State Schools Chief, Schwarzenegger Announce Online Application for Local Distribution of State Fiscal Stabilization Funds

Published on Apr 20, 2009 - 6:47:12 AM

By: California Department of Education

LONG BEACH, APRIL 18, 2009 - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and Governor Schwarzenegger today urged local school districts, county offices of education, direct funded charter schools, California's colleges and universities to act quickly and apply for their share of $3.1 billion -- the first installment of the nearly $4.9 billion -- in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF), available to California through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

California is the first state in the nation to have an approved application for SFSF.

"The Obama administration has acted with tremendous efficiency in awarding these funds to California," O'Connell said. "I now urge our local educational agencies (LEAs) to quickly apply for these monies. My staff collaborated with the Schwarzenegger administration to create a simple online application for these stimulus funds. Our goal is to get these funds out to our schools as soon as possible to protect jobs and help improve student achievement."

The local application, instructions and other important information is available at on the California Department of Education SFSF Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/arra.

Late Friday, O'Connell and Schwarzenegger sent letters with password access to the application site to each district, county office of education, direct funded charter school, and eligible institution of higher education.

California is slated to receive approximately $4.9 billion in SFSF over the next two years. The initial disbursement makes available roughly $2.6 billion for K-12 education in California, with the remainder of the funds -- $537 million -- going to the California State University and University of California systems. O'Connell and Schwarzenegger will work to distribute the remaining $2.3 billion in SFSF once those funds are awarded to California later this year.

In the interest of fostering civil and issue-oriented discourse, YubaNet does not publish reader comments identified by anonymous Internet "handles" (fake user ID names like "farfromthinkin"). Your full and real name will be published with your comment. Your email address will not be shown, unless you specifically "uncheck" the box 'Hide my email.' By submitting a comment you consent to our rules.