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EO 14000Executive OrderBiden · D

Executive Order 14000

Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers

This executive order directs federal agencies to support safe reopening and continued operation of K-12 schools, early childhood education providers, and higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It mandates evidence-based guidance, data collection on disparate impacts, equitable distribution of COVID-19 supplies, and development of strategies to address learning loss and educational inequities exacerbated by the pandemic.

Federal Register Open PDF 86 FR 7215

Impact dates

  1. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights report on disparate impacts of COVID-19 on students

  2. Report from Secretaries of Education and HHS on strategies to address COVID-19 educational outcomes

Key directives

  • Secretary of Education to provide evidence-based guidance for K-12 reopening in consultation with HHS
  • Secretary of Education to provide evidence-based guidance for higher education reopening
  • Secretary of Education to develop Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse
  • Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to deliver report on disparate impacts of COVID-19 on students as soon as practicable
  • Secretary of Education to coordinate data collection on pandemic impacts, disaggregated by demographics
  • Secretary of HHS to facilitate data collection for safe reopening of schools and child care providers
  • Secretary of HHS to ensure equitable allocation of COVID-19 testing materials and supplies to schools and child care providers
  • Secretary of HHS to support contact tracing programs at state/local/Tribal/territorial levels
  • Secretary of HHS to provide guidance for child care providers and Head Start programs on safe reopening
  • Secretary of HHS to accelerate distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funds to child care providers
  • Secretaries of Education and HHS to submit report on strategies to address COVID-19 educational outcomes
  • FCC encouraged to increase connectivity options for students lacking broadband

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Secretary of Education to provide evidence-based guidance on school reopening
  • Secretary of HHS to ensure equitable allocation of COVID-19 supplies to schools and child care providers
  • Secretary of HHS to facilitate data collection for safe reopening

Near term (90d)

  • Development of Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse
  • Report on disparate impacts of COVID-19 on students from Education's Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
  • Collection and disaggregation of data on pandemic impacts on students and educators
  • Report from Secretaries of Education and HHS on strategies to address COVID-19 educational outcomes

Long term

  • Sustained support for safe in-person learning conditions
  • Mitigation of learning loss and educational disparities
  • Long-term data infrastructure for understanding pandemic effects on education
  • Child care sector stabilization beyond pandemic

Risks & tensions

  • No hard deadlines specified; 'as soon as practicable' and implicit timing create implementation uncertainty
  • Subject to availability of appropriations may limit enforcement if Congress does not fund
  • Encouragement to FCC is non-binding; lacks regulatory force for broadband equity
  • Tension between rapid reopening and health/safety paramount principle
  • Data disaggregation requirements may face privacy implementation challenges
  • Consultation mandates are extensive but do not guarantee specific stakeholder outcomes
Executive Order 14000: Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers · Executive Orders