Senator Warner announced today that the Department of Education will release $806 million from the economic recovery package to help address the budget shortfall Virginia’s education system is facing.  The funding will help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. 

Of that funding, $659 million will be used to maintain state support to K-12 education and institutions of higher education and to mitigate the need to raise tuition on in-state students. The remaining $147 million will be put toward other projects, including construction at higher education facilities.   

Senator Warner said of the announcement:

“These federal funds will provide welcome relief for stressed state and local school budgets. It also is appropriate that this one-time federal commitment is linked to standards and honest assessments of classroom instructors, student performance, school progress and overall effectiveness of our educational programs.”

In order to receive today’s funds, the Commonwealth is responsible for collecting, publishing, analyzing and acting upon 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. Virginia 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.

Virginia will be eligible to apply for another $397 million this fall.  Today’s funding is being made available per Virginia’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1st. 

To date, Virginia has received $240 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants and Independent Living Grants.  On April 1st, Virginia received $83 million in Title I funding and $151 million in IDEA funding.   This represents 50% of the Title I and IDEA funding Virginia is eligible for in total.   On April 1st, Virginia also received $6 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $1 million in Independent Living funds.