package will
    help schools take the necessary steps to safely reopen and stay open.
    And it will help students overcome lost time in the classroom as well
    as severe trauma, hunger, and homelessness.
        The American Rescue Plan funding will also help Congress fulfill
    its long-standing commitment to meeting the needs of students with
    disabilities. Specifically, the package dedicates $3 billion to ensure
    that K-12 students with disabilities can access the free and
    appropriate public education they have a right to, and toddlers with
    disabilities can access the services they need to be ready to enter the
    school system.
        The lessons from our pandemic response so far have provided a
    valuable foundation for Congress to take the next steps toward
    educational equity.
        For example, we need accurate data from statewide assessments to
    understand the full scope of this pandemic. Without this data, we
    cannot accurately target relief funding to support school communities
    where racial achievement gaps are greatest.
        We must also make systemic reforms to our K-12 education system to
    fully address educational disparities. This includes repairing
    crumbling school infrastructure, confronting the growing resegregation
    of public schools, and making other long-term investments to address
    educational disparities.
        Today, we will discuss the work we still have ahead to close
    persistent achievement gaps and ensure a recovery from this pandemic
    where every student succeeds.
                                     ______

        Mr. Owens. Mr. Chairman I will take that, Ranking Member.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all our witnesses for
    joining us.
        Chairman Sablan. Could the gentlemen suspend for a minute?
        Mr. Owens. Yes.
        Chairman Sablan. Dr. Foxx will make her opening statement.
    She's just trying to unmute herself. Dr. Foxx there should be--
    the microphone should be on your lower right-hand if you're
    using a computer. Yes left-hand corner facing you Dr. Foxx.
        Ms. Foxx. Banyan can you hear me?
        Mr. Scott. Yes, yes.
        Ms. Foxx. I have no sound.
        Chairman Sablan. Dr. Foxx I apologize. Mr. Owens is
    actually going to make his opening statements and then on the
    questioning you're going to be ahead of Mr. Owens, so I
    apologize, my mistake, so we'll go back and recognize Mr. Owens
    please.
        Mr. Owens. Thank you.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you Dr. Foxx, thank you.
        Ms. Foxx. Thank you.
        Chairman Sablan. Mr. Owens you have five minutes sir.
        Mr. Owens. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for our
    witnesses for joining us. And shouldn't all children have
    opportunities to achieve the American dream? It must never be a
    partisan issue. All students, regardless of zip code or socio-
    economic status should have the freedom to attend the school
    that meets their unique needs setting them up for lifelong
    success.
        I grew up in the deep south in a touch with Jim Crow and
    the KKK. Racial segregation and inequities in education are not
    just chapters in a history book for me. I lived and experienced
    them first-hand. I'm the child of educators. My father received
    his Ph.D. from Ohio State University and taught Agronomy at
    Florida A and M.
        My mother was a junior high school teacher. I was taught
    from a young age of the importance of education and hard work.
    I firmly believe education is the key to unlocking our
    children's future across abilities. Tragically, the COVID-19
    pandemic has served as a major setback for K through 12
    students nationwide.
        The purpose of today's hearing might be to discuss
    educational equity post COVID-19, but there can be no
    educational equity when classroom doors remain shut. Too many
    poor families, many of them students of color, as well as those
    with disabilities, have been left with no educational options
    other than to wait on the bureaucrats to--[inaudible]--vote
    upon the science and reopen schools.
        The current administration and this Congress have failed
    these families. Every day our inaction worsens the education
    disparities in our communities, which over time will contribute
    to widening opportunities and wealth gaps. The best way to help
    struggling families is to give them more freedom to make
    choices for their children's education, not by shutting them
    out of schools and closing doors of great opportunities.
        While numerous states and schools have listened to the
    science and implemented proper safety precautions to offer
    students and families safe, in-person instructions, too many
    students are trapped in school districts that refuse to reopen,
    causing irreversible harm to our Nation's children.
        This is far from equity, and we must do better. That's why
    House Republicans called for a bipartisan investigation into
    the effects that school closures are having on children with
    disabilities. In a letter to Chairmen Clayton, Maloney, Scott
    and Pallone, my fellow Republicans wrote, and I quote,
    ``Students with disabilities are falling behind. States and
    localities are not meeting even the minimum requirements.
        If States and localities are violating Federal civil right
    laws to the detriment of students, they must be investigated,
    and their actions corrected.'' Closed classrooms have also
    increased mental health problems among the students. CDC data
    shows that mental health visits to the emergency room increased
    by 24 and 31 percent with children from March to October of
    last year.
        Additionally, 2020 analysis by McKenzie and Company
    estimates that children of color may lose up to 1 year of
    learning compared to white students losing 4 to 8 months, with
    an average overall learning loss of 9 months.
        These numbers are jaw-dropping. We cannot allow future
    generations to fall further behind while the Biden
    Administration tiptoes around the radical demands of teacher
    unions. Embarrassingly, the United Teachers of Los Angeles,
    UTLA, demanded a host of left-wing priorities such as Medicare
    for all, defunding the police, wealth, and millionaire taxes,
    at least 50 billion in school nationwide, housing security and
    security to school moratorium and a safety requisites in our
    in-person return to schools.
        But rather than address these outrageous wish lists, which
    have nothing to do with reopening schools, the Democrats have
    claimed that we all want schools to reopen. Their actions, or
    lack thereof, speaks louder than words. In addition, the Biden
    Administration seems to change their tune daily on reopening
    schools.
        Even the Washington Post labeled their messaging as a
    muddled mess. Let's follow the science. Last week the CDC
    reversed its course on six feet of social distancing, admitting
    that their previous guideline was politically motivated. This
    comes after CDC Director Walensky's statement that schools
    could reopen before all teachers are vaccinated, a statement
    that was later reversed because of the pressures from teachers?
    unions.
        Like the CDC, congressional Democrats are willing to bend
    the facts on their crusade to politicize our children's
    education. Democrats ran through their so-called CDC relief
    bill, even though this body had already allocated significantly
    more funding than the CDC said was necessary to safely reopen
    schools.
        Even worse, the funds appropriated through this partisan
    legislation have nothing to do with reopening schools this
    spring. The data is clear. The longer the schools stay closed,
    the further our children fall behind, particularly those in
    disadvantaged groups. Yet the Biden Administration and
    Democrats continue to prioritize unions over students, and
    politics over science.
        This is no way to lead our country through this
    unprecedented crisis. This is no way to chart a path forward
    toward educational equality. The science is clear, Congress
    provided an abundance of funding, yet children are still stuck
    learning behind a screen, forcing our youngest and most
    vulnerable to overcome insurmountable barriers to success.
        For far too long Congress has bitterly divided on partisan
    lines. Our kids deserve better. I hope we can come together,
    not as Republicans and Democrats, but as parents, grandparents,
    and patriotic Americans to put the well-being of our children
    first. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today,
    particularly Mrs. Jennifer Dale, who will offer testimonies on
    her testimony, with harmful and lengthy school closures and how
    it has impacted her family.
        Thank you Mr. Chairman and I yield back.
        [The statement of Ranking Member Owens follows:]

    Statement of Hon. Burgess Owens, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early
                 Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education

        Ensuring all children have opportunities to achieve the American
    Dream must never be a partisan issue. All students--regardless of zip
    code or socioeconomic status--should have the freedom to attend the
    school that meets their unique needs, setting them up for lifelong
    success.
        I grew up in the deep South during the time of Jim Crow and the
    KKK. Racial segregation and inequities in education are not just
    chapters in a history book to me--I've lived and experienced them
    firsthand. I'm the child of educators--my father received his Ph.D.
    from The Ohio State University and taught Agronomy at Florida A&M, my
    mother was a middle school teacher. I was taught from a young age the
    importance of education and hard work. I firmly believe education is
    the key to unlocking our children's future of possibilities.
        Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a major setback for
    K-12 students nationwide. The purpose of today's hearing might be to
    discuss educational equity post-COVID-19, but there can be no
    educational equity when classroom doors remain shut.
        Too many poor families, many of them, students of color as well as
    those with disabilities, have been left with no educational option
    other than to wait on bureaucrats to follow the science and reopen
    schools. The Biden administration and this Congress have failed these
    families. Every day, our inaction worsens the educational disparities
    in our communities, which over time will also contribute to widening
    opportunity and wealth gaps. The best way to help struggling families
    is
        to give them more freedom to make choices for their children's
    education, not by shutting them out of schools and closing doors to
    greater opportunities.
        While numerous states and schools have listened to the science and
    implemented proper safety precautions to offer students and families
    safe, in-person instruction, too many students are trapped in school
    districts that have refused to reopen, causing irreversible harm to our
    Nation's children.
        This is far from equity and we must do better.
        That's why House Republicans called for a bipartisan investigation
    into the effects school closures are having on children with
    disabilities. In a letter to Chairmen Clyburn, Maloney, Scott, and
    Pallone, my fellow Republicans wrote, 'Students with disabilities are
    falling behind. States and localities are not meeting even the minimal
    requirements? If states or localities are violating Federal civil
    rights laws to the detriment of students, they must be investigated,
    and their actions corrected.'
        Closed classrooms have also increased mental health problems among
    students. CDC data shows that mental health visits to the emergency
    room increased between 24 and 31 percent for children from March to
    October of last year.
        Additionally, a 2020 analysis by McKinsey and Company estimates
    that children of color may lose up to one year of learning compared to
    white students losing four to 8 months, with an average overall
    learning loss of nine months.
        These numbers are jaw-dropping.
        We cannot allow future generations to fall further behind while the
    Biden administration tiptoes around the radical demands of teachers
    unions.
        Embarrassingly, the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) demanded
    a host of left wing priorities such as Medicare for All, defunding the
    police, wealth and millionaire taxes, at least $500 billion for schools
    nationwide, housing security, and a charter school moratorium, as
    'safety' prerequisites for their in-person return to school.
        But rather than address this outrageous wish list which has nothing
    to do with reopening schools, Democrats will claim that 'we all want
    schools to reopen.' Their actions, or lack thereof, speak louder than
    their words. In addition, the Biden administration seems to change
    their tune daily on reopening
        schools. Even the Washington Post labeled their messaging a
    'muddled mess.'
        Let's follow the science. Just last week, the CDC reversed its
    course on six feet of social distancing, admitting that their previous
    guidance was politically motivated. This comes after CDC Director
    Walensky's statement that schools could reopen before all teachers are
    vaccinated, a statement that was later reversed because of pressure
    from teachers unions.
        Like the CDC, congressional Democrats are willing to bend the facts
    on their crusade to politicize our children's education. Democrats
    rammed through their so-called COVID relief bill even though this body
    had already allocated significantly more funding than the CDC said was
    necessary to safely reopen schools. Even worse, the funds appropriated
    through that partisan legislation have nothing to do with reopening
    schools this spring.
        The data is clear: the longer schools stay closed the further
    children will fall behind, particularly those in disadvantaged groups.
    Yet the Biden administration and Democrats continue to prioritize
    unions over students and politics over science. This is no way to lead
    our Nation through an unprecedented crisis. This is no way to chart a
    path toward educational equity.
        The science is clear. Congress provided an abundance of funding.
    Yet, children are still stuck learning from behind a screen, forcing
    our youngest and most vulnerable to overcome insurmountable barriers to
    success. For far too long, Congress has been bitterly divided along
    partisan lines. Our kids deserve better. I hope we can come together
    not as Republicans and Democrats, but as parents, grandparents, and
    patriotic Americans to put the well-being of our children first.
        I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today, particularly
    Mrs. Jennifer Dale, who will offer testimony on her experiences with
    harmful and lengthy school closures and how it has impacted her family.
                                     ______

        Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much Mr. Owens for your
    statement. I would just like to say that here on the ground,
    the CARES Act and the American Rescue Act, there's a lot of
    teachers to come back to 40-hour work weeks, and schools
    actually reopened for face to face instructions, and they're
    now in the process of making plans for summer schools,
    identifying students who need help and bringing them into
    summer schools, but thank you for your statement anyway.
        Without objection, all other Members who wish to insert
    written statements into the record may do so by submitting them
    to the Committee Clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format
    by 5 p.m. on May 8, 2021.
        I will now introduce the witnesses. Marc H. Morial, is
    President and CEO of the National Urban League, the Nation's
    largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization.
    He served as the highly successful and popular Mayor of New
    Orleans, as well as the President of the United States
    Conference of Mayors.
        He previously was a Louisiana State Senator and was an
    attorney in New Orleans. He's a living voice on the national
    stage in the battle for jobs, education, policy and voting
    right equity. He's a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania
    with a degree in economics and African-American studies and
    holds a law degree from Georgetown University.
        I think the livestream, the Chair has been informed that
    the livestream is down, and House will require that we suspend
    until it is back up, so we will pause momentarily. Members and
    witnesses should maintain the connection to the platform as the
    hearing will continue as soon as livestream is back up.
        [Suspension]
        I was introducing the witnesses, and I think I was just
    saying that Mr. Morial has also got a law degree from
    Georgetown University.
        Ms. Jennifer Dale is a mother of three school-age children
    and resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Oh, my great grandchildren
    live there too. In her community Miss Dale is active in
    volunteering with non-profits that service children of people
    with disabilities, including serving on the Board of Community
    which supports independence for people with disabilities in
    employment and housing.
        Last fall Ms. Dale formed a group with other families in
    the community to push for the return to in-person instructions.
    Her group, Clack to School named after Clackamas County, has
    worked with Let Them Play, Let Oregon Learn and opening PDX to
    become the largest coalition of families advocating to reopen
    schools which number 35,000 families state-wide.
        Selene Almazan, I hope I got that right, is the Legal
    Director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates,
    COPAA. COPAA started as a school membership and training
    organization for attorneys and advocated for parents to find
    the help they needed to fight for the rights of their children
    and now is nationally recognized for harnessing the strength
    and determination of family attorneys advocates related
    professional and students.
        Ms. Almazan has represented students with families for over
    30 years, and in addition to her work with COPAA, maintains a
    private practice focusing on student representation in special
    education matters, and matters involving violations of the
    Individuals With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of
    1973.
        She has extensive experience training families, teachers,
    school administrators, attorneys and advocates on legal issues
    related to special education law as well as disability
    discrimination issues.
        I am pleased to recognize my colleague, Representative
    Frederica Wilson to briefly introduce her constituent who's
    appearing before us as a witness today. I yield 30 seconds to
    Ms. Wilson to introduce the witness please. Ms. Wilson, yes
    Frederica please. I think you need to unmute your microphone. I
    can't hear you. Can you hear me Frederica, nod if you can?
        Ms. Wilson. I hear you.
        Chairman Sablan. OK, oh now I hear you too. Let's go.
    Introduce your witness please.
        Ms. Wilson. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairman Sablan. I
    am so proud to introduce my friend, 5000 Role Model Mentor and
    Miami-Dade County Public School Superintendent Alberto
    Carvalho. He is the best. And Miami-Dade County Public Schools
    are open for business and have been for a long time. Children
    attend according to parental choice.
        He has served as Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public
    Schools, the Nation's fourth largest school system since
    September 2008, a record of exemplary service. He is a
    nationally recognized expert on education, transformation,
    finance, and leadership development.
        During his tenure Miami-Dade County Public Schools has
    become one of the Nation's highest performing urban schools.
    And because of the 5,000 Role Models, black boys outperform
    their counterparts in other urban districts. The district has
    also been named as a 2014 College Board Advance Placement
    Equity and Excellence District of the Year, as well as the 2012
    winner of the Board prize for urban education.
        Mr. Carvalho serves on the National Assessment Governing
    Board. He also serves as a committee Member of the National
    Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and as an
    advisory committee Member to the Harvard Program on Education,
    Policy and Governance. Welcome to the Education and Labor
    Committee Superintendent Carvalho, all the way from Miami-Dade.
    We're looking forward to your testimony.
        Thank you Mr. Chairman and I yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you, Ms. Wilson, and to the
    witnesses again welcome and good afternoon. We appreciate the
    witnesses that are here participating today and look forward to
    your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses that we have read
    your written statements and they will appear in full in the
    hearing record. Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and committee
    practice, each of you is asked to please limit your oral
    presentation to a five-minute summary of the written statement.
        I also remind the witnesses that pursuit to Title XVIII of
    the United States Code, Section 1001, it is illegal to
    knowingly and willfully falsify any statement, representation,
    writing, document, or material fact presented to Congress or
    otherwise conceal or cover up a material fact.
        Before you begin your testimony, please remember to unmute
    your microphone. During your testimony staff will be keeping
    track of time and a timer will sound with staff when time is
    up. Please be attentive to the time, wrap up when your time is
    over and remute your microphone.
        If any of you experience technical difficulties during your
    testimony, or later in the hearing, you should stay connected
    on the platform, make sure you are muted and use your phone to
    immediately call the committee's IT director whose number was
    provided to you in advance.
        We will let all the witnesses make their presentations
    before we move to Member questions. When answering a question
    please remember to unmute your microphone. And I will first
    recognize Marc Morial please. Mr. Morial you have five minutes.

     STATEMENT OF MARC H. MORIAL, JD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL
                              URBAN LEAGUE

        Mr. Morial. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman and to Ranking
    Member Owens, and to each Member of the subcommittee. Thank
    you, it's always an honor to appear before elected
    representatives. I also want to acknowledge the leadership of
    Chairman Scott, with whom we worked for many, many years.
        I am President of the National Urban League. I'm also the
    father of three, and the son of a second-grade teacher. So, the
    issues that you are considering today are most important to me.
    The National Urban League serves children in this Nation, in 90
    communities, 90 affiliates serving 300 communities, in 36
    states.
        We provide out of time, or after school services to
    hundreds of thousands of young people each and every year. At
    the community level we are advocates. We are advocates of both
    excellence and equity, and have been actively involved in
    ensuring the successful implementation of the Every Student
    Succeeds Act, adopted by the Congress several years ago.
        And I appreciate the opportunity to share just for a moment
    our perspective on the path to educational equity in this
    COVID-19 environment. Regrettably, black and brown children
    have faced a disproportionate burden as a result of this
    pandemic. Black people are more likely to contract, be
    hospitalized, and die from COVID-19.
        Black workers are more likely to be in fields with the most
    lay-offs due to the pandemic. Black children are far more
    likely than their white counterparts to lack the internet
    access and the devices necessary to receive adequate, remote
    instruction, a term we call the homework gap.
        Information that we receive from communities across the
    Nation indicate that as many as 20 to 40 percent of children in
    many urban school districts have been completely cutoff from
    learning since the pandemic has begun. Now this is on top of
    the systemic inequities that we all are aware of and we're
    trying to solve, and this is not unique to this pandemic.
        Jim Crow, the language discrimination and segregation,
    created a long-standing second-class system of education for
    children in America. I am a son of the south. The schools I
    attended were integrated the first years that I attended those
    schools. Before Brown versus the Board of Education in 1954, it
    was not uncommon for black fourth grade students to use white,
    second grade hand me down textbooks.
        This history, coupled with the ways by which too many
    students of color have born the brunt of this pandemic, have
    resulted in black and Latino students losing an average of 10
    months of instruction.
        Since the pandemic began and interrupted in-person teaching
    and learning, compared to an average of 6 months lost for
    instruction for white students, all of our students have lost
    instructional time due to this pandemic. Now I want to thank
    the President and the Members of the House and Senate who voted
    for the American Rescue Plan, which among many needed supports
    includes the largest Federal investment in our Nation's
    history.
        And as we look at how COVID-19 has widened opportunity
    gaps, it is the American Rescue Plan that provides the long
    overdue support needed for schools to be able to reopen safely,
    for schools to be able to reintroduce students to in-person
    instruction, and to do it in a way that is neither haphazard,
    nor risky, nor knee-jerk.
        Now those investments should support development and growth
    of students grounded in the principles of equity. What do I
    mean? Mental health supports, devices, and internet connections
    to close a homework gap, extended learning opportunities,
    rigorous course work for students of color and low-income
    students, diverse and qualified teachers and school leaders,
    restorative practices, social-emotional learning, and positive
    behavioral support.
        These are the types of things with this investment the
    schools of America should do in order to address the challenges
    and to the important goal of equity. Now to effectively
    leverage these resources we need a reliable measure of what our
    children know.
        State-wide assessments provide parents and caregivers with
    accurate information about how their students are performing on
    grade level standards. State-wide assessments are not a
    panacea. They're not a fool-proof method, but they're the best
    thing we have to know where our children are. I thank you for
    your focus on this issue and look forward to answering any
    questions. Thank you so much.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Morial follows:]

                       Prepared Statement of Marc Morial

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Sabian. Thank you very much Mr. Morial. And I'd
    like now that we all hear from Ms. Jennifer Dale please, five
    minutes Ms. Dale, welcome.

                STATEMENT OF MRS. JENNIFER DALE, PARENT

        Mrs. Dale. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman
    Sablan, Ranking Member Owens, and Members of the Early
    Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Committee.
    Thanks for inviting me to testify at today's hearing, ``Lessons
    Learned: Charting the Path to Educational Equity Post-COVID-
    19.''
        I really appreciate the work you're doing and being invited
    to testify. I am the proud and grateful parent to three school-
    aged children. My oldest daughter Maddi is in the 7th grade,
    and she became a teenager this past February. My youngest child
    is Charlie, he's 8 years old and in the 2d grade.
        My middle daughter is Lizzie, age 9 in the third grade, and
    she has Down Syndrome. But I'd like to focus most of my
    testimony on Lizzie, because I feel like she is a hidden victim
    of pandemic closures and policies and the prolonged school
    closures that have occurred.
        Because of Lizzie and other students like her, I believe
    that school provide essential services to our communities and
    should have reopened in the fall of 2020. The pandemic-related
    shutdown of our school, the co-curricular activities and the
    youth sports caused major disruptions and destabilization for
    our children, many of whom could bear it the very least.
        And whether it was their intended purpose or not, America's
    public schools from the basis of our communities and deliver
    services and experiences that really can't be obtained anywhere
    else.
        For my daughter Lizzie, school is where she participates in
    physical education and recess. It's where she receives
    essential therapies such as speech and occupational therapy.
    School is where Lizzie spends time with friends forming a
    community bond, so it will ultimately lead to long-term
    relationships and potential job opportunities for her.
        In her IEP, her learning specialist describes Lizzie as a
    3d grade student with a big heart, a great sense of humor, who
    enjoys playing with friends. She's a loyal friend who stands up
    for peers when they have been wronged or hurt. Lizzie loves to
    laugh and giggle, and she participates in soccer and dance, and
    can be a fierce competitor when it comes to sports.
        In a typical year, Lizzie spends more than 80 percent of
    her day in the general education classroom. It is a seat that
    she has fought very hard to win and to keep. She rides our
    neighborhood school bus. She's greeted by friends at school who
    help walk her to class. They help her with hanging her backpack
    and make her lunch selection.
        Over the years being included in the classroom has enabled
    Lizzie to learn these key routines and build a community for
    what she is part of the essential fabric. It's this community
    that she is loyal to. In a typical year, an educational aid
    supports Lizzie's general education by modifying her classwork
    and helping develop her reading and writing skills with hands
    on supports.
        But as you know 2020 was not a typical year. Oregon's
    Governor rightfully shuttered school buildings last March a
    year ago, when we knew very little about COVID-19. But then the
    Governor's mandate kept our schools closed under metrics that
    were so hard to meet that the only path to reopening has been
    to change the metrics themselves, rather than meet the metrics.
        Unfortunately, once schools closed, Lizzie's entire
    existence seemed to vanish from sight. No one could really see
    her but me, her father, and her siblings. No one could benefit
    from that fierce soccer competitor, or that friend who would
    bring you a band-aid when you are hurt.
        No one could see my daughter Lizzie. When distance learning
    started in September, we were provided with a Chromebook and
    several Zoom links for a log-in to Google classroom. And like
    her peers, Lizzie was supposed to receive all of her
    instruction online.
        But unlike her peers, Lizzie's learning online was not
    possible. She's still learning sight words, learning to type on
    a keyboard and learning to use a mouse. Lizzie's frustrations
    maxed out very quickly, and by the third week she had actually
    thrown away the Chromebook without us knowing and asked for a
    faraway school with her friends, which is what she called in-
    person learning.
        For the last 7 months, Lizzie has not been a part of any
    general education classroom that we fought so hard for her to
    be in since kindergarten. She had to stop attending general
    education classes entirely because they were all delivered
    online.
        Back in October I was beginning to wonder how other
    families were doing this, so I posted my concerns online. My
    posts formed the beginning of Oregon's grassroots back to
    school efforts, and a launch of numerous local advocacy groups.
    We have held rallies almost weekly, hosted Zoom town halls, and
    initiated massive email campaigns to share our research and the
    science on the safe reopening with school board Members,
    superintendents, and lawmakers.
        For 1 year Lizzie has been denied all physical,
    occupational and speech therapies provided under her legal IEP
    because services are telehealth only, and they continue to be
    that way even after all educators have been vaccinated. She has
    been denied services mandated by her IEP.
        Maybe this was a temporary experience and hardship for
    some, but not for Lizzie. And this week we completed the
    paperwork to hold her back in the third grade where she'll be
    forced to make all new friends.
        Chairman Sablan. My goodness, such a wonderful story Ms.
    Dale. I must however--
        Mrs. Dale. I understand, I understand.
        Chairman Sablan. I want to continue.
        Mrs. Dale. I will be grateful to answer any questions when
    you're ready.
        Chairman Sablan. All right. Thank you, Ms. Dale, thank you
    very much.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Jennifer Dale follows:]

                      Prepared Statement of Jennifer Dale

        Chairman Sablan. And next we'll hear from Selene Almazan, I
    hope I do justice with that name. Ms. Almazan you have five
    minutes please.

     STATEMENT OF SELENE A. ALMAZAN, ESQ., LEGAL DIRECTOR, COUNCIL
                OF PARENT ATTORNEYS AND ADVOCATES, INC.

