Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has formally approved the state’s application for $110.5 million to support public education jobs in all 169 municipalities.
The funds are part of the $10 billion available through the federal Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistant Act. The Governor announced last month that the state would disburse the funds as grants through the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula to ensure that every school district in the state received a portion of the $110.5 million. The grants will go directly to the local school district to help them retain or rehire teachers and other staff.
“These funds will allow us to save 1,500 teaching jobs around the state and ease the burden on local taxpayers,” Governor Rell said. “This is much-needed money to districts hit hard in this recession. We have moved very quickly to secure these funds to assure that teachers are back in local classrooms this fall.”
The Governor said federal guidelines give municipalities the flexibility to use the funds to pay for salaries and benefits of teacher and support staff, such as custodians, bus drivers, administrative staff and others. Schools can also use the money to rehire teachers and employees that have been laid off.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised Connecticut for its thorough and expeditious application.
“I commend Connecticut for being one of the first states to submit their application and thank our team at the Department for making funds available within a matter of days,” Secretary Duncan said. “These education dollars will help Connecticut keep thousands of teachers in the classroom working with our students this school year.”
