More Resources Fact Sheet: Helping Schools and Students Recover Photos

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today that over $60 million in foreign aid donations have been awarded, and $235 million in supplemental funding from the Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students program also has been made immediately available to rebuild, restart school operations and meet the education needs of displaced students in Gulf Coast states.

Secretary Spellings, Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding Donald Powell and U.S. Department of State Under Secretary for Management Henrietta Fore met with New Orleans-area university presidents at the University of New Orleans Alumni Center. Following that meeting, Spellings, Powell and Sen. Mary Landrieu visited classrooms at Benjamin Franklin Elementary in New Orleans.

Foreign aid donations of $30 million will be awarded to higher education institutions damaged by the storm in Louisiana and Mississippi. This funding will be used mostly for reconstruction. Another $30 million will be awarded for K-12 education in Louisiana. This funding will be used largely for reconstruction of libraries, science laboratories and other physical assets.

"The Gulf Coast region has made great strides in recovering from our greatest natural disaster," said Spellings. "The Department of Education has been there every step of the way. With timely and significant federal aid, student loan relief, and furniture and book donations, we are doing everything we can to make sure that schools reopen and children learn. No aspect of the education system was left untouched by these terrible storms. This aid is designed to help students from kindergarten through college get back on their feet and in the classroom.

According to Under Secretary Fore, "The United States received 151 offers of assistance from foreign governments, international organizations and private citizens—from countries rich and poor, businesses, associations, students and senior citizens. We are grateful to all those in the international community who gave so generously."

The supplemental funding, which Congress has appropriated under the Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students program, also will help K-12 schools and students in the hurricane-affected states. This funding will provide assistance to local education agencies for the cost of educating students enrolled in public and nonpublic schools who were displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita during the 2005-06 school year. The U.S. Department of Education increased the per student amounts to $1,500 and $1,875 per quarter, or $6,000 per student and $7,500 per student with a disability, respectively, for the year—the maximum amounts authorized in the supplemental aid package. These funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2006, and used for school year 2005-06 expenditures.

Sen. Landrieu commented on the additional aid and the role Secretary Spellings has played in rebuilding hurricane-affected schools by saying, "I am pleased to be here today with Secretary Spellings, Chairman Powell and Under Secretary Fore for the announcement of donations for students affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Department of Education, under Secretary Spellings' leadership, has and will continue to be instrumental in the rebuilding of New Orleans' school system. I thank the Department of Education and the other donors for their generosity. These donations will get children back into school buildings and usher in the sense of normalcy they have been missing for so long. I look forward to continuing to work with Secretary Spellings, coordinator Powell and others to build a world-class school system for all the children of Louisiana."

The U.S. Department of Education also recently notified institutions of higher education who were closed or severely impacted by the storms of an additional $50 million in new funds, part of the same supplemental aid package passed by Congress and signed into law in June 2006. These funds are to be used to help defray expenses, including lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred and construction directly related to damage resulting from the hurricanes.

More information on the Department's support for the Gulf Coast region can be found at http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/index.html.

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