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What the Coronavirus Aid Bill Trump Signed Does for Education, in One Chart

By Andrew Ujifusa — March 27, 2020 1 min read
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Details of a prior version of this Senate bill are here. More on a House bill that didn’t advance is here.

President Donald Trump has signed a roughly $2 trillion coronavirus aid package that includes billions to help schools weather upcoming economic hardship, but falls short of what many in the education community say students and educators will need.

Below is a chart with major education funding provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that Trump signed Friday:

One thing that’s missing? Additional E-Rate funding to provide students with broadband internet and internet-connected devices.

The total size of the Education Stabilization Fund, nearly $31 billion, is just under a third of the amount education receive in the 2009 Obama-era stimulus. Education groups are hoping this isn’t the final coronavirus aid package that will provide additional support for public schools and students.


See: Education Week’s Map of Coronavirus and School Closures


The CARES Act, introduced last week but substantially revised since, also lets states and school districts seek waivers from federal mandates. The law would also let states essentially freeze accountability in place so that 2019-20 data disrupted by the coronavirus isn’t used to make new determinations for school improvement next year.

The law would also give states and schools the chance to seek relief from several school funding mandates, including one that caps the amount they can spend on internet-connected devices under an ESSA grant.

Photo: President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Briefing Room, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)