American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Education: Components of ARRA Funding and Distribution
Components of Education Funding
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF
)
The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program is a new
one-time appropriation of $53.6 billion under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), of which the U.S.
Department of Education (ED) will award governors approximately
$48.6 billion by formula. The federal awards are in exchange for
a commitment from governors to advance essential education
reforms to benefit students from early learning through
post-secondary education, including: college- and career- ready
standards; valid and reliable assessments for all students;
development and use of pre-K through post-secondary and career
data systems; increasing teacher effectiveness and ensuring an
equitable distribution of qualified teachers; and turning around
the lowest-performing schools. ED will award the remaining $5
billion competitively under the "Race to the Top" and
"Investing in What Works and Innovation" programs.
The SFSF will help:
- Stabilize state and local government budgets in order to
minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential
public services.
- Ensure that local educational agencies (LEAs) and publicly
funded institutions of higher education (IHEs) have the
resources to avert cuts and retain teachers and
professors.
- Support the modernization, renovation, and repair of school
and college facilities.
- Support education (including school modernization,
renovation, and repair), public safety, and other government
services.
Additional information on
the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
is available on ED's Web site.
Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act
ARRA provides $10 billion in additional FY2009 Title I, Part A
funds to local education agencies (LEAs) for schools that have
high concentrations of students from families that live in
poverty in order to help improve teaching and learning for
students most at risk of failing to meet state academic
achievement standards. These funds create an unprecedented
opportunity for educators to implement innovative strategies in
Title I schools that improve education for at-risk students and
close the achievement gaps while also stimulating the economy.
The additional resources will enable LEAs to serve more students
beyond the approximately 18 million currently served and boost
the quality of teaching and learning.
Preliminary estimates of Title I, Part A recovery allocations
to each state and LEA are posted on ED's Web site.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), Parts B and C
ARRA appropriates significant new funding for programs under
Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). Part B of IDEA provides funds to state educational
agencies (SEAs) and LEAs to help them ensure that children with
disabilities, including children aged three through five, have
access to a free appropriate public education to meet each
child's unique needs and prepare him or her for further
education, employment, and independent living. Part C provides
early intervention services to infants and toddlers age 0-2
years. Under ARRA, IDEA recovery funds are provided under three
authorities: $11.3 billion is available under Part B Grants to
States; $400 million is available under Part B Preschool Grants;
and $500 million is available under Part C Grants for Infants and
Families. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has released
guidance and fact sheets on ARRA funding for education on its Web
site, including the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Title 1 of ESEA,
and IDEA Parts B and C.
Preliminary budget information, including each state's allocations is also available on
ED's Web site.
Some funds will be distributed in stages to states on a
formula basis and then distributed from states to local education
agencies or institutions of higher education (IHEs) for use over
the next two school years (2009-10 and 2010-11). Some funds will
be distributed all at once while other funds will be distributed
through a competitive grant process.
The funds under the SFSF, Title I, Part A, and IDEA, Part B
will be available in two stages. Funds from these very large
programs will be delivered by formula from ED to the states. ED
released 50 percent of Title I, Part A and 50 percent of IDEA,
Part B funds on April 1, 2009, without requiring new state
applications. Streamlined, userâ€friendly applications for the
initial 67 percent of the SFSF were to be available to governors
by the end of March, and ED will make funds available within two
weeks after receipt of an approved application. For these three
categories of funds, ED expects to make available the remainder
of the funds during the period from July 1, 2009 to September 30,
2009, conditioned on states providing additional information. The
guidelines for securing these funds
are available on ED's Web site. The ARRA Pell grant ($17.1
billion) and work-study funding ($200 million) will be used for
school year 2009-2010.
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