A Critical Policy Analysis: Making the Case for Equitable Collaborations in Resource Allocation Processes Post-Pandemic

The purpose of this paper is to examine the intersection of social class inequality and education policy through the lens of an analysis of the experiences and effects of state, local, and federal policy meant to engage communities around the use of federal funds to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. The author intends to examine the discord between policy financed by the U.S. Federal government and practice. In doing so, a critical lens will be cast toward the application of policies that promote stakeholder engagement in the decision making process for determining how to use federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which were funds obligated to schools and communities in order to mitigate the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper will review policy aimed at assessing whether state and local guidance promoted the implementation of the federal guidance. Given the role of federal education awards are to assist in supplementally financing education at the local level, our review will include reviewing state and local education agencies (also referred to as districts) applications, state and local education guidance; public school board meeting material, memorandums, and other publicly available resources designed to provide guidance to schools and districts on funding schools with the emergence federal ESSER funds. These documents have been chosen as representative of current policy. They are sociocultural artifacts that mediate policy and practice for schools across the country and touch on socio-dynamic issues of society and therefore they need to be viewed critically.