Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) made the following statement today regarding the 2021 ILEARN results:
STATEHOUSE (July 14, 2021) — "Unfortunately, the ILEARN results we saw today are not overly surprising given the extremely challenging events and extenuating circumstances our students, teachers, schools and families have faced over the last year. Recognizing that would be the case, the legislature passed a law holding schools harmless for this year's results and allocated $150 million in grants for learning loss remediation caused by the pandemic. In total, we increased our state funding for K-12 by a record $1.9 billion, and we expect that money, coupled with the more than $3 billion in federal stimulus funding going to schools, will be used effectively to help our students recover.
"At no fault of anyone, our students now face a long road ahead to catch up in their studies. It will take a great effort on the part of our whole community – not just our educators, who no doubt play the most critical role of all – to help our students make up this ground. We must help them recover the learning loss they experienced, especially in reading and math, because their future, as well as our state's, depends on it."
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For a high-resolution photo of Sen. Bray, click here.
