Schools Spent Millions In COVID Bucks On Educational Software. It Was Barely Used

School districts across the country spent millions in federal relief funds on educational software intended to mitigate pandemic learning loss, but in many cases, much of the technology wasn’t used, according to The Associated Press.

Schools received billions in COVID-19 relief funds from Congress, and tech companies engaged in aggressive marketing to get districts to purchase their products. School districts used these federal funds to enter multi-million dollar contracts for software licenses that often went unused by students, the AP reported. Moreover, some products were found to not be particularly effective.

Clark County Public Schools in Nevada paid $2 million for a math app called “Freckle,” which less than half of elementary school students used, according to AP. When students did use the app, the average session was less than five minutes long.

The Jefferson County School District signed contracts worth over $7 million for educational technology contracts during the pandemic, the AP reported. When asked by the AP if they had any records evaluating how often the technology was used, and if it was effective in educating students, the district said no such records existed.