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

schooling has risen. Parents discovered that these forms of education offer greater flexibility in scheduling, control over curriculum, and safety from the coronavirus.

Affirmative action

A case that began in 2014 will reach the U.S. Supreme Court this year. “Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard University” alleges that Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies discriminate against Asian applicants.

Teachers unions

In 2021, teachers unions effectively negotiated the implementation of health safeguards against the spread of COVID 19 in Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. They will continue to assert themselves in the face of ongoing efforts by parent and advocacy groups to limit their power. Given the shortage of qualified teachers in 2022, unions’ negotiation power may intensify.

Gifted programs

In 2022, such programs may generate a national debate. So far it has been prominent in New York City only. However, as other states and districts consider overhauling their own gifted programs, these short-term conflicts may fuel the existing national fight concerning the role the education system should play in addressing inequality in the U.S.

A source of conflict the researchers missed? Banned books.

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As a follow-up to its National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan released in early March, the Biden-Harris Administration recently launched the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge. It calls on building owners and operators, plus schools, colleges and universities, to adopt key strategies to improve indoor air quality in their buildings and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

To support the challenge, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a best practices guide for improving indoor air quality and reducing the risk of spreading dangerous airborne particles. The guide – developed in collaboration with the Department of Energy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal agencies – contains a set of clear recommendations.

1. Creating a clean indoor-air action plan that assesses indoor air quality, plans for upgrades and improvements, and includes

HVAC inspections and maintenance.

2. Optimizing fresh air ventilation by bringing in and circulating clean outdoor air indoors.

3. Enhancing air filtration and cleaning using the central HVAC system and in-room air cleaning devices.

4. Engaging the building community by communicating with building occupants to increase awareness, commitment, and participation.

Under each of these recommendation areas, EPA’s best practices guide lays out clear-cut actions building owners and operators can implement. It’s designed to serve as a menu of improvements to choose from. The guide includes quick steps that all organizations can take right away as a starting place, as well as resources to help plan for longer-term investments and improvements.

The American Rescue Plan provided $350 billion for state and local governments – and $122 billion for schools – that can

be used for upgrades to ventilation and filtration systems. Funding within the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund program and the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief program can be spent on inspection, testing, and maintenance of current ventilation systems; purchasing portable air filtration units with HEPA air filters; purchasing MERV-13 (or higher) filters for HVAC system and air conditioners; purchasing fans; repairing windows and/or doors; and servicing, upgrading, or replacing HVAC systems consistent with industry standards.

The administration will continue to advance indoor air quality in buildings in additional ways.

• Working closely with schools to provide guidance and technical assistance to make these improvements and connect them to agency resources on indoor air quality.

• Building public awareness around ventilation and filtration improvements to reduce disease spread in buildings. Efforts will be launched to explain what good ventilation and air filtration looks like as an important component of helping to reduce disease spread, and how buildings of any kind can pursue improvements to their ventilation and air filtration strategies. • Highlighting actions taken by buildings to achieve clean, healthy air quality. It will foster ways to recognize steps taken by buildings to improve indoor air quality and protect their communities. Similar to how programs like LEED, Fitwel, and

WELL recognize buildings for their environmental and health impacts, this new effort between the federal government and external experts will develop ways to recognize steps taken by building owners for the health and safety of their communities, and their achievements in improving air filtration and ventilation systems to protect and promote public health.

• Catalyzing science and technology innovation to reduce indoor disease transmission. The Office of Science and Technology

Policy (OSTP), in coordination with other partners through the

Pandemic Innovation Task Force, is identifying opportunities to drive innovation and implementation of technologies to support clean indoor air in buildings and reduce disease transmission.

OSTP will also host a series of public engagements to provide the latest science, tools, and best practices on improving indoor air quality.