During and in the immediate years after the global COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has given school districts across the United States millions of dollars through a series of three final grants called the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Grant to help improve education, decrease student learning losses suffered during the shutdown, and make educational facilities safer for students and staff. This study examines ESSER Grant dollars and academic achievement data from 57 Chicagoland high school districts and assesses whether a correlation exists between how these funds were allocated and student achievement performance. A Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine if a relationship existed between how school districts allocated their ESSER Grant dollars and changes in academic performance from before and after the pandemic as measured by SAT Math, SAT ELA, 9th Grade On-Track, and Graduation rate. This study explores the effects of the (ESSER Grant on improving academic performance of high schools across the state of Illinois. The results of this study found that there was no significant positive correlational evidence to support that additional ESSER Grant allocations provided to the school districts in this study impacted student achievement. The average school district in this study received more than $7 million additional dollars of ESSER Grant allocations with the purpose of addressing the learning losses of its students during the pandemic. The data collected in this study showed that there was no significant positive correlation to the added ESSER Grant dollars received by each district and the academic achievement measures examined. The data collected show the average student performance as measured in the two years prior to the pandemic and in the two years after the pandemic when school districts were receiving the ESSER Grant dollars declined on the SAT -- ELA and SAT -- Math exams, Graduation Rates dropped, and there was relatively no change in 9th Grade On-Track performance. The results of this study suggest that further research is needed for state, federal, and other groups to identify the targets for funding in education that have a positive impact on student achievement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]