        Ms. Almazan. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Scott,
    Chairman Sablan, Ranking Member Foxx, Ranking Member Owens, and
    Members of the subcommittee. I am Selene Almazan, legal
    director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates,
    COPAA, and I am also a parent.
        Two of my three children have disabilities and attended
    Maryland public schools. On behalf of COPAA I appreciate the
    opportunity to testify today.
        COPAA is a national nonprofit organization of parents,
    attorneys, advocates, and related professionals who work to
    protect the civil rights and secure excellence in education on
    behalf of the 7.7 million children eligible for special
    education under the Individuals With Disabilities Education
    Act, IDEA, and the 1.4 million students with disabilities
    protected by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
        I want to start with what equity is and why it matters.
    Equity and equality are not the same. While equality means
    treating every student the same, equity means making sure that
    every student has the support they need to be successful.
    Equity and education require putting systems in place to ensure
    that every child has an equal chance for success.
        Our education and disability laws are civil rights laws,
    and you can see my written testimony for a full discussion of
    each. The IDEA was enacted in 1975 and it is a civil rights and
    access law which governs how states in U.S. territories provide
    early intervention and special education to eligible children
    from birth to age 21.
        Section 5.04 prohibits discrimination and ensures equal
    access to an education for individuals with disabilities. The
    Americans With Disabilities Act is also critical to people and
    students with disabilities. The Elementary and Secondary
    Education Act, ESEA, promotes educational achievement and
    protects the interests of students, disadvantaged by poverty,
    disability, ethnicity, race, and other conditions that may
    limit occupational opportunity.
        A few datapoints provide understanding of who children with
    disabilities are, and the statute of State funding to educate
    them. Students with disabilities represent 14 percent of public
    school enrollment. 74 percent of 4th grade students with
    disabilities scored below basic in reading in 2019, compared
    with 29 percent of students without disabilities.
        Black students with disabilities represent 18 percent of
    students with disabilities, yet account for 35 percent of
    students with disabilities who are suspended or expelled from
    school. Congress has never come close to providing the IDEA
    funding promised to States.
        And States offset billions annually, details are in my
    written testimony. The COVID-19 outbreak has placed a
    tremendous, unprecedented strain on States, districts,
    educators, families, and students. In spring 2020 you and other
    congressional champions helped ensure that Congress did not
    provide States the ability to waive the requirements and
    protections of the IDEA. Thank you.
        This action, combined with guidance from the department
    reminding States and districts of their obligations to provide
    students with disabilities in education, helped steer several
    misguided districts, and a handful of states back into
    compliance. We do not believe however, that sufficient guidance
    has been provided on the issue of parents opting their children
    out of in-person schooling, as was done during the H1N1 virus.
        Students may be medically fragile, live with a loved one
    who is, or have an intellectual disability that interferes with
    their ability to keep COVID-19 safety guidelines. No student
    should be deprived of IDEA services because the student's
    family or physician does not think it is safe to return to
    school.
        COPAA formally asked the department to provide clarifying
    guidance last summer. This February, with 40 civil rights,
    disability, business, and educational organizations, COPAA
    thanked the department for the decision to uphold the ESEA and
    require States to conduct state-wide, annual assessments.
        We said, 'Data on multiple measures are essential tools to
    address systemic inequities in our education system as well as
    to gauge the quality of instruction and support offered under
    COVID-19 restrictions.''
        To ensure equity and support of America's students we make
    the following recommendations: Fully fund the IDEA and Title I
    of the ESEA and provide funds to help eliminate the shortages
    of counselors, social workers, nurses, school psychologists and
    well-trained fully certified special education teachers.
        Provide oversight, so COVID-19 stimulus K to 12 funding
    includes and will also address the learning loss of students
    with disabilities. Support the department to help States
    administer summative state-wide assessments. Pass bills
    dedicated to improving school climate, and end the use of
    exclusionary discipline, including seclusion and restraint such
    as the Keeping All Students Safe Act, and provide oversight to
    ensure the department is equipped to enforce the equity in IDEA
    regulations.
        We must ensure that all students impacted by COVID-19
    because of disability, race, ethnicity, foster care status,
    homelessness, and poverty, are given resources to recover
    learning losses and ensure equity for all. I look forward to
    your questions, thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Selene A. Almazan, Esq.,
    follows:]

                    Prepared Statement of Selene A. Almazan

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you very much Miss.
        And finally, we'll get to hear from Mr. Alberto M.
    Carvalho. Please sir you have five minutes.

     STATEMENT OF ALBERTO M. CARVALHO, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS,
                    MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you very much Chairman Sablan, Ranking
    Member Owens, and Members of the subcommittee. Thank you for
    the invitation to participate in this important hearing. A
    special salutation to my dearly beloved Congresswoman Wilson.
        I am proud to say that Miami-Dade is one of the highest
    performing urban school systems in the Nation. We educate over
    340,000 students each year, 93 percent of whom are minority and
    over 70 percent poor. However, our students regularly perform
    as well or better than their peers in nearly every academic
    measure and have achieved the graduation rate of over 93
    percent during the pandemic.
        The recent unprecedented Federal investments in education
    truly represent the potential to address long-term issues of
    academic equity in America. As our Nation moves to reopen
    schools, and I believe strongly that schools should and can
    open safely with the proper protocols in place, great care must
    be taken to address the needs of our most fragile children,
    children who are in poverty, children of color, children who
    are English language learners, and children with disabilities.
    We must move quickly, swiftly, and courageously to address the
    learning loss that students have experienced because of the
    disruptions to instruction created by this pandemic.
        In our district, we have been transforming education and
    improving outcomes for all for well over a decade. And we did
    it by teaching and measuring what mattered and using the data
    to shine light into the dark gaps and places and drive
    improvement. We began with our youngest students creating high-
    quality, full day pre-K programs.
        And then we looked to our secondary schools and found that
    opportunities were not always equal. So, we ensured that
    rigorous course offerings were available at every high and
    middle school, including AP courses, dual enrollment,
    Cambridge, and opportunities for acceleration for all.
        We reinvigorated art, music and world languages, career
    technical education because all children have a right to an
    education that not only expands the mind, but also feeds the
    soul. We also implemented a tiered approach to providing the
    schools the supports they need, particularly those in greatest
    need, driving resources and wrap around services in a
    differentiated way to our most fragile and struggling schools
    and students.
        And then finally, in 2012 we launched a digital initiative
    designed to integrate technology into all classrooms, to unlock
    the potential of digital content, empowering students and
    teachers as never before with individualized instruction. In
    essence, we eliminated the digital divide.
        The result was a stunning improvement in graduation rates
    of over 30 percent, and an elimination of F rated schools in
    our district. All this work helped us prepare to rapidly
    respond to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 in our school.
    On March 13, 2020, in-person schooling came to a halt, and we
    quickly pivoted to an online learning model.
        We deployed 120,000 devices, more than 10,000 hotspots for
    connectivity, provided more than 30 professional development
    offerings to teachers to help support the transition to
    distance learning. Through constant communication and personal
    outreach to families, we achieved an impressive 93 percent
    average daily attendance rate during the school shutdown.
        When we returned for the start of the 2021 school year, we
    briefly did what other districts across the country did. We
    opened 100 percent online, but with a plan, and an eye toward
    opening the schoolhouses soon as it could be done safely. We
    assembled a task force of public health and medical experts,
    including U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
        We sought guidance and recommendations for safely returning
    to in-person school. Under the guidance and leadership provided
    by our own school board, all facilities were sanitized,
    ventilation systems were improved, personal protective
    equipment distributed to all employees.
        Schools were reconfigured with single directional hallways,
    social distancing in classrooms following the World Health
    Organization of one meter which is three feet three inches. A
    mandatory mask policy was implemented, and medical personnel
    deployed to all schools.
        We also arranged for the distribution of infrared
    thermometers to all families, developed an employee health
    screening app, and launched a public facing COVID-19 dashboard,
    successfully partnered with our various employee organizations,
    and agreed to protocols, workplace conditions, and
    accommodations.
        And on October 5, 2020, Miami-Dade County schools returned
    to in-person instruction 5 days a week at all schools for all
    students who wanted to return. We currently have about 50
    percent of our students physically attending schools while the
    balance has chosen to remain online.
        This is in a district where we value choice. 74 percent of
    our students attend non-traditional programs. As I close, we
    have found that we have been able to navigate reopening safely,
    and that all schools have actually been safer than the
    community at large in terms of viral transmission.
        Schools have always been and remain a safe haven for many
    who do not have a supportive home environment, who may be
    alone, who many be abused or neglected. We know there is work
    ahead to address the trauma and learning loss experienced by
    these children caught up in this crisis. The infusion of
    funding provided by the Federal Government is critical to
    meeting all these needs, but all involved must be diligent and
    responsible in the deployment of these dollars.
        These timely Federal investments must be used in a manner
    that ensures improved academic achievement, operational
    efficiency, and fiscal responsibility.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Alberto M. Carvalho
    follows:]

