Recovery Act funds will help Maine’s Students, Teachers, and Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced today that approximately $45 million in emergency education funding has been officially released for schools in Maine to help save education-related jobs and maintain programs for low-income students.  This money is the first installment of emergency funding that was announced earlier this year.  Some school districts that have already applied may receive funding immediately, and those applying now will likely see their first checks around July 1st.   
 
In addition to the official release of the money, the Obama Administration released guidelines for spending the funds.  The release of the guidance will now allow state officials to calculate and release individual district funding levels in the next few days – information that is important to school districts as they plan for the coming year.
 
Pingree also welcomed the release today of applications for the state fiscal stabilization funds.  Maine is in line for $193 million to help stabilize state and local budgets and restore harmful cuts to education.   

“This is an important step in getting this stimulus money to schools, so they can put it to work preserving jobs and maintaining programs,” Pingree said.
 
“The goal of the stimulus is to create and save jobs immediately and invest in our economy long term,” Pingree said.  “This education money does both by helping schools save teaching jobs and strengthens our education system.  The most important investment we can make is an investment in our children’s education.”

This is the first of two installments of direct funding for Title I and IDEA programs that school districts will receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed by Congress and signed by the President this year; the second installment of funds will be released to districts in the fall of this year. (See table below for totals.)
 
IDEA is the major federal program that provides funding for special education and related services to students with disabilities. The Title I program provides funds to low-income school districts that are in even greater need during the economic downturn. The funds appropriated through the Recovery Plan are distributed through the previously defined IDEA and Title I formulas.
 
For more information on the education spending in the recovery package, go to http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statetables/09recoverybystate.pdf.
 
Guidelines on how the money is to be spent can be found at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/guidance/title-i.pdf