EAST LANSING — Michigan school districts have until the end of this month to spend federal school rescue dollars provided by the Biden-Harris administration to help students recover from the pandemic — or else lose them forever.

Michigan received a total of $5.63 billion in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, with the vast majority coming under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. As of Sept. 6, Michigan school districts are still sitting on $343 million that must be allocated by Sept. 30.

“These investments have been critical in supporting our students through the pandemic and its aftermath, and we urge school districts to work with their frontline educators to put their remaining funds to good use while there is still time,” said MEA President and CEO Chandra Madaferri, a teacher from Oakland County.

Over the past few years, federal school rescue funds have supported critical needs such as:

• Academic interventions for students who fell behind, including tutoring, summer programs, credit recovery and more.
• Expanded mental health assistance, including social-emotional learning programs and resources aimed at supporting students’ mental health and behavioral needs.
• Financial support for programs to attract and retain high-quality educators through salary increases, bonuses, stipends and professional development opportunities.
• Improvements to school safety and infrastructure, including modernized HVAC systems and fixes for long-deferred maintenance needs.
• Upgrades to schools, students and educators’ technology and connectivity needs, including the purchase of mobile learning devices, the installation of reliable broadband internet for rural areas and support for digital learning platforms.

For more examples of how ESSER funds have been put to good use, visit https://mea.org/arp.

“Federal school rescue dollars helped schools plug a lot of holes in areas that have been underfunded for decades, particularly in low-income school districts,” Madaferri said. “Those holes will be ripped back open unless our elected leaders commit to making bold, sustained investments in public education and eliminating the inequities facing far too many Michigan students.”