                   Prepared Statement of Alberto M. Carvalho

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr.
    Carvalho. It just breaks my heart that I have to interrupt all
    our witnesses who have great ideas, so I need to do so. And so,
    we now turn to our Member questions.
        Under Committee Rule 9(a), we will now question witnesses
    under the five-minute rule. So, I will be recognizing
    subcommittee Members in seniority order.
        And again, to ensure that the Members' five-minute rule is
    adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time and the timer
    will sound when time has expired. Please be attentive to the
    time. Wrap up when your time is over and remute your
    microphone.
        I will begin with myself, and as chairman, I will now
    recognize myself for five minutes.
        On the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief Supplemental
    Corporations Act, and the American Rescue Plan, collectively
    appropriated nearly 200 billion dollars in grant aid to public
    schools across the country and allocated these funds by a Title
    I formula to ensure funds are targeted to where they are most
    needed.
        I know here in my district far away in the Northern Mariana
    where it is said that if I dig straight down I would land up in
    Florida somewhere, but we were able to bring teachers where
    reduced hours, 32 hours a week, but we are able now to bring
    them back 40-hour weeks and start face to face instructions as
    well.
        But Superintendent Carvalho, why is it important that these
    funds from this Coronavirus aid package, why is it important
    that these funds were allocated primarily to high poverty
    schools like my district for example?
        Mr. Carvalho. Well Mr. Chairman for the reasons that you
    addressed, obviously as believers in equitable practices we
    recognize that not every child, not every school is facing the
    same challenges. And with varying levels of challenge the
    funding needs to in a differentiated way be appropriated and
    delivered to directly support the needs of students and schools
    that face the greatest gaps.
        And in our district, a district that is over 90 percent
    minority with a significant number of English language
    learners, where 11-12 percent of our children have one or more
    disability. We know where the need is. So, the distribution of
    funding following a Title I methodology is appropriate because
    it begins with a recognition where the greatest need is.
        And in our district obviously we have earmarked and
    designated those dollars, and we have already spent 70 percent
    of the first ESSER allocation. We have designated and
    appropriated these dollars in what makes sense.
        Look, we know that addressing the health and safety of our
    students and workforce, addressing academic acceleration,
    simultaneously providing social emotional support, all in
    unrecurring investments must be leaders in our consideration.
    Enhanced summer programming, extended day, week, or year, after
    school tutorial programs, and the improvements to the physical
    facilities which have deteriorated over time, particularly in
    the poorest communities.
        So, the HVAC system replacements, the sanitization upgrades
    to maintain good indoor air quality, all of those were
    necessary investments, and those investments must begin with
    the children of America who were in crisis before the COVID-19
    crisis began.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Carvalho. Actually, you
    answered my second question as well, so I'm going to now turn
    to Ms. Almazan. Ms. Almazan in light of the challenges that
    students with disabilities face during the pandemic, it's
    enough that they face these challenges, even pre-pandemic.
        In the additional funds provided by the American Recovery
    Rescue Plan, what are steps the schools can take now to ensure
    that all eligible students receive a free appropriate public
    education, even the need for appropriate COVID-19 precautions?
        Ms. Almazan. Thank you for the question, Chairman Sablan.
    The issue of free appropriate public education for students
    with disabilities remains the requirement and a commitment that
    all school districts and states have to comply with.
        There have been no waivers during this time of the school
    closures. The question that's weighing heavily right now on
    many school districts and States is the idea of how we are
    going to make up for the learning loss that students suffered
    and the denial of a free appropriate public education because
    they did not get all of the services that are listed in their
    individualized education program, their IEP during that time.
        And central to that, you know, we do believe is the issue
    of end of the year assessments. You know with the leadership of
    the Urban League, we agree that the end of year assessments,
    particularly in reading and math are going to inform the
    conversation of what kinds of compensatory education services
    students are going to need.
        Compensatory education is an equitable remedy, not to get
    too much into the weeds, but it's an equitable remedy that is
    formed by courts to place a child with a disability in the
    position that they would have been in except for the denial,
    the educational loss, and not receiving all the services that
    they were supposed to receive, particularly during COVID-19.
        Chairman Sablan. OK. All right. I must cut you off, my time
    is up, but thank you for. I also once chaired the State
    Rehabilitation Advisory Council and have some idea of the IEP
    standard for students, particularly. My son is a teacher, so I
    do get first-hand experience, but thank you very much.
        I will now yield to the Ranking Member of the Full
    Committee Dr. Foxx for five minutes of your question please,
    Dr. Foxx.
        Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Chairman Sablan. I want to thank all
    of the witnesses for being with us today. You've presented some
    interesting things I'd like to comment on later if I can. Mrs.
    Dale thank you for your testimony and thank you for fighting
    for Lizzie and all the children in Oregon.
        Your story is inspiring. One thing we've heard over and
    over again from teachers? unions and others who have fought
    against families like yours, to keep schools closed, is it
    simply isn't safe to reopen. Even the Biden Administration CDC
    has said that reopening most schools to most students is
    unsafe.
        In your written testimony you made reference to sharing
    research on safe re-openings with State and local leaders. Do
    you believe that science indicates that schools can reopen
    safely? And how did those States and local leaders respond to
    that science?
        Mrs. Dale. Thank you for your question, Dr. Foxx. I over
    the last, since September we've seen studies and the groups
    that I've been a part of have worked really hard to review the
    different information from the CDC, from the WHO, from American
    Academy of Pediatrics, in helping to inform, you know, whether
    or not it's safe to return.
        A lot of--Emily Oster and a study out of North Carolina,
    several studies came out to indicate that you know there was a
    safe way to return to school, and we know that there's a safe
    way to do that by wearing masks, and social distancing. So
    those are the kinds of things that we have written to our local
    lawmakers and to decisionmakers here, like the Oregon
    Department of Education to say this is how other schools are
    safely reopening, and can we do this here in Oregon?
        But their response generally was we've got to wait for case
    rates to come down, or we need to wait for the vaccine, and it
    felt like a lot of those goalposts sort of kept moving, and
    kept moving, and kept changing even though we were able to see
    schools in other countries and schools in other locations open.
        Ms. Foxx. Yes, and it's interesting to me that you're in
    one of the most political states in the country, and all these
    people profess that they care about children. Everybody on this
    panel, all the witnesses care about children. They've been
    given billions of dollars, and yet they won't open the schools.
        It's the worst hypocrisy I've ever seen. You also said in
    your testimony you plan to have Lizzie repeat third grade. And
    I heard what you said. She has to make a whole new set of
    friends. That's difficult for any child, any child. Can you
    tell us more about what led you to that decision, and if you
    think that decision would have been necessary if the schools
    had reopened when it was safe to do so?
        Mrs. Dale. We definitely wouldn't be having this
    conversation if the schools had reopened in September, and
    Lizzie had been able to join her cohort of friends that she has
    built actually since pre-kindergarten.
        And the reason that we're having to make that decision now
    is that you know the online platform for schools is really a
    one size fits all. And I think some students have you know
    we've heard stories here in Oregon and elsewhere that some
    students have fared OK in that platform.
        But many haven't and you know, over 80 percent of the kids
    here want to go back to in-person learning, and their families
    want to get those kids back to in-person learning. For Lizzie,
    I spent mornings with my arms literally wrapped around her
    stomach trying to keep her in front of a screen, and there was
    a teacher, an aide, and a learning specialist on the other side
    of the screen trying to help Lizzie with counting, and with
    writing and reading.
        It isn't just it was a platform that was impossible. And
    so, we could either choose to spend our mornings in tears for
    two and a half hours, trying to learn over that platform, you
    know, with a child who didn't understand why her teacher had
    her muted, or why the other kids wouldn't wave to her and say
    hello, or we could--we just didn't have a choice.
        I mean we couldn't just keep her staying you know involved
    and engaged in that platform. And I think that was for us what
    felt very overlooked in the guidance that was released about
    learning online is that children with cognitive disabilities,
    they're motivated by their peers.
        They're assisted by their peers in learning. And when that
    isn't there online, their learning just doesn't happen. And so,
    she has 7 months of no general education.
        Ms. Foxx. You have a great civil rights case on your hands
    based on the legislation of IDEA, based on the comments one of
    the other witnesses said.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you, thank you Dr. Foxx.
        Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Chairman Sablan, thank you so much
    Mrs. Dale for being such a great model.
        Chairman Sablan. Right, Ms. Dale thank you. Some of your
    statements are personal experiences that are just incredible. I
    hope we are going to eventually open up so I could come and
    visit my grand and my great grandkids also, so thank you.
        Next, I'd like to recognize Mr. Yarmuth. Mr. Yarmuth you
    have five minutes sir.
        Mr. Yarmuth. Well, thank you very much Mr. Chairman, and
    thanks to all the witnesses for their contributions today. I
    want to start by referencing something Mr. Owens said in his
    opening statement, and Mr. Owens I wanted to let you know that
    I was a New York Jets fan when you were playing for them.
        I was also a registered Republican at the time, so I'm not
    sure what that says about either the Jets or the party. But I'm
    really concerned about this notion that the Democrats are
    somehow unconcerned about IDEA, and the students that are
    served through that program.
        Both President Biden, and I know Speaker Pelosi and many
    others have said show me your budget and I'll understand your
    values. And I think that's very true. And in the American
    rescue plan we committed 3 billion dollars to IDEA, along with
    130 billion dollars for education overall, much of which can be
    used to support students with disabilities as well.
        So, I think it's kind of disingenuous to question
    Democrat's commitment to IDEA when every Republican voted
    against that proposal, and not only voted against it, but I
    don't remember I was present for most of the debates, never one
    time saying that any portion of the American Rescue Plan was
    worth supporting.
        So, I'm certainly, I think we always ought to oversee in
    Congress, any of the programs that we mandate. So, I'm not
    necessarily saying we shouldn't again take care that our money
    is being spent wisely and effectively, but again the hypocrisy
    here is pretty astounding.
        And I also have to take issue with this weaponization of
    the idea of opening the schools. And I've heard it day after
    day after day for the last couple of months. The Republicans
    want States and localities to have control over things when it
    serves their political purposes, but when it doesn't, then all
    of a sudden, they want the government to mandate what the
    opened.
        I was in a conversation last week with a superintendent of
    the Fleming County Kentucky School System. Fleming County,
    Kentucky is in the eastern part of the State, not in my
    district. It voted for Donald Trump 78 to 21, so it's certainly
    not a blue area. Their school system has 2,200 students. The
    superintendent, they opened school partially, I shouldn't say
    partially, on a voluntary basis last September, so before there
    was any CDC guidance on what was safe, and what wasn't safe.
        They're still open now. About half of their students
    systemwide are actually attending in person. Those parents,
    those families made their decisions which I always thought was
    what Republicans thought was the appropriate thing to do.
        This is a very complicated situation. We're all very much
    in uncharted territory and have been for a year now. So, I
    really resent all of this politicization that the notion that
    once again now because Democrats are in charge, we have to make
    everybody open schools.
        When even when Donald Trump was in charge, that we ought to
    open all schools. I don't think that's the way this country
    works, and our families work. I do have one question I want to
    ask of Superintendent Carvalho. I don't know how much your
    school system is going to get, but I know based on what my
    school system is going to get, it's a lot of money.
        And one of the things that we were criticized for
    throughout this debate was a very small percentage of this
    money is going to be spent this year, this year meaning over
    the next 6 months. As you contemplate using the funding that we
    provided to the American Rescue Plan to the Miami-Dade schools,
    where do you perceive the need being today versus next year or
    the year after, and things that you may do with that money
    during that period of time.
        Chairman Sablan. I have 39 seconds for that Mr. Carvalho.
        Mr. Carvalho. I'll be very quick. Thank you very much for
    the question. Certainly look, we're going to bucket into three
    areas. No. 1, continue to improve the environment of schools,
    sanitization, additional equipment, indoor quality
    improvements, capital projects.
        Second, acceleration strategies to ensure that those who
    fell behind are able to catch up, not only to where they were
    prior to the crisis, but actually to their place, where they
    should be in accordance with their chronological age and grade
    level. This is not only about taking them to where they were
    prior to the COVID crisis.
        And that's going to require massive amounts of investment.
    And before and after school programming, year around schooling,
    summer schooling, before and after programming, individual
    tutorial programs and individualized digital content to support
    them pedagogically as well as socially and emotionally. That's
    where the brunt of the investment is going to go.
        Mr. Yarmuth. So, by definition that has to be done over
    time.
        Mr. Carvalho. It will take some time. This is not going to
    necessarily be a sprint, but at the same time the more we wait,
    the more children will fall behind so it will be very swift
    based on the plans that we already have in place.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you. And if it weren't
    for Mr. Yarmuth if it wasn't for your work in the American
    Rescue Plan, my schools would not be open for face-to-face
    instructions, and my teachers will still be going on 32 hours a
    week paid, so thank you, thank you. At this time, I recognize
    the Ranking Member of the subcommittee Mr. Owens. I had no idea
    you were a professional football player.
        Mr. Owens. Thank you, thank you so much and I'll say for
    those still rooting for the Jets I tip my hat and I'm sorry to
    hear about the misery they were going through the last few
    years. Anyway, that being said, let me just say this. You know
    we just put another 130 billion dollars on this last bill. We
    already had money in there before, to make sure that our
    schools opened.
        We haven't done nothing to spend. So, I think the question
    comes down to look at states like Utah. Utah, we opened up
    pretty quickly. We gave the power to the people to decide how
    we wanted to make sure that we can--businesses opened up,
    schools open. So, one of the leaders in the country as far as
    our economy coming back.
        But I'm talking with kids in their schools every single
    day. And the problem is this. Across our country parents are
    the same. Our children are the same. We want to make sure that
    our kids are moving forward. So yes, you're right. We have to
    deal with the fact that there are different ways of approaching
    this.
        It appears that the democratic states are the ones that are
    shutting things down. We have issues like this where our kids
    are literally, and those that are hurt the most are those at
    risk, those that are poor, and those are the ones that we are
    now fighting for. There should never be a process in which
    across our country we have such a disparity in terms of how
    we're dealing with something that is common between all of us.
        So that being said, I want to say first of all to Mrs.
    Dale, thank you so much. There are no stronger advocates for
    children than their parents, and you truly are showing America
    what that looks like. We don't sit back and wait for others. We
    roll up our sleeves and go to work.
        And thank you so much. You're old school parents, and there
    are a lot of parents across this country trying to figure out
    how they can do the same, so you're a great example for us.
    Mrs. Dale, again, thanks for sharing your story. Ranking Member
    Foxx asked what was learned about risk of reopening schools.
        We know from the science that reopening schools is safe. We
    also know that it's not 100 percent risk free. Nothing in life
