The federal government has doled out a record $190 billion in aid to schools across the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but two new studies find that despite the huge funding, student performance on key tests remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The Biden administration will invest $122 billion in America's public schools in 2021 alone. Only 20% According to one study, 50% of the funding would go to academic restoration. Harvard, Dartmouth, Stanford, University of Washington Sample analysis found that test scores improved only slightly compared to the total amount spent. (Related article: Obama-appointed judge rejects part of Biden's student loan repayment plan)

Students across the country are falling far behind academically, with math achievement for 13-year-olds falling by nine points between 2020 and 2023, and reading achievement falling by four points. Math achievement has fallen to its lowest level since 1990, and the largest decline in math achievement in the past 50 years.

Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth carried out The study's sample analysis looked at 5,812 school districts and more than 26 million students from 2019 to 2022. The study noted that while federal aid has improved test scores for students in certain districts, the funding hasn't had “as much of an impact as it should have.”

Douglas N. Harris, an economist at Tulane University who was not involved in the study, said: Said The NYT noted that “based on test scores alone, it fails the cost-effectiveness test.”

The total of $122 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds was distributed to 13,000 school districts across the country with few spending requirements. according to Research by the Edunomics Lab found that the spending plans were drawn up before leaders understood the impact of declining secondary school math achievement and lost learning opportunities for students who need help.

The ESSER aid provided in 2021 was in addition to the first round of $60 billion in pandemic relief funding provided over the past few years.

A second study conducted by the University of Washington, It also concluded that despite the allocation of $122 billion in ESSER funding, student test performance has not caught up to pre-pandemic levels.

“I think if there had been more pressure around academic performance, and if the money had been used for that purpose and there had been more guidelines, the funding could have made a bigger difference,” Dan Goldhaber, co-author of the study and vice president of the American Studies Institute at the University of Washington, told The New York Times.

Both studies are similar in that each $1,000 spent results in a small but not substantial improvement in academic achievement. To fully restore previous levels, more funding from the federal government would be needed, with the first study estimating it at $904 billion, nearly five times the $190 billion spent so far.

For 2023, the Biden administration provided colleges and universities with pandemic response funding, giving them about $76 million, even though the colleges have endowments.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation's request for comment.