$106 Billion Investments in Education and Training include (note these investments will not necessarily be made through the Department of Education): Click here to see table ARRA spending for Dept. of Ed.
· $53.6 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (click here to view the state-level CRS data-includes State Stabilization Funds, Title 1, Title 1 School Improvement, IDEA, McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance and Education Technology)
o $39.5 billion to local school districts, colleges and universities using existing funding formulas, which can be used for preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school modernization, or other purposes;
o $5 billion to states as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures in education;
§ includes $650 million for innovation grants that will go to local school districts or nonprofit groups for the federal Enhancing Education through Technology (EETT) program. See link for Washington state detail. The EETT funding in the stimulus bill "will provide critical support to states, districts, and schools to respond to warnings from the business community that students are not being prepared for the intellectual demands of the modern workplace," said Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association.
o $8.8 billion to states for high priority needs such as public safety and other critical services, which may include education and for modernization, renovation and repairs of public school facilities and institutions of higher education facilities.
· $13 billion for Title 1 to help close the achievement gap and enable disadvantaged students to reach their potential. Click here to view estimated additional allocations to Local Educational Agencies for Washington State.
· $12.2 billion for Special Education/IDEA to improve educational outcomes for disabled children. This level of funding will increase the Federal share of special education services to its highest level ever. See link for Washington state detail.
· $15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500. This aid will help 7 million students pursue postsecondary education.
· $3.95 billion for job training including State formula grants for adult, dislocated worker, and youth programs (including $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth).
The stimulus package will help essential funding find its way to schools in the midst of budget deficits and "will help cash-strapped school districts avoid program cuts, prevent teacher layoffs, invest in school modernization and increase funding for Title I, special education, and other important programs," said a statement from the American Association of School Administrators.
"Passing the recovery bill is merely the first step. The next step is to ensure the funds are invested wisely," Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers said. States will use that $39.5 billion to fill cuts that have been made in K-12 and higher ed. After filling those cuts, remaining funds will be distributed based on current Title I funding formulas.
Title I will receive $13 billion, and $12.2 billion is allocated for special education, pushing the federal share of special education services to its highest level ever.
The stimulus package includes $7 billion to expand broadband access to rural areas and designates $2.1 billion to the States for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which will be used to supplement, not supplant State general revenue funds for low-income families allowing 124,000 additional children to participate in the Head Start & Early Head Start program, of that:
· $1,000,000,000 to carry out Head Start activities
· $1,100,000,000 of that will be used for expansion of Early Head Start programs. Up to 10% of these funds may be used to provide training.
