Rep. Dahlkemper Announces $1.4 Billion in Recovery Funds for Pennsylvania to Save Local Jobs

02 November 2009 -- Washington -- Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper today announced that $1.4 billion is now available for Pennsylvania under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. Pennsylvania will be eligible to apply for another $514,403,320 million later this fall. Today’s funding is being made available per Pennsylvania’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1.

“The Recovery Act investments in our students and our schools will have a huge payoff in the years ahead. The $1.4 billion Pennsylvania will receive today will go towards academic improvement and teacher quality programs, two investments that make a major impact in our local schools. This funding is a direct result of Congress’ commitment to improving education for our children and saving and creating quality jobs in our communities. Our state can use these funds to save education jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education improvements,” Dahlkemper said.

Article continues below...

The $1.4 billion has been awarded through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education assists state and local educational agencies to improve the achievement of elementary and secondary school students. The office also provides financial assistance to local educational agencies whose local revenues are affected by federal activities.

To date, Pennsylvania has received nearly $1.2 billion in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA and Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living grants. Since April 1, Pennsylvania has received more than $400 million in Title I funding and nearly $460 million in IDEA funding. On April 1, Pennsylvania also received $10.5 million in Vocational Rehab funds and more than $550,000 in Independent Living funds.

In order to receive today’s funds, Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania is also required by the U.S. 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 Pennsylvania and other state applications for initial funding under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program at http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html.

Source: Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper