Abbott: Funding will 'ensure that Texas public schools have the necessary resources to help students recover from learning loss'

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and State House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) announced additional funding will be made available to help Texas schools get back on their feet after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The one-time funding made available from the Biden administration as part of its American Rescue Plan Act for Texas will total $11 billion.

"This will ensure that Texas public schools have the necessary resources to help students recover from learning loss related to COVID-19,” Abbott tweeted.

The grant funding will be spread out over a three-year recovery period and two-thirds of the money will be made available immediately, paid out by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The remainder of the cash will be made available upon the approval of the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Approximately $2.2 billion in federal money has already been allocated to Texas schools to help them deal with the closures and learning disruptions of last year when many students were required to learn virtually (by computer) and stay at home.

Recent passage of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation (CRRSA) Act will provide more funding with Texas to receive $5 billion for public education.

Last week Democrats in the Texas Congressional Delegation urged Republican Abbott to release an additional $17.9 billion in federal money that would go to school districts. That funding is contingent on the state investing $1 billion of its own money in K-12 schools.

Abbott told KVUE such funding will help students whose learning was disrupted by the pandemic to catch up.

"The State of Texas is ensuring that our public schools have the necessary resources to help Texas students recover from learning loss related to COVID-19," he said. "To ensure this pandemic does not become a generational education crisis, we expect, and students deserve, for this funding to be used to remediate the progress lost due to the pandemic. This will ensure that Texas students will be ready to fill the jobs created in and attracted to this state.”