The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on people across the country, including children of all ages. As the new school year gets underway, it is important that state and local policymakers provide a range of supports for students that prioritize learning above politics. To ensure students continue learning and succeeding no matter where or how schooling happens this academic year, state and local policymakers should use funds from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act to meet the economic, health, academic, and social-emotional needs of children, families, and educators. But this is just the start of what is necessary for communities to recover. Federal policymakers must also take action by continuing to make investments and pass policies that will help the United States emerge from the pandemic with stronger long-term policies in place. This report lays out a series of specific policy recommendations that would improve opportunities for education systems to disrupt inequities exacerbated by COVID-19. The Center for American Progress recommends that federal, state, and local governments use ARP funds and funding from the budget reconciliation package to: (1) Build a stronger child care system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality; (2) Reimagine K-12 education to better support students and families; (3) Reinvest in a higher education system that works for everyone; (4) Meet families' basic housing, nutrition and health care needs while creating long-term family economic security; and (5) Strengthen, expand, and promote access to affordable quality physical and behavioral health care.