Schools are cutting advisers and tutors as COVID aid money dries up. Students are still struggling
An unprecedented infusion of aid money the U.S. government provided to schools during the pandemic has begun to dwindle
DETROIT (AP) — Davion Williams wants to go to college. A counselor at his Detroit charter school last year helped him visualize that goal, but he knows he’ll need more help to navigate the application process.
So he was discouraged to learn the high school where he just began his sophomore year had laid off its college transition adviser – a staff member who provided extra help coordinating financial aid applications, transcript requests, campus visits and more.
The advisers had been hired at 19 schools with federal pandemic relief money. In June, when Detroit’s budget was finalized, their jobs were among nearly 300 that were eliminated.
“Not being able to do it at this school is kind of disappointing,” Williams said in August at a back-to-school event at Mumford High School.
