Governor Laura Kelly says she has sent a letter to United States Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, requesting reinstatement of $22.6 million in federal pandemic relief funds. The United States Department of Education announced in late March that the federal government was recouping nearly $3 billion in pandemic relief funds from states. Many states, including Kansas, had already obligated these funds for programs and services benefiting students and educators. Kelly says, abruptly stripping the funding is a disservice to the Kansas students and teachers who rely on it to excel in the classroom.
In Kansas, these funds have been critical for supporting student learning recovery and ensuring the education workforce is prepared to assist those students in their academic needs. Funds have been used to retrain teachers in the science of reading and other evidence-based interventions to support student learning, career and postsecondary exploration experiences for students, and to lower start-up costs for child care providers.
