All4Ed explains the key provisions in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, signed into law in March 2021. ARP provides an additional $123 billion for state educational agencies to support schools and districts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including set-aside funds to accelerate students’ learning and make up for lost instructional time. Critically, thanks to a new maintenance of equity requirement, states and districts must ensure their highest-poverty schools and districts do not bear the brunt of any state and local budget cuts in order to access the new federal relief dollars.
There is also $800 million dedicated to support children and youth experiencing homelessness and $7.2 billion to address the digital divide and connect more households to high-speed broadband. Learn more by downloading our summary or watching our synopsis of the highlights of the bill in our Federal Flash video.
All4Ed supports the legislation and called the bill “the most important piece of legislation for education since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools 12 months ago and offers the relief that schools need to begin helping all students, particularly the most vulnerable, recover from this crisis.”