    is. Why would you say that whatever risks exists in sending
    your daughter back to school was with it, or do you think that
    it was well worth it to have to take some risk to make that
    happen?
        Mrs. Dale. Yes. Thank you for the question Ranking Member.
    It's a true honor you know to advocate for my daughter in this
    manner and in this light. Because I feel like you know she
    doesn't have a voice always. And the risks, there's always a
    tradeoff. There's always some costs and benefits to the things
    that we do. My daughter with Downs Syndrome, I think you might
    know this.
        If you have a cognitive disability, or developmental
    disability, you're generally in the 1-A group for example. No
    side effects, and if you get COVID-19 it does hit harder and it
    is more severe. But you know, the other side of that is having
    a disability, whether it's physical, whether it's a cognitive
    disability, it can be very isolating, it can be very lonely.
        And for us the tradeoff was you know we saw her here at
    home very lonely, very isolated, not learning, not able to get
    onto a Google classroom and see friends and see peers each day.
    And that's just no way to live. There's no way to live a day or
    a year, or a week, or anything like that.
        And so, what we really did as we went to work with the
    school, and said you know we know that masking, and we know
    that distancing works, and can you work with us to at least
    give her a couple of hours in person education? We can do some
    worksheets. I mean we worked really hard with the school to
    find some way of getting those doors back open.
        In fact, she was the first person in her school district to
    return to school. And the tradeoff for us was just that living
    as isolated and lonely as that was, was just never going to be
    sustainable for our daughter and for our family. It's very sad,
    very sad.
        Mr. Owens. Being raised by teachers myself I understand
    that. And let me say this. Your concerns you have, what you're
    going through has absolutely nothing to do with Medicare for
    all, defunding the police, wealth, and meeting your tax, 500
    billion dollars in school State loss nation-wide, housing
    security and a charter school moratorium.
        And these are the things that would be demanded by our
    teachers? union so that young people, children like yours can
    actually go back to school. It should never, ever, come to that
    point, but we've been held hostage. For these types of things,
    it has nothing to do with our kids growing up and expressing
    the American dream and their future.
        So, I want to thank you for that. I won't have time for
    another question, so I'm going to yield back, but thank you for
    everything you're doing. Really, really proud of you on this
    issue.
        Mrs. Dale. Thank you for having me.
        Chairman Sablan. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Owens. So
    next I'd like to recognize Ms. Wilson. Ms. Wilson you have five
    minutes please.
        Ms. Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Sablan. All right Federica.
        Ms. Wilson. I just have to say to everyone, just be aware
    that we are in the middle of a pandemic. This is a health
    emergency that no one could ever, ever predict. And the one
    group of people who kept our children afloat were our teachers,
    because all schools had to shut down. And I've seen so many
    parents who have said to me now I respect the job of a teacher,
    and I will never again vote or try to advocate for anything but
    a raise for teachers, because they kept the boat afloat.
        So, this whole pandemic has caused us to be able to peel
    back the layers I would say, on an onion, and we see so much
    disparities as we peel back the onion. I had one little boy say
    to me, I said I need you to take a picture for the newspaper,
    but I want you to sit at a desk. Sit at a table, in a chair,
    with a blank wall.
        He said, ``Ms. Wilson, we don't have a table.'' I said you
    don't have a table in the whole house. Where do you eat? He
    said, ``We eat at the kitchen counter in shifts.'' So, I want
    to say that the money that was sent to the school districts,
    not only do we need to worry about what our superintendents are
    doing to make our schools safe, which is what they have done.
        My school superintendent has done it. My neighboring
    schools superintendents have done it. Mr. Scott and I held
    briefings with teachers in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Alabama.
    And the disparities that we saw between those school districts.
    And Broward and Dade I can say I'm proud, Alabama.
        So not only do we need--I want school districts across the
    Nation, including the two that I represent, to commit to using
    the Title I formulated money to give every Title I children a
    computer, a desk, and a Chair to take home in their homes
    because homework will not disappear. And broadband access will
    not disappear. And just having a quiet place to do your
    homework and everything else is so important, and I'm sure our
    superintendent and our parents and everyone else on this call
    agrees.
        I just want to say tutoring--and we have all agreed, and
    our Superintendent Carvalho has said that summer school, we
    have the summer slide, we have the COVID slide, the COVID-19
    slide, and now the children just call it the 19. So that slide
    we have to close that achievement gap back, has exacerbated
    what we have seen for generations.
        And all of the money that Democrats put in a bill that was
    not supported by one Republican, and my school district got one
    billion dollars. We expect to see a huge change and everyone,
    not only teachers and school districts, but the community has
    to work together to pull these children up.
        I want to say that I heard Mr. Morial, how can these short-
    term resources be used to create the long-term systemic changes
    necessary to provide all students with equitable access to an
    excellent education. You talked about it in your remarks.
        Mr. Morial. Yes, thank you very much. We've got to
    understand that Congress is to be commended for appropriating
    the additional money, but one of the equity issues that
    American schools face has been a severe resource gap,
    differential investments in schools with inner school district
    differential investments within schools from county to county,
    or district to district in a given State.
        I think that each school district and the Miami
    Superintendent outlined his thought process, has to
    intelligently employ this additional money around proven
    strategies--evidence-based strategies. It may be reading
    coaches. It may be accelerated learning in the summertime.
        It may be to provide every child with a Chromebook so that
    they can go home and even if they're in class, they're going to
    be doing homework, to provide those students with the resources
    that they need to be able to play catchup. We're going to be
    playing catchup.
        What I do hope is that this investment would demonstrate
    why closing the resource gap amongst American public schools
    has to be the work not only of the Congress, but of the States
    and local schools districts because that's one of the
    fundamental issues that we face.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much. Ms. Wilson thank you
    very much. There was just an education summit just yesterday I
    think, and there is no disagreement among everyone that we need
    to get schools open, but there was also no disagreement among
    all the participants that we have to do it in a safe manner,
    that we're still reaching out in the dark in this pandemic, and
    it's dangerous because somebody could infect somebody, and you
    know we're talking here about not yourself, but we're talking
    about lives.
        And so, we need to do this in a safe manner, and there's no
    disagreement just like we all want to go back into the
    committee room, we all want our children in schools, our
    students back to school. Some may do it faster, more quicker,
    some may take a little bit of time. We will get there, it takes
    work. And of course, it takes the resources that we just
    appropriated that nobody on the other side of the aisle
    supported but thank you.
        I now will recognize Mr. Grothman, please sir you have five
    minutes sir.
        Mr. Grothman. OK. I want to get through three quick
    questions here. The first question I am asking, in my area,
    there are several private schools, maybe Catholic schools,
    Christian schools, Lutheran schools what have you. They almost
    all seem to be open, and at least some of the larger public
    schools are closed.
        Can anybody give me, any one of the four of you give me a
    reason as to why it seems that the private schools seem to stay
    open in disproportion to the public schools closed? Does
    anybody want to take a shot at that?
        Mr. Carvalho. To the Chairman, I can tell as superintendent
    of the fourth largest school system in America we have had 100
    percent of our schools open on the basis of parental choice,
    since early October.
        I can tell you that about 50 percent of the students in
    Miami-Dade attend school in a physical way. I can tell you also
    that we were very diligent in establishing all the protocols
    and the mitigating strategies, and the policies established by
    the board for the safe return of the students, and we were also
    diligent in the appropriate conversations with labor
    organizations for the workforce.
        Mr. Grothman. I know you were. The question is why were
    others not open?
        Mr. Carvalho. Well, I can tell you that we live in a time
    of high positivity rate in Miami-Dade. I think our
    instructional continuity plan and level of preparedness put us
    in a position of following science. And the science does put us
    in a position of being able to open schools.
        Mrs. Dale. I can comment too as Congressman Grothman, I had
    to switch two of my children to private schools, so my daughter
    Lizzie with the disability remains in public school, and she's
    getting the fewest instructional hours out of any of my three
    children being in public school.
        And my two children who have moved over to private school
    are now in full-time, in-person, and the challenge that we're
    facing right now with my daughter Lizzie receiving services is
    that there's in the contract for the teachers to come back to
    work, is a work from home condition, that has been--they've
    been unable to renegotiate.
        So, I think that's been one of the biggest problems in our
    areas.
        Mr. Grothman. Thank you, thank you. But it kind of
    surprised me because I think the public schools usually have
    more money, so it's a little bit surprising. Next question I
    have, I was looking at some of the money going out to Milwaukee
    and our poorer district, Milwaukee is getting funding, 63
    percent of their normal budget is coming in from the feds,
    whereas it looks like your average school district, Wisconsin
    10-15 percent, not even as much.
        I realize there's a feeling out there that we have to give
    more money to the school districts with more kids in poverty.
    And of course, Milwaukee and Wisconsin already start by
    spending more money in the average district because, you know,
    we drain money across the more middle-class districts to fund
    Milwaukee.
        But 63 percent compared to like 7 percent, 10 percent with
    the other schools, does that sound to you is a little excessive
    of a difference? Are we going overboard in flooding money at
    the more Title I districts?
        Mr. Morial. Let me ask. No, not at all because the money is
    needed because of systemic inequities. When you talk about what
    do need should be the guide. And many of our urban school
    districts have been underfunded, and because they are, in urban
    areas
        Mr. Grothman. I need to cut you off.
        Mr. Morial. Please don't cut me off. Please don't cut me
    off. You asked me a question. I want to answer the question.
    And so, my point is, is that it's more than justified. The
    Title I formula was established in the 1960's and the
    additional funding that Congress appropriated following the
    Title I formula which is based on need.
        Mr. Grothman. OK thank you. Final question. I noticed when
    you talk about your school districts, not just you, but
    everybody. We seem to talk about race, or we talk about
    poverty, and I sometimes think family structure maybe is more
    important than those. Can you tell me why the education
    establishment lays out what type of students we have?
        We focus on people's ancestry you know, eight or nine
    generations ago, or we focus on money, but we don't focus
    around family structure. Would it be helpful if we also went to
    those statistics? Maybe I'll ask the guy from Miami-Dade that
    question.
        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you, the guy from Miami-Dade is ready.
    Sir, I think that No. 1 a lot of the gaps, academic gaps that
    we deal with are proceeded by all sorts of social gaps, whether
    it's home insecurity, family instability, a lack of adequate
    access to food or home.
        In Miami-Dade, I can tell you that we take into account all
    the elements that influence the child. That is why we developed
    a parent academy, which is a college to support parents to
    become an echo of education for their children.
        We intensified at parent academy during the pandemic, to
    really assist parents in providing ideal educational
    environments in their homes during the school closure, ensuring
    that the parents had better knowledge of the devices and the
    digital content that their students were utilizing.
        So, it's not an either/or, it's a recognition of all of the
    social gaps, the financial gaps that children fall into before
    they arrive at the schoolhouse.
        Mr. Grothman. So, there's statistics even, you didn't
    collect the other statistics?
        Mr. Carvalho. I'm sorry?
        Mr. Grothman. To see how well you're doing. Do you collect
    the statistics by family background?
        Mr. Carvalho. Certainly, for me it's actually more
    important, the statistics that others collect. So, I wear two
    hats. I'm superintendent of Miami-Dade, but I'm also a Member
    of the National Assessment of Educational Progress Board, and
    Miami-Dade's 4th graders, despite the level of poverty, despite
    the English language limitation, and despite the 11 percent
    that have one or more disability, according to the NAPE, the
    last administration of NAEP in reading and mathematics, NAEP
    TUDA, they are No. 1 in the country in 4th grade reading and
    mathematics.
        So, schools with the appropriate supports through the
    diligence of leadership, data-driven strategies, and the
    incredible powerful work of teachers and visionary policy on
    the part of support, can in fact overcome some of those issues.
        Chairman Sablan. I love the back and forth, but I must
    interject and recognize Mr. DeSaulnier next. Mr. DeSaulnier you
    have five minutes sir.
        Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
    holding this hearing. Just a comment from the previous
    questions from the gentlemen from Wisconsin. In relation to my
    district here in the San Francisco Bay area, that used to be
    the former Chair of this committee, Congressman Miller, was in
    the Congress for 40 years.
        Our district has some of the wealthiest districts, my
    district now in the San Francisco Bay area in California. And
    we have some of the poorest and some in between. And we've been
    working along with the current superintendent of public
    instruction in California and the previous one, both of whom
    came from this district, to try to deal with this disparity.
        We worked very closely with Governor Brown when he did the
    local control formula that helped California move even more
    money under Title I, well consistent with Title I. So, the
    disparity of the family structure, we know the history across
    this country. And you've talked about it. And it's just
    frustrating to hear these conversations. We've been studying
    this for decades.
        The pressure in my district on a single woman of color
    who's got kids prior to COVID, and the inequality in this
    country was already astronomical. So, there's the paleness
    that's not true in others, sort of shocking that we'd even talk
    about this now.
        We know where the challenge is, and we know the benefit not
    just for that community that historically has been treated so
    poorly by this country in my view, but also the benefit to all
    of us if we invest in that community, and I'm very proud of
    that legislation that Congressman Thompson and I did on family
    engagement centers a couple sessions ago. So sorry for that
    editorial comment.
        My question for the panel is we've got all of this that I
    just alluded to prior to COVID, and COVID of course had a
    disproportionate impact on these districts and the students. It
    strikes me that there's both a challenge and an opportunity. We
    already knew that single parent households in poor communities,
    and communities of color were very heavily challenged to get
    the kids to school, to get them in school, to get them support
    after school.
        And all those wrap around services would have worked so
    hard for. And then you got COVID where Chairman Scott has
    talked about. Forty percent of the schools in this country
    don't have heating and air conditioning, so we've got to go
    back in and provide that infrastructure for the future of
    public health.
        So, in that context maybe you could respond starting with
    the Superintendent of Miami. The challenges and opportunities
    of coming out of COVID, particularly for this affected
    community.
        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you so much for the question. I'll try
    to be very brief. You know I think you touched on a very
    important point, let me reflect on the previous questions as
    well. Look, I think the strategy to accelerate students,
    particularly students who fall into those gaps that you
    described, to accelerate them to their full potential, we
    cannot simply restore their performance to what it was prior to
    the COVID crisis.
        And we simultaneously cannot allow these investments which
    are so sorely needed. We cannot allow this to be looked upon as
    a time for opportunism, it's rather a time of opportunity. A
    time when we have an opportunity to as a nation provide
    solutions to long-term resource disparity and strategically
    invest in academic equity.
        And for me, whether we're talking about the black, Latino
    communities, impoverished communities, students with
    disabilities, for me that requires strategic investment
    resources that follows yes, follows the condition of the child
    in the school. Otherwise, we will never reach equal results
