Last Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education made available $43 million for Minnesota, part of the nearly $3 billion allocated to the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER Fund), authorized by the CARES Act.  

 

The allocation is set by statutory formula, based on Minnesota's student-aged population and poverty levels. This extraordinarily flexible emergency block grant empowers Governor Walz to decide how best to meet the current needs of students and schools (including charter schools and non-public schools.) Post-secondary institutions, and other education-related organizations will also receive portions of the funds.  

 

Secretary DeVos encouraged the Governor to focus these resources on ensuring that all students continue to learn through some form of remote learning and to ensure they don't fall behind. Funds could be used to provide students internet connectivity and internet-connected devices to boost access to distance learning.

 

Education Groups Push For $200 Billion In New Coronavirus Emergency Aid

Politics K-12 blog reports prominent education groups sent a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders Monday asking for "upwards of $200 billion in new aid to help them deal with the coronavirus." In addition to "at least $175 billion in state stabilization funding for K-12 budgets," the letter says "Title I programs for disadvantaged students should get a $12 billion boost, and special education should get a fresh $13 billion in funding. And the 12 organizations reiterated previous demands that Congress should provide $2 billion to promote remote learning for students through the E-Rate program, as well as ensure 'explicit' support for schools in any package to shore up the nation's infrastructure." According to EdWeek, "discussions are underway about whether there will be a fourth major bill from Congress addressing the coronavirus pandemic and if so, what would be in it."