(Seattle, WA) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement on the Department of Education (ED) approving the Washington state plan for the use of K-12 funds provided through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The plan approval will release an additional $619 million to Washington state, which will have received over $1.8 billion from the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER), including the initial $1.235 billion that was released to Washington state in March 2021.
“Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve been laser-focused on getting Washington state students—and students across the country—back in the classroom safely as quickly as possible, with their friends, coaches, counselors and teachers, because I know how important that is for their learning. That’s why we worked so hard to pass the American Rescue Plan—to provide schools the resources they need to re-open safely, address learning loss, provide mental health resources, and provide masks, tests, and improved ventilation.
“I’ve talked to parents, educators, and students across the state and I know what a difference being in the classroom makes. Having the Washington state plan approved is an important step to ensure our state can use these resources, but the disruptions in learning we’re still seeing are absolutely unacceptable. Getting our students back in the classroom safely is just step one—now we need to focus on keeping them there. So I’m going to be monitoring closely to make sure these resources are used carefully to help students recover from these incredibly tough years, and keep them safe and in the classroom.”
Senator Murray has worked, since the start of the pandemic, to get students back in the classroom safely as soon as possible for in-person learning. She first introduced her Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act (CCCERA) in June 2020, and advocated fiercely to get critical funding across the finish line. In July 2020, when the New York Times asked, whether “Congress is going to give the schools what they need to reopen safely,” she responded: “I’m telling everyone: I’m fighting like hell; you need to, too. It is too easy for this Republican majority to put a Band-Aid on it and assume it’s going to go away.”
Senator Murray and Democrats followed through on their promise when they passed the American Rescue Plan last March, without a single Republican vote. The ARP included $125 billion in funding for K-12 schools. These resources will help schools provide masks, tests, and improved ventilation, expand students’ access to technology and the internet, address learning loss, and provide mental health resources.
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