U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that $382 million is now available for Oregon 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. Oregon will be eligible to apply for another $188 million this fall. Today's funding is being made available per Oregon's successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available April 1.

"The $382 million Oregon 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. Oregon can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform."

To date, Oregon has received nearly $121 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, Oregon received nearly $47 million in Title I funding and nearly $69 million in IDEA funding. This amount represents 50 percent of the total Title I and IDEA funding for which Oregon is eligible. On April 1, Oregon also received $3.5 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $706,705 in Independent Living funds. In addition, on April 10, the state received $1 million in Homeless Education grants.

In order to receive today's funds, Oregon 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.

Oregon also is 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 Oregon's application, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html.

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