    because the process of equity requires differentiated resource
    investment, depending on the condition.
        Second, it requires family engagement, support for the
    communities. It requires additional time on task by the best
    teachers around us. That means summer sessions, spring break,
    we're going on spring break this coming week. There will be
    about 80 schools in Miami that will be holding session.
        For some students social emotional support, pedagogical
    educational support throughout the summer, but also with arts
    and music access, so that they benefit from the experience. And
    last, you know, and this is still an issue across the country
    many places, the digital divide still keeps a lot of students,
    a lot of communities, a lot of parents to education that is
    bell to bell.
        After the last bell there is a total level of
    disengagement. That is why we rushed to address the issue of
    eliminating the digital deserts for that condition to be
    eliminated, and our students can continue to learn after the
    last bell. And if the computer is home with connectivity, we
    can simultaneously address the needs--the long-term needs of
    parents.
        Mr. DeSaulnier. Just Mr. Chairman one last thought.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you, OK, make it quick.
        Mr. DeSaulnier. OK. One of the wealthiest school districts
    in my district, a third of their funding comes from the
    foundation, so the parents. So just this dichotomy I want to
    re-emphasize. Sorry to take so long Mr. Chairman. And nothing
    against the parents who have money contributing, but it
    demonstrates to me the challenge here in the dichotomy. Thank
    you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman Sablan. Yes, thank you. Mr. Carvalho if you ever
    have a need for a job as school commissioner in my district, no
    wonder Ms. Wilson is so proud of you sir. Thank you. Now I'd
    like to recognize Mr. Allen please for five minutes, Mr. Allen.
        Mr. Allen. Thank you Chairman and thank you to all of those
    with us today. Can you hear me?
        Chairman Sablan. Yes sir, yes sir.
        Mr. Allen. OK great.
        Chairman Sablan. We're just happy to see you again.
        Mr. Allen. Yes, happy to see you. Evidently, I got booted
    out of the Ranking Member on this committee, but somehow I got
    on another one, so I miss you. But K through 12 is very special
    to my heart, and it's been a difficult year.
        Obviously, I pushed my district to reopen schools as well
    as pretty much the entire State of Georgia except maybe metro
    Atlanta, but we are open. I have 14 grandchildren and we have a
    special needs grandchild. She cannot walk. She cannot talk. She
    cannot sit up and she cannot feed herself and she's 4 years
    old.
        But when I'm around she walks, come to me and she sits in
    my lap and hugs my neck and just smiles at me. She is
    absolutely the most precious grandchild that God could have
    given me. And I'm just tickled to death. And she's been in
    school off and on. They've had kids with COVID, and she's had
    to come home, and then she's had to go back.
        And one time she was actually apparently very close to one
    of the children that had COVID or an adult, and I guess it was
    maybe one of the staff, and she's never had it. So, I guess
    she's asymptomatic. I don't know. But it's just amazing. She's
    an amazing child.
        But obviously, it's been difficult. And I want to say thank
    you to all of our educators who I mean you know there were two
    ways to go with this thing. We could either surrender, or we
    could fight. And you know at least the educators that I know
    very closely and what I've heard here as testimony today, you
    all are fighting. You're in harm's way. You're doing it for the
    kids.
        We have people in the food business that do that. People in
    the healthcare business have done that. A lot of Americans have
    stepped up and kept this thing going through unprecedented
    time. Ms. Dale your story is amazing. And you described that
    you had covered your concerns, but you heard from other
    parents, especially those having children with needs, some like
    your daughter's.
        Can you describe why you went public with that?
        Mrs. Dale. Yes. I don't think I had a choice. I think that
    my daughter Lizzie, she wasn't going to learn at all this year
    unless we did something, unless we said something to the
    district, and to our State leaders that what was going on.
        And I think that as you might know, you know, during COVID,
    all of us parents felt like what was going on in our homes was
    so private and none of us wanted to fail, and so none of us
    said anything until sort of looking around and saying wait,
    that's happening with you too?
        Or you're having a hard time too? And so as soon as one
    person spoke up and said this was difficult for me it enabled a
    lot of other parents to speak up and say I'm having a really
    hard time with my kids too, and it's kind of embarrassing. It's
    a feeling of failure, but then other families trying to get the
    resources for their kids, we get specially designed instruction
    for my daughter, and that wasn't something that was being
    offered.
        And so, while some families like ours chose to really fight
    and come to the table and figure out a way to get some of those
    services delivered, other families had to give up. And a lot of
    families had to unenroll from school because those services
    weren't being offered, or delivered, or provided to them.
        Mr. Allen. Yes well, let me tell you. This is our founders
    gave us a grassroots principle. They gave Americans the
    opportunity in the First Amendment to voice our concerns when
    we see them, and this country will always be a grassroots
    country. Special interest tries to rule, but I'm telling you
    the people in the grassroots efforts are what gets things done.
        Thank you for bringing attention to this, and I know it
    takes a lot of courage to do that, because you probably got
    criticized along the way.
        Mrs. Dale. Um-hmm, in fact I was on a couple of radio
    stations trying to share our story, and I'll never forget one
    parent posting this so publicly saying, ``Oh that mom just
    wants her most difficult child out of the house.''
        Mr. Allen. Right.
        Mrs. Dale. And I think that was the moment that I thought
    no, actually I just want my children to get an education. It
    was harder for us to get an education.
        Mr. Allen. Yes. It's been tough and thank you. Chairman I
    yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Allen. Let me
    see. All right. Let me go on, Mr. Morelle?
        Mr. Morelle. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman Sablan. No thank you for your patience, sir.
        Mr. Morelle. Yes, well thank you. This is a very, very
    important hearing, and I think there's no question that all of
    us I think recognize the importance of having children
    physically back in school when we can, and I think that's what
    we're all working very hard to do, recognizing however, that we
    want to do it appropriately.
        I had sort of two different questions that occurred to me
    during this conversation, and I appreciate very much the
    witnesses being here and lending their expertise. The first is
    around the question of children with different abilities. And
    we've talked a fair amount as Ms. Dale has pointed out, and I
    thank her very much for sharing her story, that children with
    different abilities are more vulnerable to the virus, maybe
    among the most hesitant to take the risk of returning to
    school.
        But I wonder if the educators could talk about measures
    they have taken in the schools that are open to keep students
    with disabilities from falling behind. Well, I guess first of
    all, for those who are unable to be in the classroom, what
    steps have you taken to ensure that children with different
    abilities can still get a quality education?
        Could we have some comments from the superintendent in
    Miami-Dade for those students who weren't physically in the
    classroom what they've done, and what their experience has
    been?
        Mr. Carvalho. Certainly. Thank you very much for the
    question, for the Chair. No. 1, about 52 percent students with
    special abilities are currently enrolled physically in our
    schools, so they're attending physical classroom. Over the past
    two grading periods, the first two quarters, we identified
    additional students that we believed should be in the classroom
    rather than at home, and we have had conversations with their
    parents.
        Despite their choice of modality, we felt it would be in
    the best interest of the child to actually return to school for
    a more direct intervention for them. But for those, specific to
    your question, for those whose parents decided to keep them at
    home, we taken a number of actions.
        No. 1 we ensured that all these students with disabilities
    had access to curriculum through the provision of assistive
    technology that goes above and beyond what's typically provided
    for students, adaptive accommodations specialized
    supplementally curricular resources.
        We developed a distance learning implementation plan for
    each student with a disability describing how their IEP would
    be implemented during distance learning. We provided ongoing
    professional development for teachers and para-professionals
    for this new adaptation, and as appropriate the necessary
    therapies entitled to this child via their IEP.
        We conducted the traditional IEP meetings with cycle
    educational evaluations continued virtually throughout the
    closure, so that students who required specialized services and
    supports could be not only identified, but actually receive
    these supports.
        Last, we supported the families. We established hotlines in
    addition to webinars for parents to be aware of their rights,
    and how to best maximize online resources and the adaptive
    technologies.
        But again, I'd like to close by saying there is for a child
    with disability, who requires hands-on intervention, a para-
    professional, one on one. There is no substitute for the
    experience that our teachers provide in school. That is why we
    keep urging those parents to actually return children to the
    schoolhouse.
        Mr. Morelle. Well, look I thank you very much. And it
    occurs to me Mr. Chair, perhaps we ought to be thinking about
    best practices and protocols for those instances where children
    with disabilities are not able to be physically in the
    classroom. And I have just a minute left.
        But one of the other things that I'm very interested in is
    the pandemic has given us certain learnings, one around
    telehealth and telemedicine and the greater use of technology.
    Obviously, distance learning has had its challenges in terms of
    the deployment of broadband, both in rural communities, urban
    communities, so I'm troubled by that and how we need to work
    together to be able to make sure that deployment is greater in
    the future.
        Not only for increasing the opportunities for children in
    pandemics, but I think even for enrichment opportunities where
    additional online content might be available, but it's just not
    simply available to certain children in certain communities.
    And I wondered if people could just--and I apologize, because
    I'm down to 20 seconds, so it's going to be really short
    answers. The feds will continue to add resources.
        We have done that in December in our last American Rescue
    Plan. Are there ways for communities to sustain it with what
    will be limited Federal resource in the future and how much of
    a priority will you put in the local districts. And I'd ask
    anyone, perhaps Mr. Morial if you might have a comment?
        Chairman Sablan. Out of time. Maybe someone, it's a good
    question. Maybe someone will give you time.
        Mr. Morelle. I yield back Mr. Chair thank you.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. I now recognize Mrs. Miller of
    Illinois. Mrs. Miller going once, going twice. All right. Mr.
    Cawthorn sir, you have five minutes. Mr. Cawthorn going once,
    going twice. I know he's online, but I guess he stepped away.
    Let's see Mr. Yes, Mr. Keller. I apologize. Mr. Keller you have
    been very patient. Sir you have five minutes.
        Mr. Keller. Thank you, chairman. Republicans and Democrats
    should be united in working to safely reopen our schools. As
    we've witnessed, I brought to the attention several times
    before the committee. Most recently during remote hearings in
    the U.S. Congress, over at the capitol, and we cannot get the
    technology right with all the resources we have right at our
    disposal.
        And the staff quite frankly, how can we expect our students
    to participate in virtual learning? Virtual learning has played
    an important part while we reopen our schools. But not just in
    parts of north central and northeastern Pennsylvania, and in
    other rural areas around our country, but also in urban areas
    all across the United States.
        Virtual learning is not always as reliable as we witnessed
    with the issues we've seen, even in the capitol city Washington
    D.C. Every student learns differently, and we cannot rob an
    entire generation of students of the choice that they need to
    pursue an education.
        For instance, the CDC has warned that the absence of in-
    person education options may disadvantage certain students with
    disabilities. The continually changing nature of COVID-19
    guidelines makes it that much more challenging for school
    districts, school administrators, schools, teachers, parents,
    and students.
        The evidence is clear. Students should be allowed back in
    the classroom and be permitted to attend school in a safe
    manner. Mrs. Dale, I thank you for being here today, and for
    sharing your experience and your story. I can only imagine what
    it has been like having school-aged children during this
    pandemic and seeing them lose out on critical in-person
    learning.
        I wish nothing but the best for Lizzie and the best of your
    family, and everybody as we continue to reopen our schools.
    Your story underscores the importance of having choices for
    students during the current pandemic and going forward. How
    would your experience have been different if there had been
    more flexibility for in-person learning during these tight
    reopening restrictions like in Oswego, Oregon?
        Mrs. Dale. Thank you. Thanks for the question, Congressman
    Keller. You know I have some choices for my other two children,
    and none for my daughter Lizzie. And like I mentioned before,
    you know, the instructional hours that she is receiving are far
    less in public school, than the instructional hours that are
    being received by my two other kids in private school now.
        And we're really fortunate to have the resources to put our
    other children in private school. What we'd really like to be
    able to do is have those choices for all three of our kids. And
    I'm on calls frequently with children, or with families in
    eastern county Portland where these are all Title I schools, or
    you know in schools where kids have much fewer choices than the
    kids in our school district.
        And you know this summer they're talking about grants and
    funding that's coming to the school districts for summer school
    and summer programs. And I guess I'm really grateful that
    there's some additional funds being allocated. But my question
    is, is that actually going to go to my daughter? Or is that
    going to actually go to any of these kids who really need those
    funds and that education, and those extra supports?
        Because so far, they're not opening, and they're not
    offering any of those programs to my kids, or to other kids in
    our area. And so, I think my biggest concern, I'm really
    grateful that I hear that more money is being allocated, but to
    date to get any of these services for our kids, has been a real
    fight.
        Has been a real uphill battle. Like Lizzie still hasn't had
    a year, a full year, of no occupational therapy, no speech
    therapy, no physical therapy, all of it is delivered via
    telehealth, and as I think other witnesses have said,
    telehealth doesn't work for some kids with cognitive
    disabilities.
        And so, I guess my question is if we continue to allocate
    funds, is that going to go to my child, or these needy children
    in some of these districts? Where is it going to go?
        Mr. Keller. That's actually a really good question because
    last year Congress provided more than 70 billion to schools,
    and you know when we look at the cost that has been put out
    there, it's been estimated through the Nation, it would be
    $422.00 per student on the high end, and that would amount to
    about 25 billion.
        So, we've appropriated more than twice, almost three times
    what the estimate is. So, I'm just hopeful that the money will
    get to where it was designed to go, so kids like Lizzie can
    have the help they need to thrive. And thank you very much. I
    yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Keller. Thank
    you very much. I now recognize Miss McBath, Lucy.
        Ms. McBath. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I just wanted to
    say thank you to all of our witnesses today for your excellent
    testimony, and you're such grounded in this issue. And Ms.
    Dale, I just want to say I applaud you for such loving care and
    commitment toward Lizzie and your children. And I'm so sorry
    that that remark was made toward you because it's so apparent
    that you truly have done everything that you can to make sure
    that Lizzie has the care and resources that she needs for her
    education.
        I do want to say though that this month President Biden
    signed the American Rescue Plan into law, giving schools across
    the country the funding and the resources that they so
    desperately need to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic. And
    the American Rescue Plan includes the biggest as we've said, it
    includes the biggest investment in the United States K through
    12 education ever in history.
        And in fact, the three school districts that are part of my
    congressional district here in Georgia, will be receiving about
    676 million dollars from this vital legislation, and I couldn't
    be more happy for my district. This funding actually goes
    toward helping schools reopen safely, and equitably addressing
    learning loss to all of our students and helps our students to
    get back on track to achieving their post-secondary goals.
        80 percent of the good-paying jobs that now require post-
    secondary education, and unfortunately COVID-19 is wreaking
    havoc on college enrollment rates. In this fall the percentage
    of high school graduates who went on to college immediately
    after high school fell by 22 percent. So, the decline in
