With the announcement from the US Department of Education (contained below), The Liberty Belles are covering the Administration’s Plan to Continue the agenda. Lynne and Suzanne go over the presidential fiscal year 2023 budget, which contains elements related to education in every department mentioned, amounting to $2.6 trillion dollars. If this isn’t insult enough, one can expect property taxes to rise because of an increase in “school tax” that will more than likely come about due to “guidelines” for indoor air quality, “clean” school bus programs, and the climate change/green deal agenda.
Announcement from US Department of Education:
“Last week, at Neval Thomas Elementary School in Washington, D.C., Vice President Harris released the Administration’s Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure to upgrade public schools with clean, modern, energy-efficient facilities and transportation — thereby delivering health and learning benefits to children and school communities, saving school districts money, and creating good union jobs. The plan activates the whole federal government in leveraging investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) to advance solutions, including resilient design, energy efficiency retrofits, and electric school buses (White House Twitter thread and Secretary Cardona’s tweets 1 and 2).
Among the highlights:
• The Department of Energy (DOE) launched a new $500 million grant program under the BIL to make public schools more energy efficient.
• To improve indoor air quality in schools, the Administration is supporting states, districts, and communities in leveraging ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to repair, replace, or upgrade ventilation systems; purchase air filters and portable air cleaning devices; and fix doors and windows so schools can stay open for in-person learning (see Department resource).
• The White House released a toolkit to help schools and districts access available funding, as well as planning tools and technical assistance, for addressing school infrastructure needs. (This toolkit will also support school participation in the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge, while the DOE separately announced the inaugural honorees of the Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign.)
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with support from the DOE, released online resources to help districts and other eligible recipients prepare for the $5 billion Clean School Bus Program under the BIL — with the first opportunity to fund electric school buses opening later this spring.
• The Department of Agriculture (USDA) committed to using its array of rural development grant and loan programs to support electric school bus acquisition, charging station infrastructure, energy- efficient investments at schools, and broadband and distance learning in rural districts.
Meanwhile, as part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget request, the Department of Education proposed a new Office of Infrastructure and Sustainability to support schools in creating safe, healthy, and sustainable 21st century learning environments.”
