School districts dramatically expanded their technology investments during the global pandemic, thanks to $122 billion in emergency federal funding that allowed them to purchase devices, connectivity, and learning software.
Now that the money has been spent, only about a quarter of state tech officials say their states plan to provide funding to the technology initiatives bankrolled by federal pandemic relief funding, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the State Educational Technology Directors Association last spring. That might mean that hardware bought during the pandemic won’t be replaced or refurbished.
The data point was cited in a report, released Jan. 14, that outlines recommendations for policymakers to ensure all children have access to digital learning tools.
The report also noted that about another quarter of survey respondents—27 percent—said that their states had not made plans to continue the initiatives. About half of respondents were unsure.
That leaves a potential yawning gap in unmet need, particularly given that an overwhelming majority of school districts—92 percent—spent at least part of their pandemic federal relief dollars on technology, the report notes.
In fact, 26 percent of survey respondents listed funding as the biggest unmet technology need in their state, a jump from last year’s survey in which 22 percent of respondents said the same.
“Those short-term [funding] solutions put forth through the pandemic, they definitely did help, don’t get me wrong, but it’s what led to us being in the state that we’re in right now,” Ji Soo Song, the director of projects and initiatives at SETDA, said in an interview.
The survey results underscore the need for a “permanent mechanism to address the affordability challenge [to ensure] long-term equity in K–12 education,” the report says.
School tech investments will have to compete with other priorities
The lack of clear state support to continue pandemic technology initiatives represents “a big warning sign, a big red flare,” said Keith Krueger, the executive director of the Consortium for School Networking, an organization that represents school district technology leaders.
Going forward, technology is going to be “in competition for [state dollars] with other things like educator recruitment and retention, teacher professional development, social-emotional learning,” Krueger said.
The ongoing need could be compounded if the Supreme Court rules that the financing mechanism behind the E-rate program—which provides some $2 billion a year for connectivity at schools and libraries across the country—is unconstitutional, Song added.
If the court rules against the program, SETDA would like to see Congress commit to finding an alternative to continue E-Rate and other programs currently financed through fees on certain telecommunications services.
And SETDA wants federal legislation to create a nonprofit foundation to spur public and private investments to improve digital equity and digital literacy. A bill establishing that fund was introduced in the previous congressional session, but did not pass.
As a shorter-term solution to families’ connectivity headaches, the report recommends lawmakers consider legislation providing $6 billion to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps more than 23 million households cover broadband costs. A bipartisan bill was introduced last session by Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and has the support of former Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the incoming vice-president.