    enrollment was nearly twice as large for low-income high school
    graduates, then for their higher income peers.
        And though there's always been a disconnect between high
    school and college, more students than ever, we know are
    falling into the cracks because of this pandemic. Mr. Carvalho,
    what should we be doing in the short-term and in the long-term
    to support students in making the transition from high school
    to post-secondary education, and how can funding from the
    American Rescue Plan Act be used to help them?
        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you very much for the question,
    Congresswoman. That is probably one of the most important
    questions I have heard today because it deals with the fact
    that 12th grade does not represent finality in the educational
    opportunity or journey of students. And we know that many
    students who graduate high school don't necessarily have a road
    toward a full secondary viable placement.
        So, what can be done with these funds? Quite frankly, and I
    alluded to it during my early prepared remarks is No. 1, the
    identification of those students, particularly at the secondary
    level who are about to graduate but may not necessarily have
    the number of credits.
        There are opportunities for credit recovery during the
    summer. Second, there are opportunities during the summer and
    the rest of the school year to engage students in career
    technical programming that is economically linked to the
    communities they live in. Third, there are opportunities to
    engage students in more actively participating in ACT and SAT
    preparatory programs that students in more affluent communities
    take for granted, giving them an additional chance at having
    access to this program, and those exams.
        There are also opportunities that can be created during the
    spring break, the rest of the school year, and during the
    summer, that to go above and beyond the minimum requirements
    that the standards in any one State require. Preparing these
    students for success, whether it's college at 2-year technical
    school, college, or university.
        In Miami-Dade I can tell you that we paid close attention
    to the post-secondary goals in the level of preparedness of our
    students, and we make the appropriate investments. We plan.
    With the ARP dollars, with these recovery investments,
    supplement our career technical programing, supplement or SAT
    and ACT preparation, supplement over the weeks and months that
    we have the additional credit recovery for students.
        And also provide a repertoire of opportunities for these
    students, particularly those who are in high school right now
    to really solidify their proficiency level in areas that will
    make them, enable them to be successful in their post-secondary
    endeavors.
        Ms. McBath. Thank you so much for that question. I am so
    sorry this is my dog in the background. And Ms. Almazan, over
    the summer and in the fall, I spoke with teachers in my
    district about their experiences with virtual learning. And
    they were very, very worried that their students, especially
    those with disabilities, and we're talking about these very
    students today, that they were going to fall behind because of
    the lack of in-person attention, as Mrs. Dale has just been so
    eloquently speaking about today, and that they weren't able to
    get this kind of in-person learning through the virtual
    learning.
        What steps has Secretary Cardona taken to reach out to the
    disability community, and ensure that disabled students are a
    priority when schools are considering reopening and these
    decisions?
        Ms. Almazan. Well Secretary Cardona reached out to us
    within the first week of him being confirmed, and he has been
    very open to the issues because he came from Connecticut, and
    he certainly understands the issues that diverse learners and
    equity present and challenge.
        I want to say that there are a variety of places that have
    a addressed the issues of remote learning, places like Center
    for Learner Equity, Educating All Learners Alliance, COPAA is a
    partner. The National Center for Learning Disabilities, they
    all have resources and have created resources in the last year,
    and we look forward to working with Secretary Cardona as we try
    to address the needs of students with disabilities.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Miss McBath. Thank
    you. I'd now like to recognize again, try Mrs. Miller. Mrs.
    Miller? Mr. Cawthorn? Mr. Cawthorn? Mrs. Steel?
        Mr. Cawthorn. Mr. Chairman I apologize for that sir.
        Chairman Sablan. OK. Mr. Cawthorn, right?
        Mr. Cawthorn. Yes sir how are you doing.
        Chairman Sablan. We're good. You'll have five minutes.
        Mr. Cawthorn. That's good to hear. So, Mrs. Dale I
    sincerely appreciated your sentiments talking about your desire
    to open some of the schools and everything you are facing. I've
    got a disability myself, not necessarily a mental one, but a
    physical one, so I feel for your child who's having to go
    through this.
        Can I ask you what is it like--the world like, for your
    daughter now really after going through a full year for being
    just alone and secluded from her friends in school?
        Mrs. Dale. Thank you Representative Cawthorn. We're re-
    establishing routines now. We're trying to figure out where the
    gaps are, where the gaps exist, how to return some of that
    structure. We've actually hired a behavior specialist to come
    to our house and work with us a couple hours a week, because
    what happens when a child with a disability attends school is
    they get into a flow of structure and routine.
        They're with peers and they use that peer modeling to
    learn, and when that routine is disrupted or changed, you know
    they lose a lot of those, they lose a lot of that structure.
    They lose a lot of that routine that really helps a child with
    a disability know how to navigate their day.
        I think the other challenge that we're trying to overcome
    right now is just there's no physical education being provided
    in our schools, so while our schools have started to reopen in
    a hybrid format, there's no recess, and there's no PE, and
    that's something that you know kids in club sports, and kids in
    private--and I've got a daughter that's on a private dance
    team, children that have access to club activities like that,
    that a lot of students either vulnerable students of you know,
    low income, or students with disabilities like my daughter
    Lizzie don't have access to things like club sports.
        You know schools are a place that they get to have physical
    education, so we're dealing with no just academic losses and
    friendships and other losses that we're dealing with you know
    physical challenges and things like you know, eating the right
    healthy foods, and getting the right amount of physical
    activity.
        Mr. Cawthorn. Right, well Jennifer thank you very much for
    taking your time to be able to speak with all of us. I do want
    to ask one more question. Do you think that some of the Federal
    Department of Education's funding you know to these states and
    other areas, should that be tied to schools reopening?
        Mrs. Dale. I think very much so. Here in Oregon, you know,
    we kept being told that schools you know, once the teachers,
    once we hit certain metrics for COVID cases, schools would
    reopen. Once the teachers got vaccinated schools would reopen.
    Once, and so for parents feeling like you know it's going to
    happen, it's going to happen. In a couple of weeks from now for
    parents it kept feeling like we're going to open, we're going
    to open, and then it didn't.
        And the teachers continued to get what they requested, and
    what they needed. And I am very supportive of teachers having
    vaccines and the States reopening, and the metrics being in the
    right you know, place for the community to be safe.
        Mr. Cawthorn. Yes.
        Mrs. Dale. But what is hard for me as a parent, is what can
    I trust? What can I trust of the public school system? And that
    is why we've had to move two of our children to a private
    school system because I know what I'm going to get there, and I
    know what's going to happen.
        And so, you know as money does come out to the public
    school system, which I also support because I know that's going
    to help my daughter but reopen.
        Mr. Cawthorn. Right of course.
        Mrs. Dale. But we still haven't gotten a commitment to
    reopen.
        Mr. Cawthorn. Of course, well Ms. Dale thank you very much.
    And very quickly, I know I only have about 30 seconds left of
    this answer, but Mr. Morial, during your opening statement you
    were talking about how we need state-wide testing just to be
    able to tell where our students are at this time.
        I was wondering, do you think coming out of this pandemic,
    do you think that we should continue to utilize these
    standardized tests, which you know I feel like some time is
    like asking a fish to climb a tree, whereas it doesn't mean the
    fish doesn't you know is talented, it just means he can't climb
    a tree.
        Do you think that there could be a different form of
    testing that would be more beneficial for students?
        Chairman Sablan.Ten seconds.
        Mr. Morial. Testing can always improve, but right now it's
    the best thing we have to see where our students are, not only
    to identify gaps within a school district, within a school,
    with the data you can tell whether the performance
    differentials are at the school level, at the classroom level,
    or within a particular school district within a State.
        I think right now can testing improve--yes. But what we
    have now is better than nothing.
        Mr. Cawthorn. Mr. Morial thank you very much. Mr. Chairman
    I yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. I think Miss Hayes of
    Connecticut has joined us, so Miss Hayes you have five minutes.
        Ms. Hayes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate you holding
    this very important hearing. I think it's safe to say that no
    one, if we had it our way, no one would want us to be in the
    situation that we're in now. And we want our children to be
    safe.
        My son, actually his school went back to full in-person,
    and within two and a half weeks he's now home again for a 10-
    day quarantine because one of his classmates tested positive
    for COVID. And just today, my cousin who is at work asked me to
    leave the office to go get her daughter, because the teacher
    tested positive, and the school sent out a notice to parents
    that they're shutting down.
        So, the idea that Democrats are OK with schools being
    closed is just a false choice. Every single one of us wants our
    children to go back to school. My questions today,
    Superintendent Carvalho, you made a statement about you at your
    school one of the things that they did was supplement the SAT
    and ACT testing. And I too am concerned about what the annual
    standardized tests look like for this year.
        So, it's an issue that I continue to try to gather
    information on because in my district, and from my own
    perspective as a career educator, one of the things that I know
    is that these high-stakes, high pressure tests, which are our
    best tool for collecting information.
        We've heard this year about all the gaps in learning that
    we've seen, so now for kids to be expected to perform at the
    highest level and be measured by these tests is deeply
    concerning, and I think will be unfairly punitive.
        So, my question to you Superintendent Carvalho is as a
    superintendent of one of the largest school districts in the
    country, have you heard any concerns from your educators or
    parents surrounding the issue of standardized testing, or have
    you sought to seek feedback about how we can make this better,
    and make sure that the information is used in the way in which
    it is intended?
        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you very much for your question
    Representative Hayes. We certainly have. And No. 1, I'm sorry
    for what you described earlier, the impact of COVID on your
    family, and I would like to express also you know my absolute
    understanding and compassion for the testimony of Ms. Dale and
    what she has gone through.
        Specifically, to your question, yes, I've heard from many
    parents, and from many educators, not only in Miami-Dade, but
    across the State and the country with certain significant
    concerns about standardized assessments this year. And not only
    the assessment itself, but toward what end do we assess, and
    will there be punitive actions and consequences as a result of
    that data.
        We have taken a school board based on policy and
    administratively a number of steps we have communicated with
    our State regarding our concerns, specific to the utilization
    of tests dated this year for the reasons that you alluded to.
    And I'll just mention a couple more.
        No. 1, COVID-19 has impacted differently different areas of
    the country, even within one State or one county, the impacts
    have been uneven. So, the expectation that the environmental
    educational conditions would be the same across the board for
    all students, all grade levels, all schools is just a fallacy.
        Second, second the issue that was mentioned earlier, the
    quarantine impact on whole cohorts of students in schools has
    been desperate from school to school, sometimes within the same
    school. Certainly, across districts. What I'm referring to is
    that there will be an issue of validity and reliability
    associated with the data that will emanate from this year's
    standardized assessment.
        That is why the Gold Standard of American Assessment, which
    is the NAEP, as an organization, as a board it canceled its
    administration for these very same reasons. Now in the State of
    Florida, and I understand what Mr. Morial said, and I agree. We
    need to know where our students are. We need to know where
    students are. We need to identify the gaps.
        If, in fact, we are to develop strategies to eliminate
    those gaps and to accelerate students toward their full
    potential. So, we don't depend only on summative assessments,
    which are these standardized assessments at the end of the
    year, we also depend on formative assessments, on assessments
    delivered by teachers themselves, so that we know, rather than
    waiting until the end of the year, where our students are,
    where the gaps are, whether regression exists, where the
    learning loss is, and actively and timely intervene.
        My hope is that as a result of our advocacy with a State,
    and on the basis of the waiver opportunity that the Federal
    Government has offered to the states, that to the extent that
    assessments are administered and the State of Florida that is
    moving forward with its assessments, that the window for
    assessments--
        Ms. Hayes. I'm sorry, my time is about to run out. I don't
    mean to cut you off, but you just said everything that I know
    to be true. We saw that the SATs and ACTs in most places have
    been cutoff. And any good teacher is doing formative
    assessments on an ongoing basis, so I really hope that we have
    a more robust conversation so that we are in fact measuring
    what we are intended to measure.
        Because my son's standardized test--standardize is we
    standardize everything about it. But it would be a measure of
    what I taught him this year and not his teacher, or his school.
    With that Mr. Chair I yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Yes, thank you Jahana. Actually, my
    daughter as a teacher has told me that they are, at least she
    is, identifying students in her class who may need to go to
    summer school, and yes. So good work.
        I'd like to let me see, Mrs. Miller, I think Mrs. Miller
    has joined us. Mrs. Miller?
        Mrs. Miller. Yes, thank you. I'm back, thank you I'm
    between multiple committees so.
        Chairman Sablan. Yes.
        Mrs. Miller. Thank you for bearing with. I have a question
    for Mrs. Dale. Mrs. Dale thank you for your testimony. And in
    your testimony, you shared that you began engaging in grass
    roots advocacy to get students back in school. I was wondering
    how your efforts were received by school board Members and law
    makers?
        Mrs. Dale. Thank you for your question Representative
    Miller. In the beginning what we heard, so this is back in
    September and October when we launched some of these efforts,
    we got kind of form responses, template responses that said
    we're hearing an equal amount of people who want to go back,
    and people who don't want to go back.
        And so the response in the beginning wasn't very optimistic
    that there would be a choice to return, but what we continually
    advocated for was that students who needed to go back, and
    needed that option to return to school, were given the choice
    to return, so that the comprehensive distance learning would
    continue for those teachers and staff and students that were
    doing OK in distance learning, but that the choice to return to
    in-person in a safe way was provided.
        And there was a state-wide mandate in Oregon that was not
    lifted until January 1 of this year. And so, it was never even
    a possibility, or a consideration even at a local school
    levels.
        Mrs. Miller. So, may I ask another question? Why do you
    believe in light of the science being clear that reopening
    schools is safe? Why do you believe schools are not open?
        Mrs. Dale. I think that's the hardest question for all of
    us as parents, but I think that two reasons. I think one is
    that from what I learned over the last six to seven months, and
    this was nothing that I had ever gotten involved in before. I'm
    very involved in my child's education, but not in this manner.
    But over the last six or seven months what we discovered was
    you know kids don't vote, and so there was really no child
    representation.
        There wasn't anybody coming to the table to say this is
    what's happening with our children, and with our kids, and why
    are kids suffering. I think that was one issue, and I think the
    other issue is that--and I alluded to this just a little bit
    earlier, and said there are contracts in place with teachers,
    and with teachers? unions that really precluded our kids from
    having the opportunity and the choice to go back to school.
        So, for example, you know there were work from home
    agreements that teachers had signed. Any time a school tried to
    reopen, so when our school district tried to reopen in
    February. The teacher's union went out and placed ads and went
    to the newspapers and said that it was being rushed, and that
    they weren't consulted with going back.
        And so, they opposed returning to in-person learning. And
    so, I think that from our perspective is at least all I can
