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	<title> - LESSONS LEARNED: CHARTING THE PATH TO EDUCATIONAL EQUITY</title>
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	[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:

	<bullet> the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or
	CARES Act,

	<bullet> the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
	Appropriations Act, and most recently,

	<bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="412425202f252d20232e336f29242033282f2632012c20282d6f292e3432246f262e37">[email protected]</a>.
	Again, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c1a4a5a0afa5ada0a3aeb3efa9a4a0b3a8afa6b281aca0a8adefa9aeb4b2a4efa6aeb7">[email protected]</a>. 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:]

	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]






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

	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



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

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