Governor Gretchen Whitmer today joined students, educators, and support staff at Ojibwa Elementary School in Macomb County to sign House Bill 4421, which appropriates $4.4 billion in federal COVID relief funding to support schools across the state and help students, teachers, and schools recover from the pandemic. The historic education funding represents the bipartisan work completed in late June to ensure that Michigan’s K-12 education system takes advantage of federal funding to make unprecedented investments in our schools.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the type of investment in our schools that will put Michigan students and educators first as they head into the next school year,” said Governor Whitmer.
The bipartisan supplemental bill distributes over $4 billion from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, to power schools’ efforts to get our kids back on track. A total of $841 million comes from ESSER II funding from December 2020, while $3.3 billion comes from ESSER III funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
The ESSER funds will be distributed to districts based on their Title I, Part A allocation – which means more money will get to districts that serve students with the highest need. The funds help meet a wide range of needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, including reopening schools safely, sustaining their safe operation, and addressing students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs resulting from the pandemic.
Today’s funding represents supplemental funding for the current year budget. Legislation for the school aid budget for next fiscal year beginning October 1 is currently being reviewed
