New York state has received nearly $9 billion from American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP) to help reopen schools after the lockdown from the pandemic. The NYC Department of Education plans to use $80 million of the relief fund in FY 2022 to support the “Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)” needs of all students, a controversial psychiatric program that several Asian American parent organizations in New York are boycotting.
ARP stipulates that 90 percent of the $9 billion must be allocated to local school districts. It also emphasizes the need to ensure evidence-based interventions that respond to the academic, social, and emotional (CASEL) needs of students and address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on certain student subgroups.
