$656 Million in Recovery Funds Now Available for Alabama to Save Jobs and Drive Education Reform
Application for Part 1 of Alabama's State Stabilization Funds Approved Today
Archived Information


FOR RELEASE:
July 1, 2009
Contact: Sandra Abrevaya
(202) 401-1576
sandra.abrevaya@ed.gov

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that $656 million is now available for Alabama 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. Alabama will be eligible to apply for another $73 million this fall. Today's funding is being made available per Alabama's successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1st.

"The $656 million Alabama 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. Alabama can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform."

To date, Alabama has received $185 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants and Independent Living Grants. On April 1, Alabama received more than $81 million in Title I funding and $97 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding Alabama is eligible for in total. On April 1, Alabama also received $5 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $808,000 in Independent Living funds.

In order to receive today's funds, Alabama 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.

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

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Last Modified: 07/02/2009