Recovery Act Helps Tennessee Students Most At Risk

NASHVILLE– Governor Phil Bredesen and Commissioner of Education Dr. Timothy Webb today announced Title I funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These allocations represent the entire Title I funding that will be available for districts to improve teaching and learning for students most at risk of failing to meet state and academic achievement standards.

“It is critical that every child, regardless of race or economic situation, receives a quality education and access to superb teachers,” Governor Phil Bredesen said. “The infusion of additional funding for Title I schools will help local education agencies provide children the education they deserve and support them as we increase our standards across the board.”

The ARRA Title I dollars represent significant funding for schools that have high concentrations of students from families that live in poverty in order to help improve teaching and learning. Possible uses of these funds could include extended day and year programs, establishing intense year-long teacher training for Title I schools or provide intense parent training.

“We know these additional funds will help our school districts close the achievement gap and improve education for at-risk students, and we’re excited that these dollars will allow schools to reach more students than ever before,” Commissioner Webb said.

School districts must apply for these funds, just as they have for regular allocations of federal Title I dollars. Applications will be available on the Tennessee Department of Education’s Web site. Each school district’s awarded allocation will also be posted online.

A complete list of allocations by district can be found on the Department of Education’s Recovery site at  http://tn.gov/education/recovery.shtml.

For more information, contact Rachel Woods at (615) 253-1960 or Rachel.Woods@tn.gov .   
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