School board president says California ensuring COVID funds address learning loss is 'admission of failure'

One California school district president said the state recently passing legislation to tighten the requirements for $2 billion remaining in education funds to address learning loss is a reminder how the state failed students during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The recent settlement in which California agreed to spend $2 billion to help children most impacted by lost learning and mental health issues caused by the school closures is a stark admission of the failures that occurred," Chino Valley Unified School District Board President Sonia Shaw told Fox News Digital.

California is being forced to spend $2 billion to help students recover from learning loss after the case Cayla J. v. California was settled in February. Newsom signed Senate Bill 153 on June 29, which tightens the rules and requirements for school districts on how they spend funds on students suffering from learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to non-profit law firm Public Counsel, who was involved in the case, the Golden State will spend what’s left of COVID-19 relief funds on tutoring and other efforts to help students recover from learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tayfun Coskun)

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An attorney from Morrison Foerster, a law firm involved in the lawsuit, told Fox News Digital in February that they proved that school shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic were a detriment to low-income students and students of color who experienced learning loss.

Shaw, a parent of two students in Chino Valley Unified School District, said she's "grateful" to those who continued to advocate for students. 

"Unfortunately, the damage is done, and this should have been a priority to the Department of Education and the Governor. I’m grateful to those who never gave up to ensure resources are used to help students," she said. "This wound was inflicted by poor leadership and misguided policies. Our children suffered immeasurably because of these decisions, and it is outrageous that it took a lawsuit to recognize and address the damage."

The plaintiffs argued that California failed to ensure local districts used that money for students who needed the most help.

Therefore, the settlement requires existing funds from the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant to go toward hiring tutors and taking other steps to help students rebound from learning loss. The funding is to be used to help students already facing adverse education outcomes, often children from low-income households and minorities.

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Regarded by Public Counsel as "one of the largest education-related settlements in U.S. history," California has also agreed to propose a new law enabling funds to be spent on "community organizations with a proven track record of improving student success." 

The law mandates that local education agencies operate under a Local Control and Accountability Plan, requiring them to report on the success of any program created to help students who experience learning loss.

A California Dept. of Education spokesperson said that the proposal includes changes that the administration believes are "appropriate at this stage coming out of the pandemic to focus on the students who were most impacted and continued to need support."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was clarified to show that Newsom did not sign off on $2 billion in new spending, but rather signed Senate Bill 153 on June 29, which tightens the rules and requirements for school districts on how they spend funds on students suffering from learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.