Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) has joined four other lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce last Friday a package of education bills to reopen and rebuild U.S. schools, save educators\u2019 jobs, and help students recover lost time in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Rebuild and Reopen America\u2019s Schools Act, introduced with Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01), the\u00a0Save Education Jobs Act introduced with Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-05), and the\u00a0Learning Recovery Act, introduced with Sablan and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), are part of the House Committee on Education and Labor\u2019s response to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, educators, and parents. The committee is chaired by Rep. Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (VA-03).<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior to the pandemic, our education system was suffering from crumbling infrastructure, understaffed schools, and widening achievement gaps. Now, after an unprecedented disruption in students\u2019 lives as a result of the pandemic, we are seeing existing inequities exacerbated,\u201d\u00a0said Scott.\u00a0\u201cThe package of bills introduced [Friday] reflects our commitment to helping students, educators, and parents overcome the pandemic, reopen our schools, and finally access a quality, public education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reopen and Rebuild America\u2019s Schools Act of 2021<\/strong> \u201cMy top priorities in Congress have always been jobs, education, and security, and all three are addressed in the Reopen and Rebuild America\u2019s Schools Act. Investing in our nation\u2019s public schools will create good-paying jobs, improve educational outcomes and ensure that students learn in state-of-the-art buildings that are safe and secure,\u201d\u00a0said Norcross.\u00a0\u201cLong before this pandemic, our schools were all in dire need of repair, and now as our nation fights COVID-19 the need to rebuild has never been greater. As public officials, it is our duty to protect our children, fight for their futures and deliver high-quality education regardless of their zip code\u2014and this bill does just that.\u201d<\/p>\n Save Education Jobs Act of 2021<\/strong> \u201cDespite the heroic work of our educators, we know that COVID-19 has undone months of academic gains, exacerbated existing disparities, increased student mental health needs, and left far too many students behind,\u201d\u00a0said Hayes. \u201cThe cuts we are already seeing throughout the country, and can expect to continue seeing in the future, are devastating for students and the future of public education. We need to invest in more supports, not less, to ensure that schools can meet these needs and challenges during and after the pandemic. Teacher job losses have long lasting impacts on the quality and efficacy of learning in our communities, and only further entrench growing disparities in our highest need districts.\u00a0It is time the federal government uphold its responsibility for students and recognize the urgency of this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning Recovery Act of 2021<\/strong> \u201cThe pandemic has widened the divide where our students in Title I schools, those with the least resources, have suffered the greatest learning challenges and losses.\u00a0 We must not abandon these children. Additional Title I funding is essential to set our schools on a path towards equitable recovery. With love and concern for our children, I am proud to co-lead the Learning Recovery Act with Chairman Bobby Scott to extend learning opportunities,\u201d\u00a0said Ledger Fernandez.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica\u2019s students continue to lose precious months of quality instruction to the coronavirus crisis. This loss is only widening the achievement gap and disparities between school districts that existed well before the pandemic,\u201d\u00a0said Sablan.\u00a0\u201cThe Learning Recovery Act provides funding that schools facing severe budget cuts need to address these challenges whether it be extended school years, school days, or summer school to recover the lost learning time. And the Act mandates a federal study on the learning loss crisis because our nation as a whole must fully understand its impact and possible solutions.\u201d (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) has joined four other lawmakers in the U.S. House…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-337623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-education-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe\u00a0Reopen and Rebuild America\u2019s Schools Act of 2021\u00a0invests $130 billion\u2014targeted at high-poverty schools\u2014to help reopen public schools and provide students and educators a safe place to learn and work. In addition to helping students get back to school, the bill will also create over two million jobs during a time of widespread unemployment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nSince February of last year, more K-12 education jobs have been lost than nearly all of the local education jobs lost during the Great Recession.\u00a0 On top of that, states are facing a\u00a0$555 billion budget shortfall\u00a0over the next three years.\u00a0 Without sufficient funding from the federal government to support states and school districts during the recovery, experts estimate 1.4 million to 1.9 million education jobs will be lost over the next one to two years alone. The\u00a0Save Education Jobs Act of 2021\u00a0would establish an Education Jobs Fund to stabilize the education workforce, delivering up to $261 billion to states and school districts over 10 years.<\/p>\n
\nLeft unaddressed, lost classroom time will have long-term effects on students\u2019 success and on the U.S. economy as a whole. Researchers\u00a0estimate\u00a0that by 2040, the lost time in the classroom for the current K-12 cohort will result in an earnings loss of $110 billion per year and will reduce overall gross domestic product by $173 billion to $271 billion per year. The\u00a0Learning Recovery Act of 2021\u00a0provides $75 billion over two years via Title I-A to build out summer school, extend school days, or extend schools programs.<\/p>\n