New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the launch of “Summer Boost NYC” — a summer program that charter schools can now apply for that aims to support thousands of students with learning gaps due to remote learning brought on by the ongoing pandemic. The program, financed by a $50 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, aims to support summer learning at public charter schools in New York City for about 25,000 K-8 students who have fallen behind and face significant learning gaps after in-person learning was disrupted for roughly two years due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

School closures and inadequate remote instruction over the last two years have created a crisis in public education. The data are clear. Across the United States, students have fallen behind by an average of four months in math and five months in English. The results have been even worse for those children most in need, especially in schools serving mainly low-income populations, where students have fallen behind by an average of seven months.