What is the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund?

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has allocated nearly $190 billion to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund via three stimulus relief packages:

·       Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES)

·       Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA)

·       American Rescue Plan (ARP)

ESSER funds are awarded to state educational agencies who then allocate 90% of the funds to local educational agencies based on Title 1 distribution.

Most likely, your district has used or planned out the first round of ESSER funding from the CARES Act for immediate COVID-19 relief. The second round, the CRRSA Act, allows you to earmark funds for rebuilding and transitioning purposes. Meanwhile, the last and larger round through the ARP Act is your district’s opportunity to dream big.

All three acts consider learning materials an allowable use of the funding with a focus on areas already federally funded and those you can demonstrate will accelerate learning. Examples include Carl D. Perkins funding for Career and Technical Education programs, educational technology which creates “substantive interaction” between students and their teachers, classroom instruction for English learners, or materials for “summer learning and afterschool programs”.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act goes one step further mandating that school districts “shall reserve not less than 20 percent of such funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions”. Here, ARP specifically addresses the need to mitigate “learning loss” or what more teachers tend to positively describe as “accelerate learning”.

To learn more about funds awarded to your state, please visit the Education Stabilization Fund.

How does ESSER funding align with Cengage or National Geographic Learning programs?

Below are elements of the American Rescue Plan where Cengage and National Geographic Learning programs align with ESSER to help accelerate learning. If you need support in aligning our programs with ESSER funding, please contact your Sales Consultant who is ready to assist.