[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 [email protected]. 
Again, [email protected]. 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.]