Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel announces that the Department of Education has released more than $2 billion for New York under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. New York will be eligible to apply for another $995 million this Fall. Today’s funding is being made available per New York’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1.

Congressman Eliot Engel said, “Two billion dollars is an enormous boost to education in New York State. This money is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I voted for the measure because it would direct money to education, where it would promote reform while saving thousands of teaching jobs. Education is our country’s future and the money from ARRA will greatly assist providing our students with a first-rate education here in New York and across the country.”

“The $2 billion New York will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history,” said U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The President’s leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible. New York can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.”

To date, New York has received more than $878 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants, Independent Living Grants and Impact Aid dollars.

* On April 1, New York received over $454 million in Title I funding and $409 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding New York is eligible for in total.
* New York also received $13 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $3 million in Independent Living funds.
* On April 10, New York received $620 thousand in Impact Aid funding.

In order to receive today’s funds, New York provided assurances they will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps, and interventions in turning around underperforming schools. New York is also required, by the Department of Education, to report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted, and how funds are used.

See New York and other state applications for initial funding under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program at http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html