Secretary DeVos signs off on $6.8 billion in Covid relief for California

Ten days after President Trump reluctantly signed a $900 billion Covid relief package that he had threatened to veto, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Tuesday that K-12’s share — $54 billion — is now available to California and other states.

The announcement means that California’s $6.8 billion portion should be available soon for its districts and charter schools — in time to help bring students back to school and to plan for the extra academic and social-emotional support they’ll need. Districts will have substantial flexibility on how to use the money — whether for Covid testing, tutoring or purchases of computer hot spots and internet access. Go here for an EdSource database on how much each district and charter school is estimated to receive.

The $54 billion is on top of $30 billion in the CARES Act that Congress passed in March for Covid relief. In the new legislation, Congress extended the original spending deadline of Dec. 31 for that funding. DeVos chided states for letting nearly a third of the CARES Act money “still languish.” According to federal data, only 38% of California’s $3.8 billion share had been spent by Sept. 30. Since then, nearly all of the money was committed or used, according to school business officials.

DeVos said that parents will be able to track how their states and school districts are using their funding by searching the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) Portal.