By Dr. Todd Wirt
The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) presents a rare opportunity to accelerate meaningful innovation across K–12 education. From conversations with superintendents and district leaders nationwide, several practical considerations consistently rise to the top when deciding how best to allocate remaining federal stimulus dollars.
Key considerations include:
- Although stimulus funds must be spent within specific timelines, they allow great flexibility in how they are used—enabling creative, combined funding approaches that can extend impact beyond the period of availability;
- Reverting to the pandemic-era model of schooling is not an acceptable option: that approach failed many students and will not deliver the outcomes districts need now;
- New models should be goal-driven while integrating technology thoughtfully to meet changing student needs;
- Instructional strategies should be evidence-based and scalable so they can benefit all students, not only pockets of learners;
- Students need learning that is engaging, relevant, and skills-oriented—preparing them for college, careers, and civic life.
Public conversation about stimulus funding and recovery often splits between two extremes: either a pessimistic view that districts face an unavoidable “fiscal cliff,” or an optimistic view that this is a once-in-a-generation chance to reinvent schooling. The reality depends on the choices local leaders make. If districts simply aim to restore the pre-pandemic status quo, they inherit long-standing inequities, outdated practices, and limited outcomes. Alternatively, leaders who adopt a growth-oriented perspective can use ESSER dollars to redesign systems for greater equity and higher student achievement.
The pandemic exposed and amplified persistent problems—achievement gaps, unequal access to resources, and outdated instructional models. ESSER funds can support any activity that demonstrably improves student outcomes, so they can be strategically invested to change systems rather than merely patch them.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has urged leaders to adopt transformational thinking: “School and district leaders understand that this next chapter of education can’t look like what it looked like in March 2020…And I’m really confident in these leaders, who’ve gone through the fire, that they’re the ones that are gonna lead us out of this and bring education to a place it’s never been.”
One practical obstacle to bold planning is the finite timeline for ESSER funds. The three tranches—ESSER I, II, and III—carry different deadlines. ESSER I deadlines have passed; ESSER II has obligation and liquidation dates approaching; ESSER III (from the American Rescue Plan) represents the largest allocation and also has set obligation and liquidation deadlines. As of the end of 2022, only a portion of the total ESSER funding had been spent, leaving substantial resources that districts must deploy thoughtfully before the deadlines.
With deliberate planning, courage, and technical knowledge, ESSER dollars can be a down payment on sustainable change. Courage is needed to question practices that haven’t produced results. Knowledge is required to blend and braid federal, state, and local resources so programs can continue after stimulus funds end. Strategy is required to build flexible plans that scale—investing in proven technological tools and instructional approaches that work across multiple modalities and support differentiated learning.
Districts can also use stimulus funds in forward-funded ways—prepaying multi-year contracts or investing in capacity that extends functional impact beyond the funding timelines. Doing so takes careful legal and financial planning, but it can multiply the long-term return on these one-time resources.
The first step to effective action is learning from the pandemic and the past several decades of education practice. Avoid both a narrow, short-term response and an ungrounded optimism. Effective plans combine immediate tactics with a strategic framework that is clear about goals yet adaptable in execution.
Relevance is another priority. Many students who returned after the pandemic question the purpose of school. To re-engage learners, districts should adopt curricula and services that connect to students’ lives, aspirations, and the broader world—opportunities that show clear links between classroom learning and future pathways. That means integrating content knowledge with transferable skills: critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, and real-world application. Summative proficiency remains important, but students also need experiences that expose them to career exploration and authentic work-based learning.
The pandemic highlighted systemic weaknesses and created urgency to address them. ESSER funding can serve as the core of a strategic, innovative approach—one that centers equity, scales what works, and positions all students for greater success.
About the author
Todd Wirt, Ed.D., is Vice President of Partner Success at Discovery Education, where he supports partners in building modern, engaging digital learning ecosystems. A former North Carolina public school superintendent, Dr. Wirt contributed to Discovery Education’s practical guidance for using ESSER funds, available through Discovery Education’s resources.
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