EYE ON EDUCATION Schools and the Fuel Crisis The upward climb of fuel prices is putting a strain on school budgets now, and causing headaches for administrators compiling budgets for next year, reports Education Week. To make matters worse, districts say parents who used to drive their kids to and from school are now sending them on the bus to cut down on their own fuel expenses, and school-bus contractors are charging higher rates to cover skyrocketing costs. While some school districts purchase fuel in bulk at the start of the year or cooperatively with other districts, most are largely subject to price fluctuations in the market, says the article. This is not the first time rising fuel prices have dealt a blow to U.S. schools. Other instances occurred in 1990 during the Gulf War in Kuwait and Iraq, in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, and in the early days of the Great Recession in 2008. Altogether, the nation’s school districts utilize a fleet of nearly half-a-million buses, says Education Week. They burn through tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel each month to send more than 20 million students to and from school, extracurricular activities, athletic events and field trips. Right now, some districts are scaling back routes or canceling transportation for afterschool events. Others are rushing to switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles powered by propane or electricity.
Diesel’s fuel efficiency is seen as a benefit, but diesel is also criticized for its acrid fumes that may be harmful to the environment and people’s respiratory systems. As a solution, some states have recommended the temporary suspension of gas taxes, but critics argue that the cuts would impact public services such as highway renovation. Another solution, suggested by Georgia’s State Schools Superintendent Richard Woods, starts at the federal level – giving schools explicit permission to use pandemic relief funds to address the fuel crisis. The three rounds of federal COVID-19 aid are earmarked for keeping school buildings open safely, and to help students recover from learning loss. Woods told Education Week, “It is tied to COVID in my mind. We’re trying to get kids caught back up. We don’t want to compound the situation by having another interruption of learning.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, in a statement to Education Week, said districts can spend federal relief funds on fuel for transportation, “as long as the need is related to COVID-19, including to address the impact of lost instructional time.”
According to the article, fuel prices aren’t the only problems attacking school transportation budgets. In Campbell, Tennessee, a bus contractor noted that a bus tire last year cost $300. Today it’s $450. Transmission fluid, formerly $12 a gallon, has jumped to $17.
Students and Assessments The National Assessment Governing Board is looking to transition the Nation’s Report Card to remote administration in the wake of COVID-19, reports K-12 Dive. The change could include automated scoring for students’ written responses through artificial intelligence. The idea gained traction during the pandemic when it became difficult for states to meet their 95-percent participation rate requirement. Testing experts say that the update would help districts administer the exam in the future. “The pandemic and NAEP’s inability to administer the 2021 assessment provided sobering lessons,” wrote Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics; and Lesley Muldoon, executive director of NAGB, in a blog update. “We realized that many of the ideas we had for the future of NAEP needed to be fast-tracked; we needed to be able to reach students regardless of where and how they were learning, and to give the public more real-time, actionable data.” Their update comes less than two months after the College Board announced the SAT will be taken entirely online. The NAGB does not yet have a timeline for development and implementation. The change is one of various NAEP innovations currently being studied by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Their report on the effects of, and recommendations for using, digital technology in NAEP administration will be released soon, reports K-12 Dive.
Schools and conflict Last year, in school board meetings across the country, parents engaged in physical altercations, shouted at school board members, and threatened them as well. This year, watch for the core conflicts over educating students in the U.S. to continue, warned a January article from the nonprofit independent news organization The Conversation. Here’s their list of topics that will be generating clashes. Virtual education At stake is whether parents should have control over how public funds are spent on educating their children, and the potential effects of diverting those funds away from traditional public schools. Last fall, U.S. school leaders largely shifted their services back to in-person instruction, but demand for homeschooling and virtual
April 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 25
22_EDL_2.indd 25
4/7/22 2:47 PM
