South Carolina to receive $940M in federal COVID-19 relief for K-12 education

(The Center Square) – South Carolina will receive $940 million in new federal COVID-19 relief funding for K-12 education, the U.S. Department of Education announced.

Funds will be administered by the South Carolina Department of Education to measure student success, identify students who have fallen behind and provide resources and interventions to overcome pandemic-related learning loss.

The $940 million in new funding is in addition to the $472 million awarded to South Carolina last year through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The new funds are required to be used after the first round of K-12 pandemic relief is spent.

In a letter to state education commissioners, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos urged states to use the funds immediately to reopen schools.

“I urge you to use the ESSER and ESSER II funding to safely re-open all elementary and secondary schools as soon as possible, to restore and maintain high-quality learning environments, and to take comprehensive action to mitigate the unprecedented learning loss that many of our most vulnerable students have endured,” DeVos wrote.

A total of $54 billion for K-12 school relief was allocated by Congress last month in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act – more than four times the amount allocated to K-12 education through the CARES Act.

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