$213 Million in Recovery Funds now Available for New Mexico to Save Jobs and Drive Education Reform

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

June 22, 2009 -- U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that more than $213 million is now available for New Mexico 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 Mexico will be eligible to apply for another $105 million this fall.

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

“The $213 million New Mexico 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. New Mexico can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.”

To date, New Mexico has received $97 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, New Mexico received more than $40 million in Title I funding and $49 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding New Mexico is eligible for in total. On April 1, New Mexico also received more than $2 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $456,000 in Independent Living funds. On April 10, New Mexico received more than $4 million in Impact Aid funding.

In order to receive today’s funds, New Mexico 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.

New Mexico 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 Mexico 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