NAfME News
ESSER Funding Webinar Rercording
NAMM Foundation, the NFHS, and NAfME hosted a webinar this week about federal education relief funding and how music educators should go about requesting support for their programs. The recording is now available here.
State and Federal News
Ed Dept Details Rules for Maintaining State K-12 Funding Under COVID-19 Relief
4/21/21 – “Neither the legislation authorizing the stimulus funding — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act; and the American Rescue Plan Act — nor the Education Department’s MOE guidance specify how states should determine its support for K-12 education in relation to MOE requirements. But it does provide flexibility in quantifying the amount of that support, the guidance said.”
Mass. Board of Education Waives MCAS Graduation Requirement for Class Of 2022
4/20/21 – “For the first time since the MCAS became a graduation requirement in 2003, high school juniors will be exempt from having to pass the exam to receive their diploma. The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously approved the waiver on Tuesday. State Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said the massive academic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic made it necessary to suspend the requirement.”
All NC Schools Required to Hold In-Person Summer School Program
4/21/21 – “Although the summer school programs are required, the state won’t offer any additional funding. Schools will be expected to use federal COVID-19 stimulus funds to run the programs designed to help students struggling after a year of remote learning.”
State Grants to Help Students Explore Education Careers
4/16/21 – “Kelloggsville Public Schools, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Thornapple Kellogg Schools and Kent ISD all were awarded grants ranging from $10,000 to $70,000 as part of the Future Proud Michigan Explore Program. That program is part of a larger campaign created to both expand and diversify the steadily shrinking pool of state educators.”
State Senate Passes Bill to Add Mental Health Education to Oklahoma Schools
4/13/21 – “If the bill is passed, the State Board of Education would require, starting in the 2022-23 school year, that all schools include mental health instruction as part of any health education curriculum, emphasizing the interrelation of physical and mental well-being, according to the news release.”
Policy Roundup compiled by NAfME’s Rob Edwards.