The U.S. Virgin Islands is on track to receive nearly $48 million more in federal stimulus funding for education this year, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday.
The award caps a lengthy process including face-to-face meetings with Education Secretary Arne Duncan in 2009, according to a statement from Gov. John deJongh Jr. The territory applied for the funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009’s state fiscal stabilization funding.
“The monies … will assist us in maintaining education services, keeping teachers in the classrooms and at the same time, preventing the cutting of valuable education programs,” deJongh said.
The funding comes a time when the territory continues to grapple with a budget revenue shortfall. “This provides the resources to assist in making the necessary improvements to our education system that we have identified during repeated discussions with White House officials and with leaders at the U.S. Departments of Interior and Education,” deJongh said.
The U.S. Virgin Islands will be eligible to apply for another $23.4 million as part of phase II of the stimulus, Duncan said in a statement.
"The Recovery Act was designed to meet two critical challenges: rescue the economy from immediate peril and invest in the building blocks of a strong economy," Duncan said. "The more than $47 million The U.S. Virgin Islands will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history. … The Virgin Islands can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform."
DeJongh said the new funding is "an unprecedented opportunity for us as a government to undertake comprehensive educational and fiscal reforms that will result in better programs and improved educational outcomes for our children."
Including the money identified in Monday’s announcement, the territory has received more than $56 million in education stimulus money on all fronts.
Last April, the territory received $4.7 million in Title I funding and $352,000 in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding. The U.S. Virgin Islands also received $1.4 million in school improvement grants and $566,000 in education technology grants.
Nationwide, the stimulus act provides $17.1 billion in additional funds for students in need of Pell Grants, which allowed the Department of Education to raise the maximum Pell award from $4,731 to $5,350, Duncan said. Although awarded based on student applications, not by state, over $1.8 million in Pell Grants has been awarded to V.I. students attending U.S. colleges, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The Recovery Act provides an additional $200 million nationwide to the Work-Study program, giving colleges funding to provide jobs to students to help with their college and living expenses. Students in the territory have received about $17,000 in Work Study funding so far, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In order to receive today’s funds, the U.S. Virgin Islands said it 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, Duncan said.
The territory also assured the federal government it would use the funds to enhance the qualifications and effectiveness of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools; establish a data system that complies with federal requirements; improve academic standards and assessments and implement enhanced standards and assessments; modernize, renovate, and repair public school classrooms; strengthen technology infrastructure of public schools, colleges and government agencies; and complete a credible financial management system, according to deJongh.
The territory must also report the number of jobs saved through stimulus funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted and how funds are used.
See the territory’s (and other states’) applications for initial funding under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program at http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html.