$76 Million in ARRA Funds Now Available for Alaska to Save Jobs and Drive Education Reform

Application for Part 1 of Alaska’s State Stabilization Funds Approved Today

June 22, 2009 -- U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that more than $76 million is now available for Alaska 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. Alaska will be eligible to apply for another $37.5 million this fall.

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Today’s funding is being made available per Alaska’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1st.

“The $76 million Alaska will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history,” said Duncan. “The President's leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible. Alaska can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.”

To date, Alaska has received $39 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants, Independent Living Grants and Impact Aid. On April 1, Alaska received $15 million in Title I funding and more than $18 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding Alaska is eligible for in total. On April 1, Alaska also received $900,000 in Vocational Rehab funds and $246,000 in Independent Living funds. On April 10, Alaska received more than $4 million in Impact Aid funding.

In order to receive today’s funds, Alaska provided assurances that it 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.

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

Source: Dept. of Education