U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that more than $547 million is now available for Minnesota 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. Minnesota will be eligible to apply for another $269.4 million this fall. Today's funding is being made available per Minnesota's successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available April 1.

"The $547 million Minnesota will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history," Duncan said. "The President's leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible. Minnesota can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform."

To date, Minnesota has received nearly $156 million in education stimulus funds-- representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation grants, Independent Living grants, Impact Aid dollars and Homeless Education grants. On April 1, Minnesota received more than $47 million in Title I funding and more than $102 million in IDEA funding. This amount represents 50 percent of the total Title I and IDEA funding for which Minnesota is eligible. On April 1, Minnesota also received nearly $4 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $829,258 in Independent Living funds. In addition, on April 10, the state also received $651,740 in Impact Aid funding and $691,988 in Homeless Education grants.

In order to receive today's funds, Minnesota provided assurances that they 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.

Minnesota 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.

To view Minnesota's application, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html.

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