Washington D.C.- The United States Department of Education announced today the disbursement of $215 million in US bailout funds who had previously been assigned to the island to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 and can be used for academic and social tasks.
The federal Secretary of Education, the Puerto Rican Miguel Cardonaand the secretary of Education from Puerto Rico, Eliezer Ramos ParesThey would make the formal announcement of the disbursement this morning at a press conference in Ponce.
According to Cardona, the funds can be used for mental health services, professional development for educators, partnerships with communities and families, and academics.
He recalled that the funds from the US rescue law have already been used to increase the basic salary of teachers in Puerto Rico by $1,000 per month.
“Last year I met with Secretary Ramos Parés for the first time to discuss how we could collaborate in a transparent way to serve students in Puerto Rico. Since then, we have continuously collaborated to guarantee that all students on the Island have a fair opportunity to succeed in their studies and that teachers are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said Secretary Cardona.
Cardone; Peer Branches; José G. Baquero Tirado, Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and Roberto Rodríguez Santiago, superintendent of the Ponce region, would also lead the start of works for the reconstruction of the Doctor Pila high school in Ponce, which has been closed since the earthquakes in early 2020.
FEMA has allocated $700,000 for the reconstruction of the school.
The federal Department of Education has indicated that they have delivered to the Puerto Rico Department of Education about $5.8 billion after the coronavirus pandemicincluding $2.9 billion from the Bailout Act, $1.9 billion from the Cares Act, and $1 billion in grants from fiscal years 2021 and 2022.