    really speak to is my perspective as a parent and for my kids
    is that there just wasn't--there is a lot of inertia around
    going back. There wasn't this leadership and effort to figure
    out well how do we make it possible for some of our kids to get
    back in-person learning.
        Mrs. Miller. Thank you Mrs. Dale and I yield back the
    balance of my time.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Miller. Again,
    let me see I'm going to call out Mr. Cawthorn one more time.
    Mrs. Steel? All right Mr. Bowman, sir? Mr. Bowman? Going once,
    and now the most patient Full Committee Chair Member of
    Congress, Chairman Bobby Scott. Sir you have five minutes.
        Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And first I'd
    like to respond to a comment in his opening statement by the
    Ranking Member. He talked about political interference. I
    certainly agree with his comments and would like to enter into
    the record an outline of the original CDC guidelines from meat
    packing plants, and then the final CDC guidelines after the
    Trump administration White House got involved, there's a stark
    difference.
        And I would also like to enter into the record the present
    CDC guidelines about three feet difference. It doesn't say you
    can suddenly go to three feet. It says you can go to three feet
    if you are complying with other guidelines like mask wearing
    and everything else. I'd like those entered into the record.
        Chairman Sablan. Without objection.
        Mr. Scott. Mr. Morial thank you Marc, whoops, well let me
    ask the superintendent from Dade County Mr. Carvalho. Comments
    have been made about the fact that money has been allocated to
    your district based on this Title I formula. Obviously, you've
    got a lot of money for your district that hadn't been, could
    not have possibly been budgeted.
        Can we count on you showing a significant difference as a
    result of in terms of results, because of this money? You know
    it's a lot of money, and if we don't show some good results,
    we'll never hear the end of it, and I can assure you you'll
    never get that kind of money again. You're on mute.
        Mr. Carvalho. Thank you. Representative Scott you can count
    on me. You can count on me. You can count on the 40,000
    employees of this school system and 20,000 dedicated teaching
    professionals to do so.
        Look, I'm a recession superintendent. I lived through the
    Great Recession of 2008-2009 where we had to shave hundreds of
    millions of dollars from our budget, and had it not been for
    the race to the top investments, some of the soaring results
    that I described probably would not have happened.
        And I can tell you that some of the best practices that
    arose from those investments are still being felt in this
    school system today. Second, we approach the decisions on the
    utilization of these resources very carefully, in full
    consultation with our board who the policy actually requires a
    plan, a time plan for the expenditures with an exact knowledge
    of how those investments are going to be made, toward what end,
    what is the expected objective, goal and benefit.
        Mr. Scott. I'm sorry, limited time. We've talked about the
    chance of continuing the allocations. It's my understanding
    that the virtual of the money, although not spent, has been
    allocated. When you hired a teacher, how long do you hire a
    teacher for?
        Mr. Carvalho. Well sir, when we hire a teacher we hope to
    hire a teacher for a lifetime because of their commitment. The
    funds the way they've been earmarked to us, the first level
    ESSER I, we've spent 70 percent of those dollars.
        We just received the second allocation under the previous
    administration, and we now know that the most massive
    investment in the history of education in this country, which
    for Miami-Dade exceeds about a billion dollars, has been
    announced. And we're going to absolutely be cautious, careful
    in monitoring those expenditures and strategic to live up to
    your challenge to me, which is these dollars will make a
    difference in terms of accelerating every single student to
    their full potential.
        Mr. Scott. A lot of comment has been made about the fact
    that the money hasn't been spent. When you hire a teacher today
    you don't actually spend the money in a certain time?
        Mr. Carvalho. No sir. School districts are, you're correct
    sir, school districts obviously annualize expenditures, but the
    expenditure is timed with its consumption, so obviously, on the
    first month of a teacher's work you would expect about one-
    eighth of that allocation to have been spent. But I can tell
    you one thing. There's a difference between expenditures and
    encumbered. A lot of funds have been spent. A lot of funds have
    been encumbered, but it is timed in accordance obviously with
    their utilization, particularly if funds are attached to
    professionals, to human beings.
        Mr. Scott. I wanted to ask Marc Morial a question. I see he
    is back. At the end of his testimony, he was talking about the
    need for state-wide assessments. Can he explain why the Urban
    League is supporting state-wide assessments?
        Chairman Sablan. Yes, he seems to be on, but his camera is
    off.
        Mr. Morial. No, I'm here.
        Chairman Sablan. Oh, there he is.
        Mr. Morial. Yes, I had to take care of a personal matter.
    Congressman, thank you for your question. And I've heard the
    testimony. We could debate when a state-wide assessment should
    be taken, but we have to know where the gaps are. We have to
    understand where the disparities exist.
        And school leaders also need, and parents need
    transparency. Certainly, it's going to demonstrate that many
    students have lost ground. But what that will do is it will, if
    you will, present, provide the evidence for the investments in
    the kinds of strategies to close these gaps.
        And I think we'll demonstrate why continued investment in
    Title I and other, if you will, interventions and other
    supports, for students of color, the low- and moderate-income
    students, the English language learners, are so essential. We
    have to have tools. We cannot fly the plane without using
    radar.
        Debate the when, whether it should happen in the beginning
    of next school year. Debate the specifics. I don't, I'm not in
    love with standardized tests. No one is. I have nightmares from
    taking the bar exam, still. But the point is, is we have to
    have common tools.
        Teacher assessments are extremely valued, but not a common
    tool, and we need common tools to determine. I would certainly
    say there's a lot to debate about the methodology of testing,
    about the pressure on kids around testing, but we've got to
    have data, and I do not want disparities to be masked.
        So, you don't know where they are. We don't understand how
    they play out. If we're going to be serious about addressing
    systemic inequities in this country.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you.
        Mr. Scott. Thank you. Mr. Chairman I'd like to ask
    unanimous consent to enter into the record a document published
    by the National Education Association in 2016 describing how
    you can do assessments, talking about eliminating high stakes
    testing, and providing more local and local controlled testing
    as we did and in Every Student Succeeds Act so that people will
    know that we're not talking about the imposition of
    standardized tests, we're talking about making sure that we
    have the assessments so we know where the learning has to take
    place.
        We have provided accordingly the Title I formula, so the
    money is going where it's most needed. And you can't as
    business friends tell us, you can't manage what you don't
    measure.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you without objection so ordered.
        Mr. Scott. Appreciate it.
        Chairman Sablan. And Mr. Chairman your five minutes is up.
    Thank you. So, we'll do some housekeeping matters here. I would
    like to remind my colleagues that pursuant to committee
    practice, materials for submission to the hearing record must
    be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following
    the last day of this hearing, so by close of business on May 8
    of 2021, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
        The materials submitted must address the subject matter of
    the hearing and only a Member of the subcommittee, or an
    invited witness may submit materials for inclusion in the
    hearing record. Documents are limited to 50 pages each.
        Documents longer than 50 pages will be incorporated into
    the record via an internet link that you must provide to the
    Committee Clerk within the required timeframe, but please
    recognize that in the future that link may no longer work.
        Pursuant to House rules and regulations, items for the
    record should be submitted to the clerk electronically by
    emailing submissions to edandlabor.hearings@mail.house.gov.
    Again, edandlabor.hearings@mail.house.gov. Member offices are
    encouraged to submit materials to the inbox before the hearing,
    or during the hearing at the time the Member makes the request.
        Now again I want to thank all of our witnesses for their
    participation today. All of you made huge contributions, this
    subcommittee. And Members of the subcommittees may have some
    additional questions for you. And we ask the witnesses to
    please respond to these questions in writing. The hearing
    record will be held open for 14 days in order to receive these
    responses. I remind my colleagues that pursuant to committee
    practice, witness questions for the hearing record must be
    submitted to the Majority Committee Staff or Committee Clerk
    within 7 days.
        The questions submitted must address the subject matter of
    the hearing. I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member
    for a closing statement.
        Mr. Owens. OK one second here. Hold tight. Bear with me.
        Chairman Sablan. Mr. Owens, yes?
        Mr. Owens. Yes, 1 second. I'm having a little bit of--OK,
    OK. First of all, Mr. Chairman, thank you once again. Before I
    start, I'd like to kind of clear the record. A little narrative
    that I'm finding very disturbing over the decades about a race
    that I am so proud to be part of, and a history that I'm so
    proud to reflect upon.
        That there was this narrative that for some reason because
    we're in a segregated community, that we were a hapless race
    that could never overcome the oppressive white race. I want to
    clear that. I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, the deep south,
    in a community that was remarkably successful.
        Even though it was segregated, we had the same thoughts of
    our country that other communities did, even though we were not
    assimilating at the time, whether it be Italian or German, we
    loved our country, believed in democracy. And we believed in
    the tenets that made our community great, and we did not trust
    government.
        We believe there's a God in heaven. We believe in education
    the family unit and capitalism was our way out and guess what?
    The 40s and 50s and 6's we proved that. So, I want everybody to
    remember these statistics as we've talked about my race,
    because it has been something that's happened since the 60's
    has gotten to where we are.
        It's not the color of our skin it's not what happened 200
    years ago. In the 40s, 50s, and 60s my community, a black
    community, led our country's growth in middle class. Men
    matriculated from
        college, men committed to marriage, it was 70 percent. So
    no, we didn't have the problems with the single mothers that we
    now have today.
        Men knew was it was to man up and take care of their
    families. We also led our country in the growth of the middle
    class because we had the highest percentage of entrepreneurs,
    over 40 percent. So, once you keep that in context and now look
    at what's happened to our Nation, and what's happening to the
    lack of education we are not experiencing.
        So that being said, and I also want to say this to Mr.
    Carvalho, I hope I've pronounced that right. Thank you for what
    you've done in Miami-Dade. Thank you. You represent so many of
    our great leaders and teachers. You truly do love your
    profession, and you've proved that in this last year.
    Unfortunately, there's so many people out there that take this
    profession and they don't.
        And I would say to Jennifer, she would have loved to have
    had your kind of leadership up in her State, because Lizzie
    would have had a different result over the last year. OK, that
    being said, Mr. Chairman, thank you again for calling this
    hearing, for the witnesses to offer your expertise today.
        This has really been a great hearing. But I am frustrated
    with a couple of things that I've heard. First, I'm frustrated
    that the answer from my democratic friends for what children
    have experienced this last year is just to dump a whole lot
    more money into the same system that's failed students for so
    many generations.
        In 1992, Mr. Chairman, black 12th graders scored 24 points
    lower than white students in reading. In 2019 they scored 32
    points lower, and in 2017 the Department of Education State of
    California stated that 75 percent of black boys could not pass
    standard reading and writing tests.
        This has nothing to do with the color of their skin, it has
    to do with policies in the face of the teacher unions whose
    responsibility is to never allow this to happen. It blows my
    mind that Democrats seem to think that all they have to do is
    dump a whole lot of money into the same system that's failed
    us. We need to change that.
        Second of all, I'm glad to see my Democrat friends are
    finally supporting the need to reopen schools. I welcome this
    conversation. But Mr. Chairman, our families do not need our
    words, they need our actions. When Republicans opposed
    requiring school districts to reopen schools in order to
    receive Federal COVID aid, every single Democrat voted no.
        Five times the Democrats voted no on reopening schools for
    all students. Your party voted no on reopening schools for the
    most vulnerable students, including students with disabilities.
    The Democrats voted no on allowing parents with children in
    closed schools to use their personal share of public funds to
    find other educational options.
        Your party voted no when requiring teachers? unions and
    school districts to be transparent about reopening
    negotiations. And Democrats voted no on reopening when all
    teachers in a district had access to the vaccine. Five times,
    five times to show that Democrats believed in science.
        Five times to show that Democrats care about the harm being
    done to our children. Five times to show Democrats newfound
    enthusiasm for reopening schools isn't based on a summarization
    that the party is in political peril, and five times Democrats
    said no.
        So, Mr. Chair, I appreciate you holding these hearings. I
    appreciate the opportunity to amplify the impact that this last
    year has had on families. I hope my friends across the aisle
    will put into action behind words, these words, the next time
    they have an opportunity.
        And the last point, I grew up again in Tallahassee. I was
    the third black to go to the University of Miami. I left there
    with a degree in biology. In my community in the 60s that was
    not weird. That was not unheard of. We expected success because
    we wanted to reflect greater on our community, on our race, and
    to succeed.
        Today that would be about almost unbelievable that a black,
    young man could go play football and graduate with a degree
    that will be respected across our country. That should never
    happen in our country, and we need to make sure that those that
    are most at risk are given an opportunity like everybody else,
    no matter what their zip code is, to have the American dream of
    education and choice.
        And thank you for those out there giving our kids across
    our country parents? choice this last year. That is truly the
    American way and I thank you for the opportunity. Mr. Chair I
    yield back.
        Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Owens. And I'm
    not going to respond to your comments, but I want to thank our
    witnesses again for taking the time to be with us. Again, each
    one of you has made good, very good contributions to our
    hearing today.
        Today's hearing confirm that the COVID-19 relief funding
    that Congress has secured over the last year has been critical,
    critical to addressing the immediate challenges of the pandemic
    for schools. We're not expecting that there would be miracles
    here, but they were immediate. They addressed the challenges,
    the additional challenges of COVID-19.
        We also heard how the American Rescue Plan in particular,
    is finally providing schools with the funding they need to
    reopen classrooms safely, keep classrooms open, and help
    students overcome the far-reaching consequences of school
    closures.
        Finally, our discussions confirm what we have heard from
    our relief efforts so far, that Congress must continue to
    target resources to the schools and students who need them
    most. School communities cannot fully recover from this
    pandemic unless we confront persistent educational disparities
    that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
        We certainly have a clear path to finally achieve
    educational equity as we slowly emerge from this global health
    emergency. I look forward to taking historic steps along with
    all of you, alongside my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
    to ensure that every student has access to an education that
    allows them to reach their full potential.
        And I go back right now I remember the hearing we had like
    three Congress's ago and we had a GAO official testify about
    the status of Native American schools because somebody
    mentioned, I think it was Mr. Grothman mentioned, our families
    generation of how we should look at that. The status of Native
    American schools in our country, and it is embarrassing. It is
    so unfair to what we have done to the indigenous people of our
    America.
        But I want to thank you all for this also, coming from the
    territories. It's not 10 o'clock to 6 in the morning, almost
    time for me to get up from bed, but so it's always good, very
    important meeting. Everyone thank you for joining us and this
    meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
        [Additional submissions by Mr. Scott follow:]

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        [Questions submitted for the record and the responses by
    Mr. Morial follow:]

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        [Whereupon, at 3:49 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]