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Below, please find a statement from America Forward in response to Congress’ approval of the latest round of COVID-19 relief:

“The latest round of COVID-19 relief authorized by Congress represents a critical and long-overdue investment in students, workers, and community-based organizations across the country.

By allocating billions in additional resources for early education, K-12, and higher education – along with related priorities like broadband connectivity – this relief package will help states, school districts, and educators address some of the massive disruption that has defined this school year. At the same time, Congress has made additional investments in the Paycheck Protection Program, unemployment insurance, and other critical programs to support workers, nonprofits, and businesses.

As COVID-19 continues to surge in communities across the country – even as the first vaccinations are administered – this relief is absolutely essential; however,  it still does not go far enough to address the full impact of this crisis. This pandemic has laid bare – and worsened – deeply rooted inequities in communities across our country. It has created challenges unprecedented in their scope, complexity, and urgency. It remains incumbent upon lawmakers to devote additional, substantial resources to supporting school communities, workers, small businesses and organizations, and families.

To help address these challenges, America Forward has developed a policy proposal on “How to Recover and Improve: Building an Equitable and Sustainable Education System for Every Learner” to guide meaningful investment aimed at closing gaps that have been deepened by this crisis, helping communities recover and building education and workforce systems that are more resilient in the face of future crises.In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue to work with the members of the America Forward Coalition, our partners, and champions in Congress and the Administration to champion this proposal and secure the bold investments and policy changes that are required to meet the scope of the challenges facing our communities.

The time to act is now to help move all of America forward.”