In early 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to prevent the recession from swelling into a full-scale Depression. The legislation provided the single largest amount of funding for education in our county’s history. The Recovery Act created and saved over 300,000 jobs in education in 2009 alone, with less than half of Recovery funds distributed.

The Recovery Act made the following education investments nationally:

• $39.5 billion for local school districts to prevent cutbacks and layoffs.
• $15.6 billion to raise the maximum Pell Grant amount, which 7 million students use to pursue postsecondary education.
• $2.1 billion to expand Head Start programs. This increase will allow an additional 124,000 children to enroll in Head Start and Early Head Start, providing children with the developmental, educational, health, nutritional, and social activities that prepare for success in school.
• $3.95 billion was provided for job training programs, including $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth.
• The bill included $13 billion for a variety of education grants to help disadvantaged children reach higher academic standards.
• $12.2 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This investment will ensure that states can afford mandatory special education costs without cutting other areas of education. Our local school districts have received $22.5 million in IDEA funding.

School districts in California’s 18^th Congressional District have received nearly $68 million in Recovery Act funds. Check the table below to see the funding your School District has received: