Funding Made Easy
Increasing Student Achievement One Grant at a Time
Goal of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act(ARRA).
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has given educators an unprecedented opportunity to transform their profession. It provides a two year funding window to bring every teacher to the highest possible levels of practice and to move systems from wherever they are to their next step on the path to second order change
As part of economic stimulus and education, the government has allocated around $100 billion of federal funds. Learn about what you need to do to get funds for your school district?
On Feb. 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at the urging of President Obama, who signed it into law four days later. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act has three immediate goals:
- Create new jobs and save existing ones
- Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
- Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending
The Recovery Act intends to achieve those goals by:
- Providing $288 billion in tax cuts and benefits for millions of working families and businesses
- Increasing federal funds for education and health care as well as entitlement programs (such as extending unemployment benefits) by $224 billion
- Making $275 billion available for federal contracts, grants and loans
- Requiring recipients of Recovery funds to report quarterly on how they are using the money. All the data is posted on Recovery.gov so the public can track the Recovery funds.
In addition to offering financial aid directly to local school districts, expanding the Child Tax Credit, and underwriting a process to computerize health records to reduce medical errors and save on health care costs, the Recovery Act is targeted at infrastructure development and enhancement. For instance, the Act plans investment in the domestic renewable energy industry and the weatherizing of 75 percent of federal buildings as well as more than one million private homes around the country.
Construction and repair of roads and bridges as well as scientific research and the expansion of broadband and wireless service are also included among the many projects that the Recovery Act will fund.
While many of Recovery Act projects are focused more immediately on jumpstarting the economy, others, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.
- Create and save jobs to improve student achievement
- Improve student achievement
- Close the achievement gap
- Help students from all backgrounds achieve high standards
- Make progress toward rigorous college and career ready standards and high quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students
- Make improvements in teacher effectiveness
- Provide intensive support and effective interventions for the lowest-performing schools
- Decrease number of students dropping out of school
- Increase parental involvement
ARRA Requirements met through STI product(s)
- Making progress toward rigorous college and career ready standards and high quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students including English language learners and students with disabilities.
- Establishing pre-K to college and career data systems that track progress and foster continuous improvement.
- Making improvements in teacher effectiveness and in the equitable distribution of qualified teachers for all students, particularly students who are most in need;
- Providing intensive support and effective interventions for the low-performing schools.
Funding available to STI customers:
- State Stabilization Funds
- Entitlement funds
- Race to the Top (RttT)
- I3 Funds - Investment in Innovation
- 1003(g)-Title I Competitive Grants
- Reams Grants
This is not a complete list of funding available. Please check with your State Department of Eeducation for a complete list of available funding for your specific State.