Updated: 11/28/2023
States and school districts reported spending $4.1 billion in federal Covid-recovery funding in the month of September, bringing total expenditures to more than $121.9 billion—or 64.3 percent of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, according to the latest federal data.
Districts have about $67.6 billion to obligate before the September 2024 deadline for allocating the entire $189 billion allotted in three rounds of Congressional appropriations.
FutureEd’s state-by-state breakdown of the data shows that spending is uneven. Five states—Iowa, Arkansas, Washington, Alaska, and Oklahoma—have spent more than 75 percent of their ESSER allotments, and another seven have spent more than 70 percent. Eighteen states have spent less than three fifths of their allotments, and three states still remain below 50 percent.
Ten states recorded at least $100 million in spending in September, including California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Overall, more than 99 percent of the ESSER I funding provided in the CARES Act has been spent and more than 89 percent of ESSER II, which was required to be obligated by September 2023. States and districts have spent 49.5 percent of their third round of ESSER funding, which must be obligated by September 2024. States have until January 2025 to liquidate their funds, and those with approved extensions have until March 2026.
The data do not capture money committed, but not yet expended, for contracts or projects such as capital improvements or long-term tutoring arrangements. We will update the chart when new information is available.
This chart reflects spending reported to the U.S. Department of Education through September 30, 2023. Earlier analyses showed spending of:
- $117.8 billion or 62.2 percent as of August 31, 2023
- $113 billion or 59.6 percent as of July 31, 2023
- $109.4 billion or 57.7 percent as of June 30, 2023
- $103.3 billion or 54.5 percent as of May 31, 2023
- $99.1 billion or 52.3 percent as of April 30, 2023
- $95.7 billion or 50.5 percent as of March 31, 2023
- $91 billion or 48 percent as of February 28, 2023
- $86 billion or 45 percent as of January 31, 2023
- $81 billion or 42 percent as of December 31, 2023
- $67.5 billion or 36 percent as of September 30, 2022
