Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) drew attention to challenges faced by educators, students, families, and school districts as the return to learning begins. Dingell highlighted both providing schools the resources they need to bring students back into the classroom safely and averting deep cuts to public education through state and local funding relief.
Wednesday, Dingell visited Dearborn School District’s OL Smith Middle School and Van Buren School District’s McBride Middle School. She saw preparations and distributions of nutritious meals and school supplies including Chromebooks for students to stay connected virtually. Dingell heard from teachers and school officials that are concerned about student’s not having access to the internet, ensuring proper nutrition, and students keeping up with their school work at home.
“Each year, a new school year brings nerves, excitement, and challenges. COVID heightens those emotions for educators, students, and families,” said Dingell. “Across Southeast Michigan, school districts are going above and beyond to ensure their students have the keys to success this school year. The need is significant, Dearborn Schools provides 70,000 meals a week to young people. This is important. It was great to see the community come together to distribute food, technology, and even school shirts to keep up spirit. But what our school districts need most is funding relief to avert deep cuts to public education and teacher layoffs.”
More than 100 days ago, the House-passed the Heroes Act – with support from Dingell – which includes $58 billion for K-12 schools nationwide to help schools cover unexpected costs that are necessary to reopen safely, including personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and sanitizing classrooms, and making special accommodations for high-risk students and educators. The Heroes Act also provides nearly $1 trillion in state and local funding to fill unprecedented budget shortfalls that will likely lead to devastating cuts to public education.
