Funding to safely open our schools so that a generation of our students are not left behind.
Fund schools so they can reopen safely.
Occurrences
Evidence
Carter's FY27 appropriations page says he can submit funding priority recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee, including requests for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education subcommittee, and explicitly warns that 'Submitting a request for funding does not guarantee that funding will be appropriated.'
The page lists a $5,000,000 request for Engaged Learning Strategies' 'School-within-a-School' project, described as support for re-engaging at-risk and disengaged middle school students through a STEM-based curriculum.
The enacted American Rescue Plan appropriated $122,774,800,000 for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, required state subgrants to local educational agencies, allowed school facility repairs, HVAC/air-quality projects, sanitation, health protocols, and required local plans for safe return to in-person instruction.
House Roll Call 72 shows H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act, passed on March 10, 2021 by 220-211. The roll call occurred before Troy Carter was sworn into the House, and the vote list does not include Carter.
House Roll Call 65 shows H.R. 2471 passed 361-69 on March 9, 2022. The vote list records Carter (LA), Democratic, Louisiana, voting Yea.
Carter’s office states he can submit federal program and funding priority recommendations and that submitting a request for funding does not guarantee that funding will be appropriated.
FY2026 Projects Requested includes $5,000,000 for BioDistrict New Orleans to renovate space for the new Xavier School of Medicine, including classrooms, an auditorium/conference facility, and teaching equipment.
FY2026 Projects Requested includes $5,000,000 for Engaged Learning Strategies for a School-within-a-School project to re-engage at-risk and disengaged middle school students through STEM-based curriculum.
Assessments
The main federal school-reopening funding was the American Rescue Plan ESSER funding enacted on March 11, 2021, before Troy Carter entered Congress, so it cannot be credited as his delivery of the promise. In office, Carter voted for a later appropriations package with education funding and pursued school-related appropriations requests, which shows effort and some school funding activity, but the evidence does not show that he personally delivered enacted funding specifically to reopen schools safely.
Carter took concrete same-term steps toward the promise by submitting education-related appropriations requests, including a $5 million school project request. But the available evidence only shows requests, and his own office notes that submitting a request does not guarantee appropriation. There is no evidence here that he secured enacted federal funding that funded schools so they could reopen safely, so this falls short of full delivery but exceeds no action.