Jenniffer González Applauds the Decision of The Federal Department of Education to Give Puerto Rico Immediate Access to $ 912 Million in Education Funds

Press Release

In the midst of the pandemic, the United States government worked on several packages to mitigate the impact of the measures taken by covid-19, one of them the Cares Law. The commissioner announced the allocation achieved for the island at that time, but these had been disbursed to us because the government of Puerto Rico had not hired a fiduciary agent, a requirement to disburse the funds.

"Today they are giving Puerto Rico access to the rest of the CARES Act funds ($ 389,607,211 total under ESSER I and GEER I) plus $ 522 million in regular funds for fiscal year 2019.", explained the commissioner.

The ESSER program refers to the Emergency Relief Fund for Elementary and Secondary Schools and the GEER is an Emergency Relief Fund for Governors for Education allocates money based on the needs of its elementary and secondary schools and its institutions of higher education.

The CARES Act allocated a total of $ 396,925,341 under the ESSER I Fund and the GEER I Fund:
* $ 349,113,105 to the Puerto Rico Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER I) Fund
* $ 47,812,236 to the Governor's Office under the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER I) Fund.

Of that money, the Puerto Rico Department of Education had only been given access to $ 7,318,130 of ESSER I funds, until the contract with the fiduciary agent was finalized. No access to any of the Governor's funds had been given as the last administration failed to submit a spending plan and other required documentation

The funds also include all of the Department's program grant funds for fiscal year 2019 for a total of $ 522 million, including funds under Title A, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Last week the commissioner announced that the federal Department of Education allocated $ 2,965,938,760 to Puerto Rico from the recently approved Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Funds from the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund can be used to address various issues related to the impact of COVID-19 in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

On March 12, 2021, the resident commissioner sent a letter to the federal Secretary of Education advocating for the prompt disbursement of these funds.

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