Pandemic windfall for US schools has few strings attached

By COLLIN BINKLEY, GEOFF MULVIHILL, CAMILLE FASSETT and LARRY FENN
Associated Press

The Biden administration says the historic amount of federal pandemic aid flowing to the nation’s K-12 schools presents a moment for reimagining all aspects of American education. But there are no guarantees that’s going to happen, in large part because the government has imposed few requirements about how the money is spent. Many schools plan to use it for more practical needs such as building repairs. Officials also say they fear locking their districts into long-term programs they won’t be able to afford once the money runs out. The $190 billion is bigger than anything U.S. schools have seen before.