The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, approved this evening, will provide an estimated $1,350 million for Kentucky education over the two years starting July 1, 2009. The newest state-by-state report from NEA shows Kentucky receiving:
- $655 million for fiscal stabilization
- $268 million for Pell grants
- $156 million for IDEA, Part B
- $150 million for ESEA Title I, Part A
- $46 million for ESEA School Improvement
- $31 million for Head Start
- $35 million for child care and development block grant
- $10 million for education technology state grant
Facing economic depression, Kentucky and national leaders committed on Friday to continued investments in our children's futures. A day to remember!
Can you break down the acronyms in the stimulus? I think I know what they are, but just wanted to make sure.
ReplyDelete$156 million for IDEA, Part B
$150 million for ESEA Title I, Part A
$46 million for ESEA School Improvement
Thank you for tagging those acronyms.
ReplyDeleteIDEA is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and part B provides funding to implement the individual education plans (IEPs) of students with identified disabilities.
ESEA, Title ! means the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which goes all the way back to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, with Title 1 as the leading effort to strengthen the education of children from low-income families. The No Child Left Behind legislation has worked mainly by changing the rules for getting and keeping Title 1 funds.
The ESEA School Improvement money I'll have to research a bit, and I'll be back with an answer.
The important thing about the IDEA money approved is that a provision that would have allowed SEAs/LEAs to supplant state/local special education funds, going against the original provision against supplanting that has been in IDEA since 1975, WAS ELIMINATED! This means that this additional IDEA money is significant additional money because it can not be diverted for other uses.
ReplyDeleteDue to the severe underfunding of IDEA in the past, families often end up paying for private services out of their own pockets to make up for deficits in resources that are supposed to be available in the public schools. Now that these families are facing great financial stress, we must make sure that this money is well spent to provide the services and resources that are needed in the public school setting.