President Joe Biden today signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) into law.
The nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery legislation includes approximately $122.8 billion for K-12 public schools, about $7.17 billion for technology resources for schools to help close the homework gap, and $3 billion for IDEA, among other provisions. The bill also allocates $2.75 billion in dedicated funding for nonpublic schools.
Additional information on the new Act, including estimated state-by-state funding allocations can be found in an analysis prepared by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service and posted on the U.S. Senate Democrats’ website. According to that analysis (see p. 8), Wisconsin is slated to receive an estimated $1.54 billion for K-12 education via the ARP. The following information is drawn from an analysis prepared at the request of the National School Boards Association (NSBA):
“Education Stabilization Funds, Generally
The ARP uses the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) concept, first established by the CARES Act in March 2020, with some modifications, as the primary mechanism to distribute most of the $169.5bn in funding for programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
“Specifically, the ARP provides:
• $122.775 billion for K-12 education (ESSER 3.0)
• $39.585 billion for institutions of higher education (HEER 3.0)
• $2.75 billion for nonpublic K-12 schools (EANS 2.0)
“Here are some of the specific details that are pertinent to K-12 Education:
“Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
The ARP provides an additional $122.775 billion, via the existing ESSER fund mechanism, through September 30, 2023.
Funding Distribution: Funding for K-12 education in ARP is allocated to each State Education Agency (SEA). (In Wisconsin’s case, this is the DPI.) These allocations are determined using the same federal-to-state formula prescribed by Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). States must subgrant at least 90 percent of their funding allocation to school districts (including charter schools operating as school districts) based on the state-to-local funding formula prescribed by Title I of ESSA and will have 60 days to determine these subgrant allocations
State Funding: States are required to set-aside funds from their grants for the following purposes: at least five (5) percent to address learning loss; at least one (1) percent for evidence-based summer enrichment programs; and at least one (1) percent for evidence-based, comprehensive after-school programs. States may also reserve up to 0.5% for administrative costs with the remainder of these funds intended to be used for statewide activities identified by the SEA (i.e., the DPI, in Wisconsin’s case).
Maintenance of Effort / Equity Requirements: This new act includes a maintenance of effort provision requiring states to provide at least as much funding from their budgets for K-12 and postsecondary education in Fiscal Years (FYs) 2022 and 2023 proportionate to the state’s previous investment averaged over FYs 2017, 18, and 19. In addition, the ARP includes a “Maintenance of Equity” provision that prevents states and local school districts from disproportionately reducing funding from high poverty districts and schools.
Local Uses of Funds: LEAs (i.e., school districts) receiving ESSER funding from ARP are required to use at least 20 percent of their total allocation to address student learning loss through evidence-based interventions and ensure that these activities are responsive to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. The ARP maintains nearly all the same local uses of funds as contained in the December 2020 Response and Relief Act and the earlier CARES Act for the remainder of these funds. The new Act includes one new local use of funds intended to encourage local implementation of health guidance and related protocols issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the reopening of K-12 school facilities. Due to limitations imposed by Senate procedural rules, the new Act slightly narrows one existing use of funds related to homeless students and eliminates another intended to provide funding flexibility for principals and school leaders.”
We will provide additional information as we go through and analyze this new legislation.
