In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• Missouri
• Lisa Lambert Snodgrass (bio)

In April 2020, Missouri Governor Mike Parson's proposed FY 2021 budget was optimistic, calling for an increase of one percent of in-state funding for both P-12 and Higher Education over the full finding of the FY 2020 budget. This optimism was not to last however. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public and higher education bore the brunt of the state's reactive FY 2020 budget cuts and FY 2021 budget allocations.

funding priorities for p-12 and/or higher education

Education and workforce development continued to be two top priorities for the Parson administration. In the proposed April 2020 version of the FY 2021 budget, P-12 education would have received a small increase in spending and higher education would remain consistent with last year's allocations. More specifically, for P-12 education, the A+ Scholarship Program, a program that helps fund public community college, trade schools and/or private trade schools attendance for graduates from A+ designated schools, would have received $4.8 million increase in allocations. In response to criticism of the FY 2020 budget and its failure to adequately address transportation costs, Parson prioritized $10 million increase specifically to raise the level of allocations for public school transportation¹. However, by the end of May 2020, in response to decreased revenue and increased spending due to COVID-19, these priorities were sidelined and the remainder of the FY 2020 and FY 2021 budgets decreased drastically.

changes to the funding formula for p-12 and/or higher education

While there were no changes to the foundation funding formula for P-12 or higher education, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Parsons made drastic cuts to the FY 2020 budget. Of the $209 million in cuts, $131 million came from P-12 education, a nearly 39 percent decrease, and $41 from higher education. For the FY 2021 budget, Parson cut an additional $123 million or 3.5 percent from benchmark aid for elementary and secondary schools, with an additional 12.7 percent cut to transportation and busing. The higher education allocations were cut by more than 12 percent.² [End Page 307]

In July, 2020 Missouri was awarded $55 million from the CARES Act to be allocated to K-12 education expenses.³ According to Margie Vandeven, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner some of the funds would be directed as follows:

• • $10 million for reimbursement for expenses related to WiFi network connectivity and expansions for public and charter school districts

• • $10 million on development of an assessment tool to determine the impact of COVID-19 school closures on student learning

• • $7.5 million for meal delivery transportation cost reimbursement

• • $7.5 million for the cost of PPE and cleaning supplies for schools and buses

An additional $20 million from the state's emergency education relief fund and the DESE relief fund was dedicated to offset costs associated with purchasing of technology for home-based schooling.⁵ Individual school districts had to apply to receive any of the emergency funds or CARES Act funds.

In July 2020, Parson's top priority for both K-12 and higher education was the safe opening of schools in the fall. In a controversial radio speech, Parson cited equity and access issues and students' mental and physical well-being as primary drivers for the call for schools to reopen.⁴ As noted above, $7.5 million of the CARES Act funds were allocated to off-set the costs of PPE and cleaning supplies for those schools that chose to open in August 2020.

pressing state issues

Equity in access to WiFi and appropriate technology, especially for rural schools districts has been a known issue for several years, but has been underscored by the pandemic.⁵ For example, one rural district that serves primarily low-income families with most qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program, discovered 30 percent of the students have no access to WiFi and 50 percent do not have access to the technology to access online learning programs. While most Missouri suburban and urban districts were able to fully implement online learning, funding challenges for transportation...

中文翻译：

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密苏里州

代替摘要，这里是内容的简要摘录：

• 密苏里州
• 丽莎·兰伯特·斯诺德格拉斯（生物）

2020年4月，密苏里州州长迈克·帕森（Mike Parson）提出的2021财年预算是乐观的，呼吁在2020财年预算的全部范围内，将P-12和高等教育的州内资金增加1％。然而，这种乐观并不持久。由于COVID-19大流行，公立和高等教育在该州2020财年预算削减和2021财年预算分配中首当其冲。

p -12和/或高等教育的资助重点

教育和劳动力发展仍然是帕森（Parson）政府的两个首要任务。在2021财年的2020年4月拟议预算中，P-12教育的支出将有小幅增长，​​而高等教育将与去年的分配保持一致。更具体地说，对于P-12教育而言，A +奖学金计划可增加480万美元的拨款，该计划为公立社区大学，贸易学校和/或私立贸易学校上学的A +指定学校的毕业生提供资助。为了回应对2020财年预算及其未能充分解决交通成本问题的批评，帕森将1000万美元的增长作为优先事项，专门用于提高公立学校交通的拨款水平¹。但是，到2020年5月底，由于COVID-19造成的收入减少和支出增加，这些优先事项被搁置了，而2020财年和2021财年的其余预算却急剧减少。

更改p -12和/或高等教育的供资公式

尽管由于COVID-19大流行，P-12或高等教育的基础拨款公式没有变化，但州长帕森斯大幅削减了2020财年的预算。在削减的2.09亿美元中，有1.31亿美元来自P-12教育，减少了近39％，而41美元来自高等教育。对于2021财年的预算，帕森削减了1.23亿美元，即中小学基准援助额的3.5％，运输和公车削减了12.7％。高等教育拨款减少了12％以上。² [末页307]

2020年7月，密苏里州根据《 CARES法》获得5500万美元的奖励，以分配给K-12教育费用。³据密苏里州基础和中等教育部（DESE）专员Margie Vandeven称，部分资金将用于以下用途：

• •1000万美元用于偿还与WiFi网络连接以及扩展公立和特许学校地区相关的费用

• •1000万美元用于开发评估工具，以确定COVID-19学校停课对学生学习的影响

• •750万美元用于伙食送餐运输费用偿还

• •750万美元用于学校和公共汽车的PPE和清洁用品费用

该州紧急教育救济基金和DESE救济基金额外提供了2000万美元，专门用于抵消与购买家庭学校技术相关的费用。⁵各个学区必须申请接收任何紧急资金或CARES Act资金。

2020年7月，帕森（Parson）对于K-12和高等教育的重中之重是在秋天安全开放学校。在有争议的广播演讲中，帕森（Parson）列举了公平和准入问题以及学生的身心健康是呼吁学校重新开放的主要推动力。⁴如上所述，在CARES法案中有750万美元分配给了那些选择在2020年8月开业的学校以抵消PPE和清洁用品的成本。

紧迫的国家问题

多年来，众所周知，尤其是对于农村学区而言，WiFi和适当技术的公平使用已成为人们普遍关注的问题，但这种流行病却突显了这一问题。⁵例如，一个农村地区主要为低收入家庭提供服务，他们最有资格享受免费和减价的午餐计划，发现30％的学生无法使用WiFi，而50％的学生无法使用该技术来访问在线学习程式。虽然大多数密苏里州郊区和市区能够完全实施在线学习，但交通运输面临的资金挑战...