A new report found Michigan school districts spent their COVID-19 funds similarly to their general budget, with nearly half spent on employee compensation and benefits.
A Mackinac Center for Public Policy report shows how school districts have spent $2.5 billion of the $6 billion in federal pandemic aid between the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
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More than 300 Michigan school districts haven’t touched their final tranche of federal COVID money, according to lagging spending data from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.
The data, updated on Oct. 28, 2022, tracks Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief III spending. It shows that billions of dollars haven’t been spent from more than $5 billion of federal monies given for pandemic learning-loss recovery.
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Ohio plans to spend more than $2 million worth of federal COVID-19 relief funds on more than two dozen local drug task forces around the state, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.
The money, DeWine said, would be used to disrupt drug trafficking and promote substance use awareness, prevention and recovery.
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Despite boasts of record state school spending amid declining school populations, many of Michigan’s local ballots next week will feature school sinking funds, millage renewals, or millage increases.
Michigan’s more than 850 school districts received about $6 billion of federal COVID funds, but in many cases, it’s unclear how the districts spent or plan to spend the money.
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A federal appellate court dealt President Joe Biden a loss Thursday, ruling that Arizona can challenge the administration’s rule prohibiting states from using COVID-19 funds to lower taxes.
Biden rallied support and passed the American Rescue Plan Act in March of last year. That law provided funding for states to fight COVID-19 and rebound from the economic consequences, among other things. However, the law included a “tax mandate” preventing states from lowering taxes if they accepted the federal funds.
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