Page 86 - Security Today, April 2021

CARES Act 2: Larger, but Still Insufficient
Relief package dedicates billions of dollars for education
Consolidated Appropriations
Even as the Biden administration has begun pushing for the next recovery package, educators are still sorting out the details of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, oth- erwise known as "CARES Act 2." The $900 billion relief pack- age passed by Congress on Dec. 21, 2020 and signed into law on Dec. 27, dedicated $82 billion for education. While the funding covered the same three buckets of money set aside in the CARES Act legislation signed into law in March 2020, specifics vary slightly. Act 2 provides:
• $54.3 billion for K-12, under the Elementary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) Fund;
• $22.7 billion for colleges and universities, under the Higher Educa- tion Emergency Relief (HEER II) fund;
• $4 billion at the discretion of governors, under the Governor's
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Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) Fund;
• $10.25 billion for early childhood care providers, almost all issued
through block grants and a small portion ($250 million) given to
Head Start; and
• $819 million for outlying areas and schools run by the Bureau of
Indian Education.
The K-12 Allocation
Elementary and secondary education received $13 billion in the first round of relief, making the newest round a fourfold increase. However, K-12 advocates have expressed disappointment in the total, calling it a fraction of what's needed. The School Superintendents Association (AASA), for instance, told its members that the allocation was just a third of what schools needed for COVID relief. AASA